It’s so hot the air is hard to breathe. I’ve cancelled all our “pool parties” (we have a plastic wading pool and Otter Pops) for the foreseeable future in the face of the heat warnings we’re getting. The park is cancelled too. You know what’s not cancelled? Homemade lemonade!

This homemade lemonade is cool, refreshing, and the perfect balance of sweet and sour. I came to this recipe because I was drowning in lemons. The local produce co-op is very, deeply into lemons (and limes!), and I don’t use them in my cooking as fast as the co-op supplies them in my weekly basket. So I turned to lemonade. I was a little intimidated when I tried this the first time. I don’t know why, but I thought something as delicious as lemonade would be hard to make. Spoiler alert: it’s not.

It’s easy to make too, although I might recommend making the sugar syrup at night when it’s slightly less hot. That way, you’ll have gorgeously chilled pitcher of lemonade ready when the heat of the day hits.

This is a very simple, basic recipe. There are tons of ways you can dress it up. You can make one of these fancier syrups in place of the basic sugar/water combo in the actual recipe. We’ve enjoyed adding a little lime juice in for a nice lemon/lime feel. You can also crush up some fruit and add that for a freckled lemonade à la Red Robin. I love adding a sprig or two of garden mint for a fresh, cooling addition.

Our newest favorite is to freeze this lemonade in popsicle molds for our own homemade lemonade pops. It’s the ultimate in the refreshing department. We enjoy other homemade popsicle recipes, but when you think “taste of summer,” lemonade pops are pretty much the epitome!

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Classic Homemade Lemonade

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Ingredients

• 7 cups water divided
• ⅔ cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup sugar

Instructions

• To create the simple syrup, combine 2 cups water and the sugar in a saucepan. Heat until sugar dissolves.
• Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow to cool. For faster cooling, place in freezer or fridge.
• Pour lemon juice and 5 cups water into a pitcher.
• When syrup is cool, pour into into pitcher. Stir to combine.
• Chill and serve!

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