Strawberry Lemonade Recipe

Prepare strawberries

Hull and quarter the strawberries so they break down easily. You should have roughly 1 cup packed pieces.

Cook syrup

Combine the quartered strawberries, 1 cup granulated sugar, and 1 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar. Once simmering, reduce heat to low and simmer for 6–8 minutes until strawberries are very soft and the liquid is pink and fragrant.

Mash and steep

Remove the pan from heat. Use a fork or potato masher to mash the strawberries against the side of the pan to extract more juice and flavor. Let the mixture steep for 10 minutes off the heat so the syrup intensifies.

Strain syrup

Place a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl or measuring cup and strain the mixture, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard (or reserve for another use) the solids. Allow the syrup to cool to room temperature before assembling the drink; you can refrigerate for faster cooling (about 15–20 minutes).

Juice lemons

Juice fresh lemons until you measure 1 cup (about 4–6 medium lemons). Strain the juice through a small sieve into a pitcher to remove seeds and excess pulp if preferred.

Combine and adjust sweetness

Add the cooled strawberry simple syrup to the pitcher with the lemon juice. Pour in 3 cups cold water and stir to combine. Taste and adjust: if you prefer sweeter lemonade, add up to 1/4 cup more of the strawberry syrup (or a little plain simple syrup). If too sweet, add more cold water in 1/2-cup increments. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes if not serving immediately.

Serve

Fill glasses with ice (about 1/2 cup ice per 8- to 10-ounce glass). Pour the strawberry lemonade over ice, leaving a small gap at the top. Stir gently in each glass to chill the drink evenly.

Add 1 sliced strawberry, 1 lemon slice, and 2 mint leaves to each glass as garnish. For a pretty presentation, slide a lemon slice onto the rim and float the strawberry slice and mint on top.