A healthy pear lemonade that is homemade and sweetened with fruit and without sugar. It's easy to make in just a blender in 5 minutes with just two whole food ingredients - pears and lemons. A nutritious and delicious summer drink.
1cup (140g)pear (2-3, roughly peeled, chopped) Buy organic as pears can absorb pesticides more so than many other fruits
6lemonssqueezed for about 1 cup (250ml) juice
5cups (1250ml)water
Optional
1lemon, sliced for garnish
1lime, slice for garnish
3kumquats, slice for garnish
Instructions
Prepare lemons for juicing
Wash the lemons with soap and water, and rinse thoroughly and dry with a clean paper towel.
6 lemons
Put them two at a time in the microwave in an uncovered bowl and microwave for 10 seconds.
Lay a paper towel or flat dish on the counter. Then roll each lemon hard between the counter top and the palm of a clean hand twice. This explodes the inner flesh so you can extract more juice.
Juice the lemons
Slice the lemons in half and either squeeze over a bowl by hand, or use a manual juicer.
6 lemons
Once the lemons are juiced, remove the inner white pith from some of the peel and chop the yellow part. You want at least ¼ cup of peel, chopped and without pith.
Spread this peel on a clean flat dish or cutting board, and press hard with the back of a spoon. You are releasing the oils from the peel to add flavor to your lemonade. Scoop the chopped and crushed peel into the blender.
Make syrup from pears
Peel the pears. You can leave little bits of peel if you intend to strain your lemonade. Add the pears to your blender along with two cups of water. Process until the pears are blended.
1 cup (140g) pear (2-3, roughly peeled, chopped)
Make the lemonade
Add the lemon juice and the rest of the water to the blender with the pears, and process everything briefly. You can also use a food processor instead of a blender.
1 cup (140g) pear (2-3, roughly peeled, chopped), 6 lemons, 5 cups (1250ml) water
Set a strainer over a pitcher, and pour the lemonade through the strainer and into the pitcher. Chill the drink or enjoy over ice.
Storage
Lemonade needs to be refrigerated whether made with sugar or fruit sweetened or else it could grow bacteria. Freshly made homemade lemonade can be stored refrigerated for five days.
1 lemon, sliced for garnish, 1 lime, slice for garnish, 3 kumquats, slice for garnish
Video
Notes
To make a sweeter lemonade, you can add maple syrup and it will still remain refined sugar free. Add 1 tablespoon at a time and taste-test between each. The lemonade will be less bright in color with each addition.Swap the pears for green grapes. To use green grapes instead of pears wash 1 cup of green grapes, and don't peel, and drop them into the blender with the lemon juice and water. You will need to strain the final lemonade to remove grape pulp. The flavor will be greener, and the sweetness will vary according to the sweetness of the grapes you chose.Use bottled juice instead of fresh lemons. If you want to use bottled juice, use a pure unsweetened lemon juice, and choose a high quality organic brand that has only lemons in the ingredients, no other additives. Santa Cruz is a good brand. If possible, get one fresh lemon to complete the peel step or your lemonade flavor will not be as strong.While peeling lemons, be sure to remove all white area or the lemonade can be bitter.Be sure to crush the chopped lemon peel, don't just add it to the drink uncrushed. Crushing it releases lemon oils that add a powerful lemon flavor to your drink.The lemonade might be a bit cloudy from the pears, even after straining. To clear it further, pour it through cheesecloth for a finer strain.