A Southern staple every summertime alongside iced tea, all you need is three ingredients (water, sugar, and lemon juice) to make this refreshingly sweet old-fashioned lemonade recipe.

This old-fashioned lemonade recipe makes homemade lemonade without all the mess but with all the flavor. Now, whenever you see old-fashioned homemade lemonade where I’m from, it’s usually served out of an old pickle jar and stirred with a stick! Homemade lemonade is a staple in the South for summertime, along with iced tea. It’s pretty served with a slice of lemon on the side (if you have it) and that also allows those who like it a little more tart to customize things a bit.

There is nothing like a glass of old-fashioned lemonade on a hot summer day, as it’s the perfect blend of sweet and tart. Plus, all you need is three ingredients: water, sugar, and lemon juice. You just need to dissolve the sugar in the water over heat and combine it with cold water and lemon juice. This is such a quick and easy old-fashioned lemonade recipe that I just know your family will ask for it again and again this summer! It’s so refreshing and smooth-tasting.

And remember, life may be full of lemons but when you take those lemons and have the wisdom to know what to add, they sure do make for some delicious days.

Now let’s make ourselves some lemonade.

Recipe Ingredients

Lemon juice
Granulated sugar
Water

How to Make Old-Fashioned Lemonade

First, place a cup of water and your sugar in a medium saucepot. Bring this to boil (or close) over medium to medium-high heat while stirring constantly.

I’m not kidding about stirring constantly because if you don’t your sugar will scorch and your lemonade will be bitter. We do not want that!

Once all of the sugar is dissolved it will become clear again. At this point, you can take it off of the heat.

A lot of people will tell you that this needs to cool before making the lemonade but we don’t have that kind of time.

I mean, have you seen my house lately? No, no you haven’t. And there is a reason for that. But I digress…

The main reason for cooling it is that if you are mixing it up in a glass pitcher and pour the hot syrup in, it might cause the glass to break.

We just get around that by adding a few inches of cold water to our pitcher first, then the lemon juice, then the sugar syrup, and give it a good stir. From there, add enough cold water to fill your pitcher, and VOILA!

See how easy it was to take something sour and make it sweet? Life lesson there.

Drink up and enjoy your delicious homemade lemonade!

Storage

Store leftover lemonade in its pitcher in the fridge for up to 7 days.

Recipe Notes

If you woke up with it on your heart this morning to juice fresh lemons, please do so. You will need between 6 and 8 fresh lemons to make this amount of lemon juice. If you decide to make this old-fashioned lemonade with bottled juice like I do and have one of those friends who looks down their noses at it because you didn’t use fresh lemons, tell them you were trying to help the bottled juice recover from the cruel rejection suffered at their hands. It’s all about balance :).
If you use fresh lemons, let them stand at room temperature and roll them on a counter while pushing down firmly. This will make them easier to juice.
For a tropical touch, garnish your lemonade glass with a lemon wedge, mint sprigs, or a cherry.
To turn homemade lemonade into a cocktail, add a shot of vodka.
For a stronger lemon flavor, you can add 1 tablespoon of grated lemon zest or the lemon rind from 1 lemon to the simple syrup. Remove the rind before pouring it into the pitcher.
Check out these different variations:
- For limeade, simply swap the lemon juice for lime juice.
- For lavender lemonade, add 2 tablespoons of dried lavender to the sugar water mixture and strain before adding it to the pitcher.
- Alternatively, make strawberry lemonade by adding two tablespoons of fresh strawberry puree to the pitcher and stirring well.
- For sparkling old-fashioned lemonade, substitute the cold water in the pitcher for cold sparkling water.

You might also enjoy these other delicious homemade drink recipes:

Tropical Pink: A Non-Alcoholic Fun Fruity Drink For Summer

How to Make Cold Brew at Home

Watermelonade Recipe

Cherry Limeade

Fresh StrawberryAde

Delicious Party Punch