4 Texas-Fresh Lemonade Recipes
What do you do when life gives you too much heat? In Texas, we make lemonade. Whether it’s the old-fashioned kind or lemonade with a twist, nothing quenches summer thirst like fresh-squeezed lemonade. Pucker up for these sweet summertime recipes.
Five-Star Lemonade
Start with this classic recipe, or mix it up using any of the ideas below.
- Ingredients: 1 cup sugar, 1 cup lemon juice (6 to 8 large lemons), 4 cups water
- Method: Make a simple syrup by dissolving the sugar in 1 cup of water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Let cool. In a large bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and simple syrup. Add remaining 3 cups of water. Serve chilled over ice.
- Yield: 4 cups.
Ginger-Mint Spritzer
- Ingredients: 1 cup sugar, 1 cup lemon juice, 2 cups water, 1 teaspoon powdered ginger, 2 cups club soda, mint leaves to garnish.
- Method: Make five-star lemonade but add only 1 cup of water instead of 3. Add ginger and club soda, stir, and pour into glasses over ice. Garnish with mint.
- Yield: 4 cups.
Jalapeño Lemon-Limeade
- Ingredients: 1 cup sugar, ½ cup lemon juice, ½ cup lime juice, 1 jalapeño, chili-lime salt.
- Method: Make five-star lemonade but using half lemon juice and half lime juice. Add a jalapeño sliced lengthwise into narrow strips, steep for 15 minutes, then strain. Pour chili-lime salt onto a small saucer; lightly dip wetted glass rims into the chili-lime salt. Fill glasses with ice and pour over lemonade. Garnish with extra jalapeño slices.
- Yield: 4 cups.
Watermelon-Basil Slushie
- Ingredients: 1 cup sugar, 1 cup lemon juice, 3 cups water, 5 cups cubed watermelon, 10 fresh basil leaves.
- Method: Make five-star lemonade (less 1 cup of water). Puree watermelon and basil in a blender, then stir 3 cups of it into the lemonade. Pour over ice-filled glasses.
- Yield: 4 cups.
Other Lemonade Twists
Fresh herbs. Play around. Rosemary, thyme, mint, basil, lavender, and fennel all like lemons and lemonade. To get the biggest herb flavor, add your herbs to the still-warm simple syrup and let the mixture steep for a half-hour before making your lemonade.
Sugar alternatives. Agave, maple syrup, and honey can be swapped out for the “great white” used here.
Frozen. Pour lemonade into a shallow dish and pop it into the freezer. Every 20 minutes or so, scrape back the ice that’s formed on the top. In a couple of hours, you’ll have lemon granita.
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