Ingredients
- 8 medium lemons
- 7½ to 8½ cups water
- 1½ cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar, plus more as needed
- 1½ to 2 cups hulled and halved strawberries
- Lemon slices, for garnish
How to Make It
- Zest one of the lemons and set the zest aside. Juice all 8 lemons. You should have 1¼ cups juice.
- In a medium saucepan, bring 3 cups water to a light simmer over medium heat. Slowly stir in 1½ cups of the sugar and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and pour the sugar-water into a pitcher. Let cool for about 10 minutes. Stir in 4 cups cold water and the lemon juice. Refrigerate until the mixture has fully cooled.
- In a blender, combine the strawberries, lemon zest, the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, and ½ cup water. Blend on high until the strawberries are pureed. If desired, strain the strawberry mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl to remove the seeds. (I like to keep some of the seeds in my lemonade, so I usually strain only half the mixture and add the rest as is.)
- Add the strawberry puree to the lemonade and stir until well combined. Taste the lemonade; if it’s too sweet, add another cup of cold water. Alternatively, if you’d like it a little sweeter, stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons more sugar. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Serve the lemonade in glasses garnished with fresh lemon slices, if desired.
