Easy Lemonade Recipe (3 Ingredients!) - Chef Savvy (2024)

This Old Fashioned Lemonade recipe is tart, sweet, and refreshing — perfect for a breezy spring day or hot summer afternoon! Garnish with lemon slices, fresh berries, a sugared rim, fresh mint leaves, or a splash of your favorite sparkling water.

Love fresh, homemade beverages? Then try my Easy Limemade recipe and my Skinny Orange Crush recipe!

Homemade Old Fashioned Lemonade

Homemade lemonade is a lot simpler than you think, especially this recipe! The hardest part is waiting for the simple syrup to cool before taking that first, revitalizing sip of the best homemade lemonade.

Ahhhh I can picture it now. My feet up, sipping this old fashioned lemonade out of my mason jar on a balmy summer day. These are the days I look forward to all year long!

I love to keep my lemonade simple, so this recipe only calls for water, sugar, and fresh-squeezed lemon juice. But you can mix things up with the garnishes! I like a lemon wedge and mint leaves, but a sprig of rosemary or thyme, fresh basil leaves, some fresh berries, or a splash of sparkling water in a sugar-rimmed glass would also be divine. If you’re looking to turn this childhood classic into an adult co*cktail, just add a splash of your favorite vodka, flavored rum, Prosecco, or champagne. Or try my Spiked Berry Lemonade!

Key Ingredients

This old fashioned lemonade has only three ingredients — sugar, water, and lemon. The sugar and water create a simple syrup when heated together that’s added to the freshly squeezed lemon juice. That’s it!

As for the garnish, get creative! Add some fresh strawberries, blueberries, or (my favorite) blackberries. I like to add mint to my lemonade and have since upgraded to basil. It adds a nice fragrance to the lemonade and is also a beautiful garnish.

You can easily substitute lime for the recommended lemon in this recipe to make a refreshing limeade.

How To Juice Lemons

• Roll the lemon to help loosen the flesh from the peel and release the juices easily. The average lemon has about 3 tablespoons of juice, so if you are not getting that much keep squeezing!
• Microwave the lemons. Seriously! It’s good to keep your lemons out at room temperature before juicing. If they have been in the fridge, try this microwave tip. Microwave for about 20 seconds to extract more juice from your lemons. Allow to cool and juice.
• Use a juicer made for citrus to squeeze out every last drop of that liquid gold. Your hands will work, too, but squeeze hard!

How To Make Old Fashioned Lemonade

• Make the Simple Syrup: Combine sugar and water in a medium-sized saucepan over high heat. (Ratio is 1:1.) Boil until the sugar has completely dissolved and stir constantly (about 2-3 minutes). Remove from heat, and place in the fridge until cool (or allow to cool at room temperature).

• Mix Everything Together: Combine the simple syrup, water, and lemon juice in a pitcher. Stir to combine, and fill with ice. That’s it! Pour up, garnish as desired, and enjoy.

TIP: Take your simple syrup up a notch by infusing it with lemon peel or fresh herbs like basil or rosemary. This is next level good!

Storage and Freezing Instructions

• Store homemade lemonade in the pitcher you used to make it in your fridge for up to 5 days (but I doubt it’ll last that long!).
• You can freeze this lemonade to make slushies or to make ice cubes with so your lemonade later on doesn’t get watered down. You could also freeze the simple syrup and lemon juice separately, if needed, but this recipe is simple enough to make on demand.

More Homemade Beverages To Try

If you liked this simple Old Fashioned Lemonade, then you’ll love some of my other drink recipes perfect for spring and summer:

• Easy Homemade Limeade
• Classic Mint Mojito
• Frozen Mixed Berry Lemonade
• White Wine Sangria
• Cranberry Margaritas