Strawberry Lemonade Recipe (All Natural)

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This strawberry lemonade recipe might just be the perfect, refreshing drink for summer!

There’s just something about Strawberry Lemonade made with real, fresh strawberries and a bunch of lemons that say’s “Summer is here and in full swing”. There are few things as refreshing or relaxing amid mind-numbing heat.

A tall, skinny glass, filled with Strawberry Lemonade and garnished with lemon and strawberry slices.

The natural flavors and sweetness from ripe strawberries and the zing of fresh lemons make this one of my absolute favorite drinks. Give it a try and it might become one of your favorites too. You may even want to make a double batch if you are making this for a picnic or gathering. They’ll want seconds!

Easy Homemade Strawberry Lemonade

This strawberry lemonade is made only with natural ingredients. You’ll only get natural flavors and a nice dose of vitamin C. In fact, if you don’t strain the juicy berries, you’ll get a bit of dietary fiber too. And all you have to do is blend a few ingredients!

What This Lemonade DOESN’T Have

I was shocked at the grocery store when I picked up a bottle of pre-made strawberry lemonade. The number of chemicals they add to it just to get a strawberry flavor is truly astounding. I mean, how hard is it to just add strawberries? I want strawberries, darn it! S.T.R.A.W.B.E.R.R.I.E.S.! Not strawberry “flavor” mixed with high fructose corn syrup. Why is it so hard to use the real thing?

So in this version of strawberry lemonade, there are ingredients that you just won’t find here. Ingredients such as:

  • White sugar (not even pure cane sugar!)
  • Simple syrup
  • Lemonade concentrate
  • Processed citric acid
  • Lemon juice concentrate
  • Agave nectar
  • Chemicals
  • Flavorings
  • Preservatives
A overhead shot looking down into a tall glass filled with this Strawberry Lemonade Recipe. A pitcher stands behind it and a few lemon slices are scattered around the glass on the table.

Refreshing Summer Cocktail

If you decide you’d rather make this an adult beverage, simply add some vodka and garnish with a couple of fresh mint leaves to your glass. You can also try rum, gin or tequila. Any alcohol you prefer should work pretty well here, though you may want to add a bit more sweetener to offset the alcohol a bit. Adjust this to taste.

Strawberry Limeade

If you prefer a strawberry limeade, it’s a super easy switch to make. Simply use all lime juice in place of the lemon juice called for.

How To Serve Strawberry Lemonade

You’ll definitely want to serve this pink lemonade either cold from the fridge or over ice cubes (or both!). And as for garnishes, give these a try:

  • Fresh strawberry slices
  • A lemon slice (half slices work best)
  • A sprinkle of lemon zest
All the ingredients for this Strawberry Lemonade Recipe in individual bowls.

Fresh Ingredients

Water – Make this cold water if you need this to be cold right after making it. Otherwise, it will need to sit in the fridge for a bit to chill.

Fresh strawberries – Cleaned and stems removed.

Honey – You can use maple syrup if you want, but the finished lemonade won’t be as sweet, so you may need to use more of it.

Lemon juice – Use freshly squeezed lemons for the best flavor. But bottled will work in a pinch.

Limes – Juice only.

How To Make Strawberry Lemonade

Honey dissolving in a pot of water.

Warm 2 ½ cups of water in a pot with honey until well combined. Keep the heat low to medium. You don’t want to boil this. Just warm it enough to dissolve the honey, just like you would have sugar dissolve. Same process.

In a large pitcher, combine the rest of the cold water, the warm honey water, lemon juice, and lime juice.

Strawberries sitting in a blender cup.

Place strawberries in a blender and blend until you have a very smooth strawberry puree. You can use a food processor, but it might not blend things as smoothly.

OPTIONAL STEP: Put the strawberries through a fine-mesh strainer. You’ll have to stir and press with a spatula to get it through the sieve completely. This will remove any leftover seeds that didn’t get blended.

Blended strawberries in a blender cup.

Stir strawberry juice into the pitcher and stir well. Chill and pour into your favorite lemonade glass.

A side view of a clear pitcher filled with Strawberry Lemonade.

Homemade Lemonade Recipes

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A tall, skinny glass, filled with Strawberry Lemonade and garnished with lemon and strawberry slices.

Strawberry Lemonade Recipe

A refreshing summer drink that uses real strawberries. Just the way it should be!
5 from 1 vote
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Course: Drinks
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Chill Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 126kcal

Equipment

  • Blender

Ingredients

  • 5 cups water
  • 1 lb. fresh strawberries (cleaned and stems removed)
  • ¾ cup honey
  • 1 cup lemon juice
  • 2 medium limes (juice only)

Instructions

  • Warm 2 ½ cups of water in a pot with the honey until well combined.
    Honey dissolving in a pot of water.
  • In a large pitcher, combine the remainder of the water, the honey water, lemon juice and lime juice.
    Strawberries sitting in a blender cup.
  • Put your strawberries in a blender and blend until very smooth.
    OPTIONAL STEP: Put the strawberries through a fine meshed sieve. You'll have to stir and press with a spatula to get it through the sieve completely. This will remove any leftover seeds that didn't get blended.
    Blended strawberries in a blender cup.
  • Stir strawberry juice into the pitcher and stir well. Chill and serve.
    A side view of a clear pitcher filled with Strawberry Lemonade.

