While Ella and I love making our own sugar-free lemonade and homemade orange juice, I wanted something new and exciting this summer so we set out to experiment with making a Strawberry Lemonade Recipe to rival the ones available at gourmet coffee shops. This recipe was our favorite!

Ella and I experimented for an afternoon with different strawberry concoctions – making our own strawberry syrup, trying various sugar-free versions of this lemonade, and also trying different steeping methods. It was a really cool way to show her how different kitchen processes can result in slightly different results – a tasty science experiment! We both agreed that the strawberry simple syrup was most like the strawberry lemonade Ella always asks for when I get a specialty coffee.

No Cook Option: If you don’t want to use the stove at all during this recipe, we had some success soaking a handful of berries in 1/2 cup of sugar for 20 minutes and then straining the berries – leaving a thin strawberry syrup. Add this to some water with a squeeze of lemon juice.

(We added the mint in later versions and that is now our standard way of enjoying this, but you can skip the mint if you’d prefer.)

While I pride myself on the number of healthy, sugar-free recipes available on this site (including our Black Bean Brownies and Sugar-free Banana Bread), when you’re trying to make a copycat version of something, sometimes you need a bit of sugar to get the exact results.

However, if you’d prefer to use honey, an alternative is to steep the strawberries and honey in hot water and then refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving over ice.

How to Make Strawberry Lemonade

First gather your ingredients:

• 2 cups water
• 2 cups sugar
• 6 large strawberries, chopped
• Zest of one lemon
• 8 mint leaves
• 2 cups ice
• Mint sprigs, for garnish
• 4 strawberries, sliced for serving

First, you’re going to make your strawberry simple syrup. This is the base of all of your lemonades and one batch will make several glasses – our batch lasts us for a couple of weeks! You can also double the batch if you desire.

Simple syrup is made by combining equal parts water and sugar in a saucepan and bringing to a gentle boil, before reducing to let simmer. You want the syrup to remain clear and the liquid to reduce in size by half, resulting in a thick syrup resembling white corn syrup.

For this simple syrup, you’re first going to boil the strawberries in the water, until the red colour has left the strawberries. Strain out the strawberries but avoid the temptation to squish them to extract more flavor – this will result in a cloudy syrup.

Add the sugar and lemon zest to the red water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

Reduce to simmer until the liquid is halved and resembles a thick syrup.

Allow the syrup to cool before storing in your syrup canister of choice – we like using a mason jar.

To serve the lemonade, fill a pitcher with 3-4 cups of water and the strawberry simple syrup. Mix in 2 cups ice, mint leaves and sliced strawberries.

Pour into the individual glasses and garnish with a mint sprig and cute straw!

(You may want to experiment first with how strong you like the strawberry syrup in your drinks.)

Here is your free printable for our Strawberry Mint Lemonade recipe:

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Strawberry Mint Lemonade

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Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• 2 cups sugar
• 6 large strawberries, chopped
• Zest of one lemon
• 8 mint leaves
• 2 cups ice
• Mint sprigs, for garnish
• 4 strawberries, sliced for serving

Instructions

1. First going to boil the strawberries in the water, until the red colour has left the strawberries. Strain out the strawberries but avoid the temptation to squish them to extract more flavor - this will result in a cloudy syrup.
3. Add the sugar and lemon zest to the red water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
5. Reduce to simmer until the liquid is halved and resembles a thick syrup.
7. Allow the syrup to cool before storing in your syrup canister of choice.
9. To serve the lemonade, fill a pitcher with 3-4 cups of water and the strawberry simple syrup. Mix in 2 cups ice, mint leaves and sliced strawberries.
11. Pour into the individual glasses and garnish with a mint sprig and cute straw!
13. (You may want to experiment first with how strong you like the strawberry syrup in your drinks.)
15. No Cook Option If you don't want to use the stove at all during this recipe, we had some success soaking a handful of berries in 1/2 cup of sugar for 20 minutes and then straining the berries - leaving a thin strawberry syrup. Add this to some water with a squeeze of lemon juice.

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For more summer berry recipes that kids can make, check out:

Forest Berries | Royal Little Lambs

Strawberry Pretzel Salad/Dessert | The Gifted Gabber

Healthy Frozen Raspberry and Yogurt Dessert {Dairy-Free & Gluten-Free} | Living Montessori Now