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Raspberry Lemonade

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Puréed fresh raspberries give this fresh squeezed raspberry lemonade fruity flavor and a vibrant pink color.

Jars of raspberry lemonade with fruit and straws.

This raspberry lemonade is a riff on the fresh-squeezed lemonade I used to love to drink when visiting amusement parks during childhood summers. You know, the kind from the lemonade stand with the tall old-fashioned juice press. Man, that stuff was good. For me, the taste of fresh-squeezed reminds me of how, when visiting those amusement parks, I spent most of my time avoiding rickety roller coasters (and other rides that made me sick). While my friends all sprinted from one scary ride to the next, I held everyone’s stuff — which, I’m sad to say, is still true today with my own family! My big thrill at the parks was always the funnel cake and that refreshing lemonade.

What you’ll need to make raspberry lemonade

Lemonade ingredients including lemons, raspberries, and sugar.

I don’t know if they still make it that way today (and I’m not going to an amusement park to find out) but, thankfully, it’s easy to make at home as long as you’re willing to juice a bunch of lemons. To elevate the lemonade I remember from childhood, I’ve added puréed fresh raspberries to give it a fruity flavor and a vibrant pink color. The recipe is endlessly adaptable: Like it tart? Go light on the sugar. Want it boozy? Add a splash of vodka or tequila. Feeling fancy? Dress it up with lemon slices, fresh berries, and mint sprigs. No matter how you make it, I promise it’s worth the effort of juicing all those lemons — and perfect to ring in the season this weekend.

How to make raspberry lemonade

Halved lemon on a manual juicer.

You’ll need approximately 8 to 12 to make this recipe. Lately, I’ve been finding lemons that are almost the size of apples — those are great if you can find them. One large lemon can yield up to 6 tablespoons of juice, while a typical-sized lemon yields about 3 tablespoons of juice, so plan accordingly.

Raspberries in a blender.

Begin by puréeing the raspberries in a blender with some of the lemon juice.

Blender of pureed raspberries.

Pass the mixture through a fine sieve to strain the seeds. It sounds fussy but the fastest way to do this is by using a soup ladle and pressing against the strainer in a circular motion. Try it — it works!

Soup ladle in a sieve of raspberry seeds.

Add the sugar, remaining lemon juice and water to the raspberry purée.

Lemon juice and sugar being added to raspberry puree.

Stir until the sugar is dissolved.

Spoon stirring a bowl of raspberry lemonade.

This makes a fairly concentrated lemonade so dilute it with more water to your liking, but keep in mind that the ice cubes will water it down. Enjoy!

Three jars of raspberry lemonade with fruit and straws.

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Raspberry Lemonade

Puréed fresh raspberries give this fresh squeezed raspberry lemonade fruity flavor and a vibrant pink color.

Servings: 1¾ quarts
Total Time: 15 Minutes

Ingredients

  • 1¾ cups fresh squeezed lemon juice, from 8-12 lemons, strained
  • ½ pound (8 oz.) raspberries, plus more for serving
  • 5 cups water
  • 1 cup sugar
  • Lemon wedges, for serving
  • Fresh mint, for serving

Instructions

  1. Combine the raspberries and ½ cup of the lemon juice in a blender; purée until smooth, then pass the mixture through a fine sieve into a large bowl to strain out the seeds (the fastest way to force it through is by pressing a ladle against the strainer in a circular motion). Add the remaining lemon juice, water, and sugar to the bowl and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Taste, then and add more sugar, lemon juice or water if necessary (keep in mind that ice cubes will water it down). Pour into glasses with ice cubes and garnish with lemon wedges, raspberries and fresh mint, if desired. The lemonade will keep in the fridge for a few days.

Nutrition Information

Powered by Edamam

  • Per serving (7 servings)
  • Serving size: 1 cup
  • Calories: 141
  • Fat: 0 g
  • Saturated fat: 0 g
  • Carbohydrates: 37 g
  • Sugar: 31 g
  • Fiber: 2 g
  • Protein: 1 g
  • Sodium: 8 mg
  • Cholesterol: 0 mg

This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.

Gluten-Free Adaptable Note

To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.

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Comments

  • Absolutely delicious- so glad I tried this recipe.

    • — SM on December 13, 2022
    • Reply
    • This was my first time making it. The puree part was time consuming as I ended up using my hand thru thru the sieve. The end result was delicious. My husband loved it. I may add some more water as he thinks it is a wee tart. Overall all I will make another batch. I used 5-6 large lemons from my friends tree.

