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This delicious Lemonade Concentrate is a refreshing homemade drink. Made with freshly squeezed lemons and lightly sweetened, this is a tasty beverage that the whole family will love.

a pitcher and glasses of lemonade with sliced lemons on a board.
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This easy homemade lemonade concentrate is flavored with fresh lemon juice to make a delicious beverage. It’s perfect for an afternoon treat or serve it as a tasty drink at your next BBQ or picnic.

Lemonade Ingredients

a measuring glass of lemon juice and a navy blue bowl of sugar with fresh lemons.

If you have leftover lemons, check out our post on how to freeze lemons.

How to Make Homemade Lemonade Concentrate

*I’ll walk you through it here with some photos and tips, and you’ll also find a printable recipe card at the bottom of the post with exact measurements, etc. You can click “jump to recipe” to skip down.

You’ll start by juicing the lemons. When buying lemons, choose large, heavy fruits with thin skin.

To get the most juice out of the lemons, roll them a few times on the counter while applying firm pressure with your palm.

Cut the lemons in half and juice. This handheld juicer works great for small batches. When I need to juice a lot of citrus at once, I use this attachment that works with my KitchenAid stand mixer.

Remove any seeds and if desired, use a fine mesh strainer to remove pulp.

Combine the freshly squeezed lemon juice and sugar in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often until all the sugar has dissolved, ~5 minutes.

Cool the mixture slightly and test that the sweetness is to your preference. If you’d like it sweeter, return the saucepan to medium heat and add sugar 2-3 tbsp at a time until it’s perfect for you.

lemon juice and sugar in a saucepan with fresh lemons surrounding it.

How to Use Lemonade Concentrate

Combine 1-2 tbsp of concentrate with 8-12 oz of plain or sparkling water. A little goes a long way, so start with 1 tbsp and add more if desired.

If you’re serving this for a crowd, use 1/4 cup of concentrate per quart of water.

How to Store Homemade Lemonade Concentrate

Storing Leftovers: Allow the concentrate to cool and store leftovers in an air-tight container in the fridge for 1-2 weeks. A pint-sized canning jar works best.

Freezing Leftovers: I freeze the concentrate in our 1-cup Souper Cubes. Remove and transfer to freezer storage once they have frozen solid. Due to the high sugar content in this liquid, it will take 12-24 hours to freeze fully solid.

It will keep in the freezer for 3-6 months.

To thaw: allow the frozen concentrate to sit in an air-tight container overnight in the fridge, or for a few hours at room temperature.

frozen blocks of lemonade concentrate with sliced lemons on top.

Variations

You can use this concentrate as the base of our delicious Rose Lemonade.

Or drizzle in any of our amazing simple syrup recipes such as Strawberry Simple Syrup, Blackberry Simple Syrup, Mint Simple Syrup, Jalapeño Simple Syrup, or Lavender Simple Syrup.

You can also add in mint ice cubes from this tutorial on how to freeze mint.

Pro Tips/Recipe Notes

  • If you love a bold, intense lemon taste, add 1-2 tbsp of lemon zest to the lemon juice and sugar mixture while it is heating.
  • Don’t leave the kitchen while the lemon and sugar are simmering. Anytime you’re heating sugar, it has the potential to boil over and cause a giant mess.
  • If you’d like to serve this right away, fill a glass with 1-2 tbsp of concentrate, 8 oz of water, and 4 oz of ice cubes.
frozen blocks of lemonade concentrate with sliced lemons on top an a glass with a straw.
5 from 1 rating

Lemonade Concentrate

Servings: 2 cups
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 5 minutes
Total: 10 minutes
a pitcher and glasses of lemonade with sliced lemons on a board.
This delicious lemonade concentrate is a refreshing homemade drink. Made with freshly squeezed lemons and lightly sweetened, this is a tasty beverage that the whole family will love.

Ingredients 

  • 1 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice {~5-7 large lemons}
  • 1.5 cups sugar {add up to an additional 1/2 cup if desired}

Instructions 

  • Roll lemons on the counter while applying pressure to soften them.
  • Squeeze enough lemons to produce 1 ¼ cup juice. Remove any seeds.
    1 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • Optional: strain to remove pulp.
  • In a medium saucepan combine sugar and lemon juice over medium heat until all the sugar has dissolved. Stir often to prevent the sugar syrup from boiling over.
    1.5 cups sugar
  • Cool the mixture and serve 1 tbsp of lemonade concentrate with 8-12 oz of flat or sparkling water.

Notes

  1. If you love a bold, intense lemon taste, add 1-2 tbsp of lemon zest to the lemon juice and sugar mixture while it is heating.
  2. Don’t leave the kitchen while the lemon and sugar are simmering. Anytime you’re heating sugar, it has the potential to boil over and cause a giant mess.
  3. If you’d like to serve this right away, fill a glass with 1-2 tbsp of concentrate, 8 oz of water, and 4 oz of ice cubes.
  4. Storage
    1. Fridge: Allow the concentrate to cool and store leftovers in an air-tight container in the fridge for 1-2 weeks.
    2. Freezer: Will keep in the freezer for 3-6 months.

Nutrition

Serving: 1tbspCalories: 38kcalCarbohydrates: 10gProtein: 0.03gFat: 0.1gSaturated Fat: 0.004gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.002gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.001gSodium: 0.2mgPotassium: 10mgFiber: 0.03gSugar: 10gVitamin A: 1IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 1mgIron: 0.01mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Fusion
Tried this recipe?Mention @sustainablecooks or tag #sustainablecooks!

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About Sarah Cook

I'm here to help you make easy, seasonal, and no-fuss recipes for yourself and your family.

Whether it's a quick one-pot dinner or if I am teaching you how to can and preserve local produce, you can consider me your elder millennial grandma

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2 Comments

  1. This just unlocked a core memory of making lemonade concentrate with my grandma when I was a kid. I will be making this asap. Thank you for this! 💛