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. Enjoy with one of my favorite cookies, a copycat milano cookies or a chocolate chip cookies without brown sugar.
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
Learn How to Make One Glass of Lemonade. It's easy to make a single glass of lemonade with just two lemons. Dissolve some sugar in microwaved hot water, or blend up grapes, add lemon juice and salt. You'll pouring yourself a single serving of refreshing lemonade over ice into a mason jar in under 2 minutes.
Cost Effective & Healthier. 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.
Added Salt & Benefits. 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. Some bottled juices are less flavorful than freshly squeezed lemon juice, but some organic lemon juices are equally delicious. This brand is my favorite.
Sugar. Use any cane sugar, aka granulated sugar, but I am here to tell you that organic cane sugar, which is less refined than traditional cane sugar, has a better flavor.
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.
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.
Equipment & Supplies
- Mason jars with handles (or your favorite glass)
- Pyrex (heat safe) measuring cup (optional)
- Lemon hand juicer (Or use bottled organic lemon juice)
- Glass straws
Step by Step Instructions
The detailed recipe is at the bottom of this post, but here are general steps.
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 in the sugar until it is dissolved, about 15 seconds. (Image 2)
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)
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)
Step 6: Pour the resulting glass of lemonade over ice and enjoy your single serving glass of lemonade! (Image 6)
Recipe Tips
Add the 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.
Flavor enhancement. 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.
Sweetness adjustments. Be sure to taste-test the lemonade once you've stirred it up, and feel free to add a touch more sugar or lemon juice if needed to accommodate your personal tastes.
If making this lemonade recipe with bottled lemon juice, be sure to buy organic lemon juice and avoid any version with additives.
Make Ahead & Storage
You can make this single serving lemonade 5 days ahead if you want, and it will stay delicious, covered, in the refrigerator.
Variations
Strawberry Lemonade
To use strawberries to sweeten this single glass of lemonade, follow these steps.
- Wash and hull 3 strawberries.
- Blend them with ¼ cup of lemon juice (either from fresh, juiced lemons or from organic lemon juice), ¾ cup of cold water, and 1/16 teaspoon or a pinch of salt.
- Pour the mixture through a strainer to remove the pulp.
- Pour over ice and enjoy!
FAQS
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]
One lemon when squeezed or juiced typically provides 2 tablespoons of juice, sometimes 3 tablespoons.
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.
It takes about 2 lemons to make a cup or more of lemonade.
More Refreshing Drinks
If you tried this Single Serving Lemonade Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
📖 Recipe
Single Serving Lemonade with Lemon Juice (a glass of lemonade)
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¼ cup lemon juice squeeze 2 fresh lemons or use bottled organic lemon juice
- ⅓ cup hot water microwaved for 1 minute
- 1 tablespoon cane sugar Use organic cane sugar for flavor
- 1/16 teaspoon salt* or a pinch
- ⅔ cup cold water
- ½ cup ice
Instructions
- Heat ⅓ cup of water in the microwave for 1 minute.⅓ cup hot water
- Stir in the sugar and dissolve, stirring about 15 seconds.1 tablespoon cane sugar
- Stir in the salt, and dissolve, stirring a few seconds.1/16 teaspoon salt*
- Add in ⅔ cup of cold water, and give it a single stir.⅔ cup cold water
- Juice Lemons or Measure Juice. Wash 2 fresh lemons. Microwave each whole separately, then roll ten times under your palm. Cut it in half and juice. Use a hand juicer or your hands. Remove seeds. You can also use bottled organic lemon juice.
- Add the lemon juice to the water with dissolved sugar & salt.¼ cup lemon juice
- Pour over ice and enjoy!½ cup ice
Stan
This recipe is so lemony! I love it, thank you.
Dee Dine
Thank you!