      • — Susan Moody on January 11, 2023
      • Reply
  • I made two batches for my gender reveal party and used blue food coloring for one batch… Everyone loved it! I did not strain the raspberry seeds because I personally liked the texture of the seeds. Delicious! 😋

  • Very good!!! I may add vodka to make a cocktail. Thank you for the awesome recipe!

  • So delicious!

    • — Dulcie Alberts
    • Reply
  • I was initially skeptical, but this really is a delicious recipe. I didn’t have fresh mint, so I added a bit of peppermint tea to give the lemonade that subtle mint flavor.
    Next time I will add a few more raspberries and a bit less sugar (and fresh mint, of course!) to adjust it to my taste, but otherwise I think it’s perfect. Thanks!

  • Made per instructions except added 12 oz of raspberries to use up a whole package and it was delish!!!!

  • Perfect sweet and sour taste!!!! I used strawberries. I made it with teenager sons and we had great time as well.
    Thank you so much for sharing good drink.

  • Absolutely love this raspberry lemonade. I haven’t tasted lemonade as good as this since my childhood. I was instantly transported to a time long ago ❤️ So versatile too as it’s great for the children and adults can add a tot of their favourite tipple if they so desire. Thanks again for another winner . Selina 😋

    • — Selina Bradbury
    • Reply
  • That was amazing! I have never tasted anything that delicious in my life Thank you

  • I made this the other day and it was amazing! I used frozen/defrosted raspberries for the puree and fresh raspberries for the garnish. It’s unbelievably refreshing…nothing beats the fresh fruit juice! It got 2 thumbs up from the littles in my house!

    • Hi Jen,

      Hope you and your family are well during this difficult time. Would strawberries work here??

      Thanks

      Janelle

      • Yes, they’d work beautifully, Janelle. Enjoy!

  • Can you use frozen raspberries for this recipe?

    • Sure, although the raspberry garnish may not be quite as pretty (you could just skip the garnish). Hope you enjoy!

  • how many people will this recipe serve?

    • It should serve about 4

  • Awesome – As written!

    We love this recipe & make it often.

  • I’m excited to try this for my daughter’s birthday party. I’ve some homemade simple syrup leftover from a cocktail party. Could I use it here? If so how much would I use in this recipe?

    • Hi Jen, I think it should work, but it’s hard to say exactly how much you’d need, I’d just add it to taste; you may find that you need to tweak it with a bit more sugar or water. Happy birthday to your daughter!

  • Refreshing and delicious. I didn’t have raspberries so I used strawberries from the freezer. Seeds are so small it isn’t necessary to strain them; however, I found it easier to strain after I mixed all the ingredients together. Will make this on a regular basis.

  • Great healthy lemon juice with raspberries! I must have to try in this summer. Thanks for your instruction!

  • Made this recipe pretty much as written today (except I had a few less Raspberries). We absolutely LOVED it. My 6 year old helped me & it was the easiest lemonade & by far the best we’ve ever had. There is a restaurant close to us that we use to go to for lemonade & thought it was amazing & this recipe is BETTER!!! I love that you don’t have to make a simple syrup like other lemonade recipes. We put fresh mint sprigs in each individual glass & that put it over the top!!!

  • Easy, tart and delicious! Thank you–I will be very popular with my children! I had high hopes to make it a mixed drink, but I did not love it with a tot of vodka added–perhaps because it’s so tart, it tasted a bit too harsh.

    • Ok, I can confirm that it’s better with tequila!

  • Made this just because and it was really good. Followed the recipe to the T.

  • Made this tonight, substituting local strawberries for the raspberries. Garnished the glasses as shown in the beautiful photos. So appealing! My husband tried the “cocktail” with a splash of vodka. Both versions were delicious, refreshing, and the perfect balance of sweet and tart. I will definitely make again. Thanks, Jenn!

  • Delicious, made it for Memorial Day! My only complaint was not making double it will definitely be my go to drink for the summer.

  • This is perfect! I am in my third trimester with my second child and have been in need of a different “preggo cocktail” recently. I added some fresh ginger (since I had some in the fridge from another of your recipes) into the raspberries before puree-ing and it is delicious! Just a little hint of spice! I’d name my baby after you, but my sister’s name is Jen and I wouldn’t want her getting the wrong idea! 🙂 Thanks!

    • So glad you found something to quench your craving and funny about the baby name!! Best of luck with the baby :).

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