Homemade Fresh Lemon Drink

Yield: about 3 liters
Prep time: 20–25 minutes
Chilling time: 2–4 hours
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Fresh lemons	10–12 large
Cold water	2.5 liters
Granulated sugar	300–400 g
Lemon zest	From 2 lemons
Honey	2 tbsp, optional
Salt	1 small pinch
Ice	As needed
Lemon slices	For serving
Fresh mint	Optional

For a stronger lemon flavor: use 12 lemons and 350–400 g sugar.
For a less-sweet drink: use 250–300 g sugar.

Method

Wash the lemons very well.
Scrub the skins, particularly if you intend to use the zest.
Make the lemon syrup.
Put 500 ml water + the sugar + lemon zest into a saucepan. Heat gently, stirring until the sugar has completely dissolved. Don’t boil for a long time.
Remove from the heat and let the syrup cool completely.
Juice the lemons.
You should get approximately 500–650 ml fresh lemon juice, depending on the lemons.
Strain the juice through a fine sieve to remove seeds and excess pulp.
In a large pitcher or food-safe container, combine:
- cooled lemon syrup
- lemon juice
- remaining 2 liters cold water
- pinch of salt
- honey, if using.
Stir thoroughly and taste.
- Too sour → add a little more sugar.
- Too sweet → add more lemon juice or water.
- Too strong → dilute with cold water.
- Want it more refreshing → add ice and mint.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Pour into clean bottles and keep refrigerated. Shake gently before serving because natural lemon pulp can settle.

For the same presentation as your picture

Fill attractive glass bottles with the chilled lemonade, then serve in glasses over ice. Add a thin lemon slice to the rim and a few mint leaves. You can also make it slightly more concentrated before bottling and dilute individual servings with cold or sparkling water.

Nutrition information

Approximate values per 250 ml serving, assuming 350 g sugar and 550 ml lemon juice in the entire 3-liter batch:

Calories: ~125 kcal
Carbohydrates: ~32 g
Total sugars: ~30–31 g
Protein: ~0.2 g
Fat: ~0 g
Saturated fat: 0 g
Fiber: ~0.2–0.5 g
Sodium: ~5–15 mg
Cholesterol: 0 mg

The exact nutrition will vary with the size and amount of lemons and how much sugar you use.

Important note about the lemons

For this style of drink, the juice—not the white pith—is what you want. If you use zest to flavor the syrup, grate only the thin yellow outer layer. The white pith can make the drink noticeably bitter. Traditional limoncello recipes likewise emphasize removing only the yellow zest and avoiding pith.

Storage

Keep the finished drink refrigerated in clean, sealed bottles. Because this is fresh lemonade without a commercial preservative, I recommend consuming it within 3–5 days for best quality.

If by “nut info” you meant complete nutrition facts, I can also calculate the recipe per bottle, per glass, and for the entire batch, including calories, carbs, sugar, fiber, sodium, vitamin C, etc.

Author
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Sara Mitchell

Sara Mitchell is an expert restaurant content creator who writes easy-to-read guides about CAVA and other Mediterranean fast-casual chains in the United States. She covers locations, menus, prices, and hours, making it simple for visitors to find nearby restaurants and what to order quickly.

With years of experience in restaurant research and local SEO, Sara creates accurate, user-friendly guides that work for both people and search engines. Her goal is to help users go from search results to their nearest restaurant or menu choice with as few clicks as possible.