Notes

Please note that the nutrition data given here is a ballpark figure. Exact data is not possible.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cup | Calories: 126kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 10mg | Potassium: 152mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 30g | Vitamin A: 17IU | Vitamin C: 50mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 1mg

Recipe from the Gracious Pantry® archives, originally posted 8/13/2010.

Author: Tiffany McCauley

Title: Food and Travel Journalist

Expertise: Food, cooking, travel

Bio:

Tiffany McCauley is a nationally syndicated journalist and an award-winning cookbook author and food blogger. She has been featured on MSN, Huffington Post, Country Living Magazine, HealthLine, Redbook, and many more. Her food specialty is healthy comfort food recipes.

5 from 1 vote (1 rating without comment)

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35 Comments

  1. Mmmm. I can’t wait to try this. Raspberries and/or blackberries would be wonderful, too. Blueberries would probably taste good, but I think the color would be too weird to be appetizing (maybe drink it in the dark?)

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Jodi – Lol. A “lemonade” you have to drink in the dark. Now that WOULD be interesting!

  2. I was just looking up ginger lemonade recipes, and i was thinking about emailing it to you to clean it up, but I guess I could just use Honey instead of sugar. i may try it. This sounds really good though! I will try this this weekend.

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Michelle – Great! Let me know how you like it! The ginger version sounds yummy!

  3. Bodynsoil says:

    Oh this looks delish and I will be making this very soon, hopefully this afternoon! Since I garden I will soon have my own organic fresh strawberries to choose from and also keep some frozen berries on hand as well. Thank you for posting.

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      BNS – Wonderful! We planted strawberries too this year, but we’re not even close to getting any yet. Waiting patiently…

  4. Do you use fresh lemon juice for this?

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Amy – I did! 🙂

  5. Thank you!! Your website is my new addiction, lol!! I’m so excited about clean eating, especially in my children!! I’ve noticed quite a bit how sugar is making them behave/act, and that’s where some of our behaviours have come from!! My children love sweet drinks, so I’m excited to bring some clean drinks to them!! They are getting better with water, but still want something sweet!!

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Amy – You can also try with 100% juice, and just water it down more and more over time. It’s tough for kids, but still completely doable.

  6. Mawasnick says:

    Oh thank you!!!! I’ve been dying for lemonade. When to the fair and got some there, thought it would be “just” lemonade but it was sooooo sweet. Too sweet for me to finish. I’m gonna try this, I’m sure it’ll be just what I’ve been craving. Thanks a lot.

    1. Anonymous says:

      Mawasnick – Then start off with less sweetener when you make this and sweeten to your tastes. I’m sure you’ll love it!

  7. Nicole S. says:

    This sounds delicious. I may use seltzer water instead of regular water to have a sparkling lemonade!

    1. graciouspantry says:

      Nicole – Yum!

  8. graciouspantry says:

    Haha! I’ll see what I can do! Maybe I need to franchise…

  9. Stephanie says:

    Sounds and looks yummy!

  10. graciouspantry says:

    Lovetuscany – If that works for you, great! I get a really bad aftertaste with stevia, so I never use it.

  11. just made this… waiting for it to chill so the kids and i can have some! YUM!! Thanks for all the yummy stuff to make. we are slowly changing our lifestyle and your site helps SO much! Thanks agian!

    1. graciouspantry says:

      My pleasure! I hope you enjoy it!

  12. graciouspantry says:

    That probably did make the difference. You can also cut the honey in half.

  13. Needs to quit reading your blog before lunch…. this is going in the bucket too

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Melissa – I hope you enjoy it! 🙂

  14. Can I use frozen strawberries?

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Monday – You can if you thaw them first.

  15. Jessica W says:

    So if you want to make plain lemonade could you make this without the strawberries? I just juiced a whole bunch of lemons from my moms tree and really love plain lemonade…

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Jessica W – Sure! You might need to adjust the amount of lemon juice a bit, but yes.

  16. I am new to clean eating and very very excited to try this recipe! I was a very big soda drinker before this and I crave sweet drinks a lot so I think this will be the best way at handling those cravings! Thanks so much, I’ll be trying it this Monday for Memorial Day

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Amanda – Fantastic! I hope you enjoy it! And just an FYI, I’m working on a clean eating “sprite/7up” recipe. 😉

  17. Denise Passero says:

    Just made this. It is so refreshing and delicious!!!! My husband even likes it!

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Denise – Thank you! So happy you both enjoyed it! 😀

  18. How long will this keep in the fridge?

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Ann – Up to about 5 days. You can freeze it in ice cube trays if you don’t drink it fast enough.