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Drinks · American

Strawberry Lemonade

Mash, stir, strain: fresh-squeezed lemonade blushing pink with real strawberries.

Hands-on
30 min
Hands-off
1 h
Total
1 h 30 min
Makes
8 servings (6-8)
Serves
8

Prep is our estimate, mostly squeezing about 12 lemons. Passive is an optional hour in the fridge; skip it and pour over ice to serve in 30 min.

  • easy
  • vegan
  • vegetarian
  • gluten-free
  • summer
  • party
  • alcohol-free
  • kid-friendly
  • no-cook

Verified against at least two trusted test kitchens or food-safety guides · Last checked · What this means

Illustration of Strawberry Lemonade
Amount
Units

Ingredients

You need: deep bowl · potato masher · citrus juicer · knife and cutting board · fine-mesh strainer · large jug (at least 2.5 L)

Contains: none of the 9 major allergens in the listed ingredients

Method

  1. Wash the fruit

    Rinse the 290 g (2 cups) strawberries and all the lemons under running water, rubbing the lemon skins. Pull or cut the green tops off the strawberries.

  2. Slice one lemon, squeeze the rest

    Slice 1 large lemon thinly and throw away the ends. Squeeze the other lemons until you have 475 ml (2 cups) juice.

  3. Mash with sugar

    In a deep bowl, mash the strawberries, lemon slices and 300 g (1 1/2 cups) sugar with a potato masher.

    Ready when: Keep mashing until the lemon slices have given up their juice, the berries are pulp and the sugar is starting to dissolve into a pink syrup.

    Otto tried this firstOtto tries to skip the mashing and just stirs everything into the water. The sugar sinks in a gritty heap. Mashing the sugar with the lemon slices first pulls out the lemon-peel oils and gets the sugar dissolving.

  4. Add water and juice

    Stir in 1.66 L (7 cups) cold water and the 475 ml (2 cups) lemon juice.

    Ready when: Stir until no sugar crystals are left at the bottom of the bowl.

  5. Strain

    Pour the lemonade through a fine-mesh strainer into the jug. Throw away the mashed berries and lemon slices.

  6. Chill or pour over ice

    Refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour, or serve right away over ice.

Swaps

  • Instead of fresh strawberries: frozen strawberries, same amount, thawed Thaw them in the microwave on high for 3 minutes before mashing. They should be soft all the way through, with no icy centre.
  • Instead of strawberries: blueberries or raspberries, same amount

Don’t swap

  • Bottled lemon juice for fresh: both sources build the recipe around freshly squeezed juice.

Make ahead, store & reheat

Make ahead
You can make it an hour or so ahead and keep it in the fridge. Add ice only when you pour, so it doesn't water down the jug.
Storage
Our sources don't give a storage time. Keep it covered in the fridge and drink it soon.

If something goes wrong

  • Gritty sugar at the bottom Why: The sugar hadn't dissolved before straining.
    Keep stirring after adding the water and lemon juice until the sugar has fully dissolved.
  • Too tart Why: Lemons vary in sourness.
    Taste and stir in a little more sugar until it dissolves.

Good to know

  • For a pinker, pulpier lemonade, purée the berries with some of the sugar and water and don't strain them.

Safety

  • Rinse the strawberries and lemons under running water before cutting, even the lemons you only squeeze; no soap or produce wash.
  • Thin lemon slices need a sharp knife. An adult should do the slicing; kids can do the mashing and stirring.
  • Microwaved frozen berries can be hot in spots. Stir them and let them cool for a minute before mashing.