“Summertime and the livin’ is easy…” It sure is! If summer is your favorite season, it’ll only be made better by having a tall glass of this Strawberry Lemon Limeade in your hand.
This 15-minute recipe is the tastiest, most refreshing fruity drink for all your summer activities from pool parties to picnics to cookouts. This is the perfect drink to serve at a cookout featuring BeeBop’s bacon cheeseburgers, southern baked beans, and potato salad!
What You’ll Like About This Recipe
- Not too sweet; not too tart
- Uses easily sourced ingredients
- Versatile – can be served as is or made into an “adult beverage”
- Very quick and easy to make
Ingredient Notes
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- Lemons and Limes (fresh is always best)
- Sugar (you can always substitute an equivalent amount of sugar substitute if you prefer)
- Frozen Strawberries (using thawed, frozen strawberries saves time; you can use fresh but you’ll need to wash and hull them and then crush them with a muddler or give them a quick blitz in a blender or food processor)
The complete ingredient list with detailed measurements is included in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
How to Make Strawberry Lemon Limeade
STEP 1. You’ll start by making a simple syrup of equal parts water and sugar. Bring it to a boil and stir until the sugar completely melts.
STEP 2. Cool the syrup in the refrigerator or add ice to cool it down right away.
NOTE: If you choose to use a sugar substitute in the recipe, you’ll skip the cooking step and just dissolve your sugar substitute in water.
👉 PRO TIP: Simple syrup (equal parts water and sugar) is a great thing to keep on hand in your refrigerator for mixing cocktails and summer drinks. It eliminates the problem of trying to dissolve sugar in a cold drink.
STEP 3. While the syrup is cooling, remove the zest from one lime and one lemon. Set the zest aside.
👉 PRO TIP: A microplane grater makes zesting citrus fruit so easy and gives you a very finely grated zest. Love that tool!
STEP 4. Juice all the lemons and limes (including the ones you previously zested) using a juicer or a hand reamer.
STEP 5. Add the thawed strawberries with their syrup in a large pitcher.
STEP 6. Add the lemon and lime zest, the simple syrup, and the juices. Stir together to blend. Add enough water to make a total of eight cups.
STEP 7. Now, taste your mixture. If you like it less tart, add water a cup at a time until you get just the taste you want. Serve over ice and garnish with fresh strawberries and lemon or lime slices.
Variations, Substitutions, and Tips
- Of course, you can use all limes or all lemons in this recipe. Just make sure that you have at least 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups of juice.
- You can turn this recipe into a cocktail by adding tequila or vodka (about 4 ounces or either) and a splash of Gran Marnier. Or just add a little umbrella and call it a “mocktail.”
- I recommend holding the garnish until serving the drink. Sometimes citrus oils can be bitter and overpowering if allowed to sit in the liquid too long.
- Substitute an equal amount of a sugar substitute if you like. If substituing, you can skip making the simple syrup in steps 1-2.
Questions About Strawberry Lemon Limeade
You can easily substitute an equal amount of fresh strawberries for the frozen berries in this recipe. You’ll need to hull and wash them, then either crush them with a muddler or give them a quick blitz in a blender or food processor.
Simple syrup is a mixture of equal parts sugar and water, cooked until the sugar is dissolved and then cooled. It makes sweetening cold drinks really easy – trying to dissolve sugar into something cold is really difficult (the sugar won’t go into solution and sinks to the bottom) — and simple syrup solves that problem. You can keep it in your refrigerator for about a month.
Actually, yes, you can easily freeze this recipe. Pour it into a freezer safe container, seal it, and keep it in the freezer for up to six months. Even better, freeze it in ice cube trays and add the individual cubes into other drinks such as Sprite or 7-Up.
Have a question or thought to share?
If you have a question about the recipe or if you’ve made it and want to share how it turned out, I would truly enjoy hearing from you. Just scroll down to leave a comment or add your star rating.
Thank you for stopping by. It means a lot to have you here.
Recipe
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Strawberry Lemon Limeade
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup sugar
- 1 ½ cups water
- Ice
- 3 limes
- 6 large lemons
- 10 ounces frozen strawberries in syrup thawed
- Water
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, bring the sugar and water to a boil stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved.1 ½ cup sugar, 1 ½ cups water
- Remove pan from the heat and add 4 cups of ice cubes.Ice
- While the sugar-water mixture cools, finely grate the zest from one lime and one lemon. Set aside.3 limes, 6 large lemons
- Juice the lemons and limes. There should be about 1 ¼ to 1 ½ cups juice.
- Put the thawed strawberries with their syrup in the bottom of a pitcher.10 ounces frozen strawberries in syrup
- Add the finely grated zest, lemon-lime juice and the cooled sugar-water mixture.
- Add enough additional water to make a total of 8 cups.Water
- Serve over ice. Garnish with fresh strawberries and/or lemon and lime slices.
