Single Serving Lemonade with Lemon Juice (a glass of lemonade)

Name: Single Serving Lemonade with Lemon Juice (a glass of lemonade)
Prep time: 2 min
Cook time: 1 min
Total time: 3 min
Ingredients: 1/4 cup lemon juice (squeeze 2 fresh lemons or use bottled organic lemon juice); 1/3 cup hot water (microwaved for 1 minute); 1 tbsp cane sugar (Use organic cane sugar for flavor); 1/16 tsp salt* (or a pinch); 2/3 cup cold water; 1/2 cup ice

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Learn how to make a single serving lemonade with lemon juice in minutes. This easy glass of lemonade is tart yet sweet and made with only 2 lemons or bottled lemon juice, and without a blender or juicer.

A single serving lemonade recipe that makes a glass of lemonade for one using lemon juice and a few others including salt, an ingredient that actually makes sugar taste sweeter. Use freshly squeezed lemon juice or make your lemonade with bottled lemon juice.

Sweeten it with sugar or blend up green grapes to make a fruit sweetened glass of lemonade. No blender or juicer is needed either way, just stir it up in a glass and drink! Like my watermelon juice, and my yellow dragon fruit lemonade, and my homemade easy iced coffee, this drink will fast become your favorite summer beverage.

A pitcher of lemonade is a wonderful thing, and here is my fruit lemonade recipe so you can feed family or friends, but if you want a single glass, about 10 ounces, to enjoy and just 2 minutes, then keep reading to learn how to make one glass of lemonade.

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Why You'll Love This
Ingredients
Substitutions
Step by Step Instructions
Recipe Tips
Make Ahead & Storage
Variations
FAQS
📖 Recipe

Why You'll Love This

Learn How to Make One Glass. It's easy to make a single glass with lemons, hot water, sugar or grapes. Serve over ice in a glass or mason jar in under 2 minutes.

Benefits of this homemade lemonade recipe. Homemade single serving of lemonade will run you about the cost of a lemon, whereas a 16-ounce bottle of store-bought lemonade starts at $3 and the cost only rises. Homemade lemonade is healthier with no additives and food dyes found in store bought lemonade, and you control the sugar.

Added Salt & Benefits. This recipe uses simple ingredients and is unique with the added salt. Salt enhances the sweet flavor, counteracts lemon's sour tendencies, and reduces acidity which brightens the flavor of the drink. Salt also adds more hydrating electrolytes and lemon juice in general can support healthy blood pressure levels. [source]

Ingredients

Lemon juice. Either use 2 lemons that you will cut and juice, or measure out ¼ cup of organic bottled lemon juice. Fresh juice is more flavorful, but organic lemon juices come close. This brand is my favorite.

Sugar. Use any cane sugar but I recommend organic cane sugar because it has a better flavor. Mix with water to make a simple syrup.

Water. You'll need ⅓ cup of hot water, heated for 1 minute in the microwave, as well as ⅔ cup of cold water.

Salt. For 10 ounces of lemonade, you'll want to add 1/16 teaspoon of salt (or a pinch) to the drink. Salt, or sodium chloride boosts the sweet flavor of lemons, and makes the flavor more vibrant.

See the recipe card at the bottom for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions

Instead of sugar use green grapes. Blending 4-6 single grapes in the 10 ounces of lemonade will be enough to sweeten it as sugar would yet will keep the drink fruit-sweetened.

Step by Step Instructions

The detailed recipe is at the bottom of this post, but here are general steps.

steps 1 and 2 of making single serving lemonade.

Step 1: Heat ⅓ cup of water in the microwave for 1 minute. If you don't heat the water, the sugar won't dissolve well. I use a pyrex (heat safe) 16-ounce measuring cup so I can make the entire glass of lemonade in the same container. (Image 1)

Step 2: Stir the sugar and water until sugar is dissolved, about 15 seconds. (Image 2)

steps 3 and 4 of making single serving lemonade.

Step 3: Stir in salt until dissolved, another few seconds. (Image 3)

Step 4: Pour in ⅔ cup of cold water and give it a quick stir. (Image 4)

steps 5 and 6 of making single serving lemonade.

Step 5: Add either ¼ cup of bottled lemon juice or freshly squeezed. So, the basic juice-to-water ratio for this single serving of freshly squeezed lemonade is ¼ cup juice in 1 cup of water. (Image 5)

How to squeeze lemons. Most lemons yield about 2 tablespoons of juice, but using these tricks perhaps you can get more. Wash a lemon and microwave it for 15 seconds, and then roll it back and forth under the heel of your hand with mild force. Both tactics will make the lemon release more juice.

Step 6: Pour the resulting lemonade over ice and enjoy your single serving glass of lemonade! (Image 6)

Recipe Tips

Add salt: I highly recommend adding the salt to this lemonade. The difference is memorable. Salt enhances the sweet flavor of your lemonade; it also diminishes any bitterness from your lemon juice and reduces acidity which brightens the flavor of the drink.

Serve chilled. This lemonade tastes better icy cold so either refrigerate it or drink it over ice but fast before the ice melts and waters it down.

Adjust sugar. Taste-test the lemonade once you've stirred it up, and feel free to add more sugar or lemon juice to accommodate your personal tastes. And swap out the sugar for your favorite sweetener.

Make Ahead & Storage

You can make this recipe 5 days ahead if you want, and it will stay delicious, covered, in the refrigerator. Don't store with any added ice or it will melt and dilute your lemonade.

Variations

Add fruits, such as ¼ cup chopped strawberries, plums or kiwi.

Freeze lemonade in ice cube trays so you have it onhand to chill your drink without watering it down.

Add to seltzer water for a sparkling lemonade.

overhead of an ice-filled glass of lemonade

FAQS

What does salt do to lemonade?

Salt makes sugar taste sweeter, thus enhanceing the sweet flavor of your lemonade. It also diminishes any bitterness from your lemon juice and reduces acidity which brightens the flavor of the drink. [source]

How much is 1 lemon juiced?

One lemon when squeezed or juiced typically provides 2 tablespoons of juice, sometimes 3 tablespoons.

Is bottled organic lemon juice healthy?

Bottled organic lemon juice tastes closely to freshly squeezed lemons because it has no additives. However bottled juice probably does not have the concentration of vitamin C that freshly squeezed lemon juice will contribute.

How many lemons needed to make 1 glass of lemonade?

It takes about 2 lemons to make a cup or more of lemonade.

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