Lemonade

MAKES2 quarts

INGREDIENTS

• 8 to 10 large lemons
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 quarts water (6 cups)
• Ice
• Lemon slices, for serving (optional)

EQUIPMENT

• Measuring cup or medium bowl
• Knife and cutting board
• Juicer or citrus reamer, or stand mixer with the paddle attachment
• Pitcher
• Fine-mesh strainer

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Juice the lemons and strain out the pulp. Halve the lemons, then squeeze the juice from the halves — you can do this manually with your favorite juicer or reamer. My favorite alternative method: Quarter the lemons and use the stand mixer to juice all of the lemons at once. Place the quartered lemons in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, then beat on low speed for 2 minutes. With either method, strain the juice through a fine-mesh strainer into a large measuring cup or bowl to remove the pulp before making the lemonade. You need 1 cup of strained lemon juice.
2. Combine the lemon juice and sugar to make a lemonade base. Add the sugar to the strained lemon juice and whisk until the sugar is completely dissolved.
3. Add the water and chill. Transfer the lemonade base to a serving pitcher. Add the water and stir to combine. Chill the lemonade for at least 1 hour before serving.
4. Serve with ice and lemon slices. Serve the lemonade over ice with lemon slices if desired.

RECIPE NOTES

Storage: The lemonade can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.

Key Steps for Simple Easy Homemade Lemonade

Juice and strain the lemons. There a couple of tricks for getting the most juice out of your lemons (rolling them, slicing them lengthwise, roasting them), but my new favorite “juicing hack” is to actually crush the whole lemons using my stand mixer. Seriously! Here’s how you do it: Quarter the lemons and put them in the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Use low speed to squeeze the lemons, then strain the juice directly into a measuring cup.
Use the lemon juice to dissolve the sugar. Many modern lemonade recipes call for making a simple syrup — sugar and water boiled together — for sweetening summer lemonade, but if you stir the sugar directly into the lemon juice you can skip the simple syrup and get to lemonade faster — no heat required.
Add cold water to taste. Since the lemon juice dissolves the sugar, we can go straight from lemon juice to cold water and ice and serve the lemonade straight away.