Homemade lemonade with less sugar, and how to keep it bright

This homemade lemonade uses about half the sugar of most recipes and still tastes rounded, not sour. The trick is to rub the lemon zest into the sugar first, so the oils carry the flavour, then add fresh juice, a pinch of salt and plenty of cold water. Four lemons and 50 g of sugar make a litre, enough for four tall glasses.

People have mixed lemon juice, sweetener and water for a very long time. Medieval Egypt had a sweetened lemon drink, Paris had lemonade sellers in the seventeenth century, and today the drink takes a different shape in nearly every country: still and cloudy in the US, fizzy in Britain and France, salted in India, blended with mint as limonana in the Middle East. This version is the simple still kind, with less sugar and more lemon.

How to make it

1. Wash the lemons and finely grate the zest of two of them into a large jug, taking only the yellow part, not the white pith.
2. Add the sugar and rub it into the zest with your fingers or press with a spoon for a minute, until the sugar is damp and smells strongly of lemon.
3. Pour in 200 ml of the water, warm if you can, and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
4. Squeeze all four lemons, strain out the seeds and add the juice to the jug with the salt.
5. Top up with the rest of the cold water, stir, taste and adjust, then chill for at least 30 minutes.
6. Serve over ice with a few lemon slices and mint leaves.

Why it works with less sugar

Most lemonade recipes rely on a lot of sugar to cover the sourness. Three small things let you use much less:

• Zest adds flavour without acid. The oils in the peel taste of lemon but are not sour, so the drink tastes fuller and you need less sugar to balance it.
• Salt softens sourness. A pinch you cannot taste as salt takes the sharp edge off the acid and makes the sweetness seem stronger.
• Cold dulls sweetness, ice dilutes. Taste it chilled before you add more sugar, as it changes once it is cold.

Sugar compared

For context, the NHS advises that adults have no more than 30 g of free sugars a day, and sugar dissolved in drinks counts towards that. Our guide to sugar in drinks compares lemonade with juice, cola and other common drinks.

Tips for the best flavour

• Roll the lemons first. Press and roll them on the counter, or warm them for 10 seconds in the microwave, and they give more juice.
• Use unwaxed lemons for zest. If yours are waxed, scrub them under hot water first.
• Avoid the pith. The white layer under the zest is bitter and gets more bitter as the lemonade sits.
• Taste and adjust. Lemons vary a lot in size and sharpness. Add juice, sugar or water a little at a time.
• Sweeteners: honey and maple syrup work well, but dissolve them in the warm water first, as they will not mix into cold liquid.

Variations

• Mint lemonade: blend the finished lemonade briefly with a handful of mint leaves and strain, close to limonana.
• Sparkling: make the base with only the 200 ml of warm water, chill it, then top up each glass with soda water. A home sparkling water maker makes this cheap; see our pick of sparkling water makers.
• Salted: add more salt and a little lime, and you are heading towards our salted lime soda.
• Ginger: grate 10 g of fresh ginger in with the zest and strain at the end.
• Berry: mash a handful of raspberries or strawberries into the base and strain.

For another light summer drink with little or no added sugar, try cucumber, lime and mint agua fresca.

Make ahead and storage

Lemonade keeps in a closed jug in the fridge for up to three days. Take out the lemon slices after a few hours, or the pith will make it bitter. You can also make the sweet zest-and-juice base ahead and keep it for up to a week, then add water and ice to order.

Questions people ask

Can I make lemonade with no sugar at all?

You can, but it tastes very sharp. A better route is to use less juice and more water with a little sugar, or to use a sweetener you like. Many people find 30 g per litre is plenty once they are used to it.

Can I use bottled lemon juice?

It works in a pinch, but fresh juice tastes brighter and you lose the zest, which is where much of the flavour comes from. If you use bottled juice, add a strip of fresh lemon peel to the jug while it chills.

Is lemonade bad for your teeth?

Lemon juice is acidic and sugar feeds tooth decay, so lemonade is a drink to enjoy with meals rather than to sip all day. Drinking through a straw and rinsing with water afterwards both help.

Photograph: AI-generated image

Filed under lemonade, lemon, less sugar, summer.