Whip up a glass of freshly squeezed single serving lemonade in under 5 minutes with just a few ingredients! With just a cup of lemonade, there's no sharing required!
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Upon arriving home from vacation and looking into an empty fridge, I found three sources of substance. Leftover lemon cookies, sandwich bread, and 1 lemon.
And since I spent way too much money on eating out while on vacation, I decided it was time to get creative. So I whipped up a peanut butter sandwich, glass of lemonade, and topped it all off with a few bites of a leftover sugar cookie.
Ingredients to Make a Glass of Lemonade:
- Lemon
- Water
- Sugar
No big pitcher or premade mix required, just some good ol' water, sugar, and lemon juice to make a nice and refreshing glass of lemonade. The perfect drink to soothe a sore throat on a 90 degree day.
How to Make Lemonade with Lemon Juice
- Step 1: Cut the lemon in half and squeeze over a bowl. If you have a lemon squeezer tool, this typically works best to get all the juice out but using your hands is just fine.
- Step 2: Remove any seeds that may have landed in the bowl during squeezing.
- Step 3: Heat ¼ cup of water in the microwave (or if your faucet gets super hot, this works too). Once hot, stir in sugar until dissolved. (If you were to just stir the sugar in cold water, it would be grainy.)
- Step 4: Add cold water and lemon juice, stir, top with ice, and you've got yourself a freshly squeezed glass of lemonade!
How many lemons does it take to make a glass of lemonade?
It only takes about 1 large lemon to make a glass of lemonade.
Single Serving Freshly Squeezed Lemonade
Ingredients
- ¼ cup hot water
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ¾ cup cold water
- 3 Tablespoons FRESH Lemon Juice About 1 large lemon or 2 small
- Lots of ice!
Before you begin! If you make this, will you do me a huge favor and leave a review and rating letting me know how you liked this recipe? This helps my small business thrive so I can continue providing free recipes and high-quality content for you.
Instructions
- In a large cup, stir the hot water (¼ cup) and granulated sugar (2 tablespoons) together until dissolved. (For a less sweet drink, start with 1 ½ tablespoons of sugar and add the remaining ½ tablespoon at the end if you want it sweeter.) For lemons that are more tart, you may need to add a little more sugar.
- Add in cold water (¾ cup) and fresh lemon juice (3 tablespoons), then mix.
- Top with ice!
Last Step! Please leave a review and rating letting me know how you liked this recipe! This helps my small business thrive so I can continue providing free recipes and high-quality content for you.
Notes
Nutrition
With summer pretty much here (how is tomorrow June?!), I anticipate lots of lemonade in my future. As a wise ol' man once said, "Where there is heat, there shall be lemonade..."
Throwing a summer lemonade party? Check out more ideas below!
Barbara
Fantastic recipe. I often throw out leftover lemons but from now on I’ll make lemonade.
Melissa
Thank you so much for leaving a review, Barbara! :)
Barbara
Great lemonade. Thank you for posting the recipe.
Melissa
Thank you for leaving a review, Barbara! I really appreciate it!
Roger, age 8 (with his mom’s permission)
The lemonade was very sweet and good it made me think of the Disney frozen lemonade.
Melissa
I'll take that comparison any day! Thanks for leaving a review, Roger! :)
Wanda Hendrix
Very good and easy
Joanne
This will be a delicious break from the syrupy, sicky-sweet quick-grab drinks!
Instead of a lemonade, I made a lemon-lime drink. I juiced both pieces of fruit together & set it aside to follow your recipe (sans ice, since it was 4:30 AM on a winter morning!). In fact, it tasted so good that I used the lemon/lime combo in my hot water & honey this morning instead of just the lemon. It was good!
This recipe produces a delicious, thirst quenching refreshment option that will grace my fridge often! I love that it's something I can share with my grandkids without wondering about what chemicals are going into their growing bodies. It's also a great beginner level recipe that I cal (and will) make with & teach to my 8 yr old granddaughter! She loves lemon & something this simple that tastes so good? She'll be delighted to make it at home with her Mom or Dad!
Thank you for sharing this! Just a little single server, yet it delivered a tidy package of bonus happiness when it landed on mu screen this morning! :)
Melissa
I'm so glad you enjoyed this recipe, Joanne! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review!
Teemun Store
Lemonade is one of the best fruit. I love it!
Priscilla
Love it, perfect for 2 cup recipe. I used honey instead of sugar. It soothed my throat right away!
Melissa
So glad you loved this recipe, Priscilla! Substituting honey sounds delicious! Thanks for leaving a review!
Brittany
I used bottle lemon juice, so not exactly to recipe, but still really good.
Melissa
I am glad that you were able to make the recipe even with the bottled lemon juice Brittany!
Thank you for leaving your review - I so appreciate it!
LOIS
Wanted some cold lemonade and this fit the bill. Easy and refreshing. Thank you, Melissa, for this 1-glass fresh-lemonade recipe.
Melissa
So glad that you enjoyed this recipe Lois!
Than you for taking the time to leave a review, I appreciate it.
Joanie
Perfect recipe, so yummy and refreshing!
Melissa
Happy that you enjoyed this recipe Joanie!
Andrea
I love this. This is my go-to lemonade recipe! If you are questioning trying it out, take my advice: go for it!
Melissa
So glad that you enjoyed this lemonade recipe Andrea! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review - I appreciate it!
Logan Walker
Extremely friggin good, perfectly sweet and sour, but you might wanna wait a few minutes before drinking to let the hot and cold water combine lol
Melissa
Glad that you enjoyed the Lemonade Logan!
Maggie
I love this recipe! I like my lemonade extra tart so I quartered the amount of sugar, but this is a great base!
Melissa
So glad that you were able to enjoy and customize your lemonade Maggie.
Thank you for leaving a review!
Ann Carter
Perfect for when I want just one glass of fresh cold lemonade! Perfect every time!
Melissa
I am so glad that you enjoyed the recipe Ann, thank you for leaving your review!
Margie
Very yummy and so easy
Melissa
I am so glad that you enjoyed the recipe and found it easy to follow!
Judi
I made it no-sugar with allulose. Diabetic friendly!
Delicious!
Melissa
That is fantastic Judi, I am glad that you were able to modify and enjoy it!
Janice
I have made this 2 times now & love that I can make my own glass of lemonade! Sweet, tart, perfect
Melissa
I am so glad that you have enjoyed this recipe Janice, thank you for taking the time to leave a review!
Erika
I really wanted a drink tonight. I have vodka but no mixer. Not a fan of vodka neat. But I do have fresh lemons!
I whipped up 2 single servings at once and here I am. Having the most delicious vodka and lemonade ever.
I definitely tried it without vodka and WOW! So easy and really refreshing. ❤️❤️
Melissa
Glad that you were able to enjoy it with your own spin Erika!
Sam
It was very easy to follow. We have tons of lemons that go in the trash. Now I can make this!
Larasati
Perfect recipe 👌 found this on a whim when I had a craving for lemonade. Switched out sugar for Splenda Natural since I'm on keto.