Honey Lemonade is a refreshing summer drink you can make with just 3 simple ingredients. It’s naturally sweet, and tastes just as delicious as the version made with white sugar.
Why You’ll Love It
It tastes delicious. This honey lemonade recipe is lightly sweet, with plenty of lemon flavor. Since you can taste it as you go, you get to control how sweet or tart the final flavor is!
It’s easy to make. The only effort involved is juicing the lemons. No wonder it’s such a summertime favorite!
It’s nutritious. Lemons are a great source of vitamin C and may help with iron absorption, when you consume them at the same time as an iron-rich meal.
It’s easy to scale. The recipe below makes 4 servings, but you can easily make a double batch (or more!) for a party pitcher, if you’d need to.
It’s naturally sweet. Unlike refined sugar, honey contains antioxidants, and research suggests that it may help improve insulin sensitivity, too. For a vegan recipe, you can swap the sweetener for maple syrup, instead.
How to Make Honey Lemonade
1. Juice the lemons.
Fresh lemon juice makes the best lemonade! (Try to avoid the bottled stuff, if possible.)
On average, you’ll get roughly 3 tablespoons of lemon juice from a medium to large lemon. So, plan to purchase at least 1 lemon per glass of lemonade you’d like to make, when shopping for your groceries.
Depending on the type of lemon juicer that you have, you may want to pour the lemon juice through a fine mesh strainer on the way into your mixing jar. This will help catch any tiny seeds you might have missed, along with excess pulp.
2. Mix.
Honey will dissolve much more smoothly when mixed with a small amount of boiled water, rather than trying to mix it in room temperature or cold water. This is the trick for getting perfect lemonade every time!
Add the honey and boiled water to a pitcher or measuring cup, and stir well until the honey is no longer visible. This is a simple honey syrup.
Pour in the remaining cool water and lemon juice, and stir again. You can taste the lemonade and make any adjustments you need to from there. For a sweeter flavor, add more honey, and for a more tart flavor, add more lemon juice.
Pro Tip: You can add a small pinch of fresh herbs, like parsley, fresh mint, or basil, to elevate the flavor even more. Try Basil Lemonade for a refreshing homemade lemonade recipe!
3. Enjoy!
Pour the lemonade over ice, and enjoy it right away for a cold drink.
Leftover honey lemonade can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days, so feel free to make this in advance, if you need to. Shake well before serving again.
Substitutions & Common Questions
Need to use another sweetener? You can most like use another natural sweetener in this recipe, like maple syrup, agave syrup, or even stevia, too. However, I haven’t tested these yet, so you’ll have to taste them as you go, until you reach a sweetness level you enjoy.
Which honey is best? Clover honey and orange blossom honey will have the most mild, light flavor for this lemonade recipe, but feel free to use any honey that you happen to have on hand.
Do I have to boil some of the water? Mixing the honey with boiled water greatly improves how easily this lemonade stirs together.
I’ve been mixing this combination together for years, but sometimes the honey will float around separately in the glass in little strands, or stay stuck to the bottom, so mixing it with boiled water first will give you the best results that won’t separate in the fridge, or in your serving glass.
Honey Lemonade
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 cup boiled water
- 1/2 cup lemon juice (from 3 to 4 lemons)
- 1 1/2 cups cold water
Instructions
- In a heat safe bowl or measuring cup, mix the honey and boiled water together well using a whisk. The honey will dissolve quickly in the warm water!
- In a large mason jar or pitcher, add the honey mixture, along with the lemon juice and remaining cold water. Stir well to combine, or secure a lid on the jar and shake well. Taste and adjust any flavoring, as needed.
- Serve this lemonade immediately into a glass of ice, or store it in the fridge until you're ready to serve. This recipe makes roughly 4 small glasses (about 2/3 cup each before you pour it over ice), so feel free to double or triple this recipe if you need to serve a crowd. You can store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Notes
Nutrition
If you try this honey lemonade recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how you like it!
Just made this at lunchtime to test it for our Memorial Day weekend gathering. The ratio of lemon juice to honey is just perfect! I’m going to double it next time so I can keep a larger batch in the fridge.
Glad you enjoyed it, Julie! This is definitely the perfect Memorial Day weekend drink. I think it would be fun with some frozen strawberries and blueberries floating in it as ice cubes, too.
Megan makes the best recipes EVER !!!!
Have not tried recipe yet.