Love pink lemonade? Want to know how to make homemade pink lemonade from scratch? It’s easier than you think and oh so refreshing.
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My good friend A is pregnant with TWIN girls! On Sunday, several of her friends and family hosted a baby shower in her honor. I was asked to bring lemonade. What more could be more fitting for sweet baby girls than pink lemonade?
We are actually big pink lemonade drinkers in our house. I first became addicted to pink lemonade the summer I was pregnant with Little Tot. I remember from the moment I became pregnant, no matter how much water I drank I was always in a state of parched. Pink lemonade was the only thing that seemed to satiate my constant thirst.
I would love to be all Suzy Homemaker and pretend that the only lemonade we drink in our house is freshly squeezed. That would be a big ol’ lie. We drink almost a jug a day. There is no way I’m standing over a juicer every night to juice two pounds of lemons. Every other day, it’s powdered drink mix for us.
But for a special occasion — like two little pink bundles of joy — I can spring for freshly squeezed. It’s actually pretty easy to make and you can adjust the measurements to make it as sweet or as tart as you like.
How to Make Homemade Pink Lemonade
Before juicing your lemons, take a vegetable peeler and slice eight long, thin peel segments from one lemon. Combine the segments in a medium sauce pan with 1 1/2 – 1 1/4 cups of sugar and equal parts water. Add more or less sugar depending on your sweetness preference. We’re going to make a simple syrup to sweeten the lemonade. Bring the water to a simmer over low to medium-low heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow to cool.
While the simple syrup you just made is cooling, begin juicing your lemons. First, if you don’t have a juicer, I highly recommend purchasing one or borrowing one from a friend. Two pounds of lemons nets approximately 1 cup of lemon juice. For this recipe, you’ll need four cups of freshly squeezed lemon juice. Trust me, you do not want to squeeze eight pounds of lemons by hand! You don’t have to spend a ton of money on a juicer. I own an older version of this juicer. It costs less than $30 and I was able to juice all eight pounds of lemons in about 30 minutes.
Once you have four cups of lemon juice, combine it in a large pitcher with the cooled simple syrup, nine cups of cold water and 1/2 – 3/4 cup of cranberry juice. You can adjust how “pink” you want your pink lemonade to be by adding more cranberry juice. Just keep in mind, if you add more, you may have to adjust the sweetener. The lemonade you see in the picture was made using 1/2 cup. Add 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the mix if you want. I find it mellows the pucker power of the lemons.
This recipe makes approximately 1 gallon of lemonade, or 16-eight ounce cups.
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Homemade Pink Lemonade
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 8 lemon peel segments
- 11 cups water divided
- 4 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice about 8 pounds of lemons
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup cranberry juice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, combine lemon peel segments, sugar and equal parts water. Adjust the amount of sugar depending on your sweetness preference.
- Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer until sugar is dissolved, then remove from heat. Allow to cool completely.
- In a large pitcher, combine 9 cups of water, lemon juice, cranberry juice, and salt. Adjust the hue of the lemonade by adding more or less cranberry juice.
- Remove the lemon peel segments from the simple syrup. Add to lemonade. Stir to combine.
- Pour lemonade through a fine mesh sieve to remove any pulp, if desired.
- Serve chilled.
What a pretty color! I could do with a glass of your lemonade right now.
Looks lovely. I just bought all the ingredients and after reading the recipe I got one question; what is a peel segment? is it all of the peel from 1 lemon?
Thanks
/Johan
It is the lemon peel, but not from the entire lemon. I used a vegetable peeler and peeled just a few thin slices. You just want the top-most layer. The white part of the peel is bitter and could give your drink a weird taste.
You comment just reminded me I actually took a picture of the lemon peel segments so people would know what I was talking about, but I forgot to include it in the post! I have just added it, so that may clear up the confusion.
What kind of cranberry juice would you use? Sweetened/Imitation like Juicee Juice/ocean spray or real unsweetened juice?
Heather, I typically use the juice from concentrate that comes in a can. But Juicy Juice or Ocean Spray would also work, you just might need to the recipe for the added sweetness.
Ocean spray will work..I tried! My four year old daughter loved it also I love that it had not alot of sugar!
Thank you, Josee! I’m so glad you and your daughter enjoyed it!
hey i think i am going to make this for a school project and i want to know how much this recipe makes? we have around 30 in the class room and i need to know how many litres one recipe makes? thanks!
Ashleigh, this recipe makes just a little less that 2 liters, about 7 3/4 cups.
Thanks so much this recipe was a BIG HIT!!! I had to print everyone off their own copy because they LOVED IT!!
Really? mine made a lot more
oh my gosh! huge hit at my little sisters birthday party thank you so much this was very important to get the recipe right because I was afraid it would not turn out good. thank you so much very tasty and quick to make. AMAZING!!!!!!! 5 STARS
YAY!! I’m glad to hear that. Thanks for coming back and leaving a comment.
Oh my goodness! This is a very pretty drink!
Nice. I like how you used a natural ingredient – Cranberry juice, to color the lemonade pink. This post made me thirsty for lemonade.
Thanks for this Pink Lemonade recipe….but not sure how much of the lemon peel segments….are you saying about 4 slices ?
Like what is shown in the picture of the pan above. You just want a piece of the peeling, not an entire slice. You can use a vegetable peeler to do this.
how much does it make?
About 2 quarts
How much lemonade would you typically add? It’s such a pretty colour…
Hi, how long in advance can you make this lemonade?
Am I reading this correctly? Only 1/4 cup of sugar? Thanks! 🙂
Hi Vickie, the recipe actually calls for 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of cranberry juice. If the lemonade if too tart for your taste, you can add more sugar.
Can i use tropicana or real cranberry juice ? N pla tel me wat kind of cranberry juice u use ?
You can use any kind of cranberry juice you want.
hey is it five and a half cups of water or 5 half cups (making two and a half cups total) ??
Hi Ciara, it’s five and a half cups of water.
Vodka?
Wait, so you remove the lemon peels from the simple syrup and then add the simple syrup to the lemonade?
Correct.
How many days in advance could I make this?
Hi Robyn, I wouldn’t make it more than two days ahead of time. Be sure to give it a good stir before serving because it can separate.
Every recipe I have come across for pink lemonade calls for using strawberries, which I did not want to do. I was so excited to come across your recipe that used cranberry juice instead! Exactly what I was looking for … thank you!