Simple Strawberry Lemon Limeade Recipe
“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!
Recipe Snapshot
Cuisine: American
Cooking Method: Stovetop
Total Time: 10 Minutes
Servings: 10
Primary Ingredient(s): Frozen strawberries, lemons, limes, sugar
Skill Level: Easy
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
You’ll also find this recipe in my cookbook!
You can see this recipe on page 28 of my cookbook, My Southern Table! Get your signed copy today.
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
- 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.
- 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 the sugar substitute in water.
👉 PRO TIP: Simple syrup (which is just 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.
- 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!
- Juice all the lemons and limes (including the ones you previously zested) using a juicer or a hand reamer.
- Add the thawed strawberries with their syrup to a large pitcher.
- 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.
- Be sure to taste the 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 of either) and a splash of Gran Marnier. Or just add a little umbrella and call it a “mocktail.”
- I recommend holding the garnish separately 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.
More Popular Beverage Recipes
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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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
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Remove pan from the heat and add 4 cups of ice cubes.
Ice
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While the sugar-water mixture cools, finely grate the zest from one lime and one lemon. Set aside.
3 limes, 6 large lemons
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Juice the lemons and limes. There should be about 1 ¼ to 1 ½ cups juice.
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Put the thawed strawberries with their syrup in the bottom of a pitcher.
10 ounces frozen strawberries in syrup
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Add the finely grated zest, lemon-lime juice and the cooled sugar-water mixture.
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Add enough additional water to make a total of 8 cups.
Water
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Serve over ice. Garnish with fresh strawberries and/or lemon and lime slices.
- You can use all limes or all lemons in this recipe. Just make sure that you have the total amount of juice needed.
- Hold the garnish on the side until serving the drink. Sometimes citrus oils can be bitter and overpowering if allowed to sit in the liquid for 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.
Serving 1 | Calories 150kcal | Carbohydrates 40g | Protein 1g | Fat 1g | Saturated Fat 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat 1g | Monounsaturated Fat 1g | Sodium 4mg | Potassium 154mg | Fiber 3g | Sugar 33g | Vitamin A 28IU | Vitamin C 57mg | Calcium 29mg | Iron 1mg
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.