Notes
- You can use all limes or all lemons in this recipe. Just make sure that you have the total amount of juice needed.
- You can easily substitute an equal amount of fresh strawberries for the frozen berries in this recipe. You’ll need to hull and wash them, then either crush them with a muddler or give them a quick blitz in a blender or food processor.
- Turn this recipe into a cocktail by adding tequila or vodka (about 4 ounces of either) and a splash of Gran Marnier. Or just add a little umbrella and call it a “mocktail.”
- Hold the garnish until serving the drink. Sometimes citrus oils can be bitter and overpowering if allowed to sit in the liquid too long.
- Substitute an equal amount of a sugar substitute if you like. If substituting, you can skip making the simple syrup in steps 1-2.
- To freeze, pour into a freezer safe container, seal it, and keep it in the freezer for up to six months. Even better, freeze it in ice cube trays and add the individual cubes into other drinks such as Sprite or 7-Up.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated by software based on the ingredients in each recipe. It is an estimate only and is provided for informational purposes. You should consult your healthcare provider or a registered dietitian if precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.
— This post was originally published on May 10, 2011, and has been updated with new photos and text.
I’m Lana Stuart, an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, and lifelong cook raised deep in Southwest Georgia. I started Lana’s Cooking in 2009 to share the tried-and-true recipes I grew up with. Around here, the food is full of flavor, the traditions run deep, and there’s always room at the table.
MMMM this is soooo sooo good. I made it tonight for dinner. My husband is a diabetic so i used splenda instead of sugar and used strawberries with splenda. I could not find my zester so i did not zest the lemon or limes and it was still very very delish. This for sure will be a summer drink at my house. Thank you for sharing the recipe
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Kayleen! It’s one of our favorites, too. I’m looking forward to glass when the weather is warmer.
Lana, This lemonade just blew my socks off! I’m so glad I stumbled upon this and your site in general. You’ve got some amazing recipes, and I can’t wait to try more. I did repost this recipe on my blog and gave you credit for it. I hope you don’t mind. The whole world needs to witness the wonder of this drink. Thank you for posting it!
Callie
Mmmmm, sounds delish. I have a fantastic little “sunshine drink” of summer I came across recently called Sunny Orange Lemonade”
Delicious, absolutely delicious! Loved it, it was just what i needed on this hot summer!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! And yes, it’s definitely perfect for a hot summer day.
Lovely recipe! I wanted to let you know that I mention and link to your recipe on a post I did on simple syrups and summer cocktails :-) http://www.katherinemartinelli.com/blog/2011/four-simple-syrup-recipes-and-a-grenadine/
where can you find those great straws?
Gwyn – I ordered those from Bake it Pretty (www.bakeitpretty.com). They have lots of great stuff!
This sounds like a perfect drink for the Summer! Love it!
omg yum!!
hitting 90 the last few days – miss that cool spell we had just a few weeks ago … your drink would be so refreshing right now, gonna do some yard work so just might make up a batch
When you’re done, just pack up your rake and mower and wheelbarrow and head on over this way. I’ll make you a pitcher of this lemonade :-)
Great drink for summer!
Sounds perfect Lana…I love the addition of some lime! I’m thinking I might also love the addition of some Spanish Cava or white wine. :)
Sounds really good to me!
Growing up, my mom used to take me to a little neighborhood cafe on our special mom-daughter lunches and the place served Strawberry-Lemonade once the weather was nice enough to sit outside. I ordered it every time, without fail. This looks wonderful – a tall glass of childhood memories for me!
You know, nothing pleases me more than when one of my recipes brings back a treasured memory for a reader. Thanks for sharing your memory.
Delicious! I went to a Sonic for the very first time on our trip across country last summer. I tried the Cherry Limeade version. Yum!
I love Sonic – mostly for the drinks! They have some delicious lemonade combos there.
My kids want to have a lemonade stand at our garage sale next week. This will be used.
Great! Be sure taste it since it’s pretty tart. You may want to add a touch more water for kids.
oh my god that looks delicious!! I have a terrible weakness for lemons and limes and strawberries
Bookmarked I am a huge fan here of this one and its healthy….lemon is perfect for many things in the body and lime as well!
Thanks, Claudia! I hope that if you try it you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.
Oh, that looks soooo good! Wish I had a glass right now. The thermometer is reading 95.
I wish you had a glass of it, too. ‘Cause that would mean you were at my house! Be careful in that heat, Mama.
That looks so refreshing! My mouth is watering.
It really is, Amy. I was just thinking about it and had to go pour myself another glass full.
This sounds so refreshing, Lana. I think it was just meant to be that you didn’t have enough lemons and added some limes instead – that combination sounds wonderful to me.
Interesting how not having all the ingredients you think you need sometimes leads to something wonderful.