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This Blueberry Lemonade is made with tart lemon juice and ripe blueberries for a naturally flavored spin on the classic beverage. Vegan, Gluten-free.
Make fresh Blueberry Lemonade at home with just 3 ingredients and a high speed blender. It’s sweet, tart, and as refreshing as it gets. You’ll be craving this summer twist on traditional lemonade all season long.
Table of Contents
All About this Blueberry Infused Lemonade
If you love strawberry lemonade, be ready to get on board for a new berry twist. This blueberry lemonade is the perfect balance of sweet, tart, and tangy. It’s also infused with fresh lemons and whole blueberries for an all natural flavor and vibrant hue – no blueberry syrup, lemonade concentrate or artificial colors needed.
Have this homemade blueberry lemonade recipe ready to serve on a hot summer day in a matter of minutes. It’s the perfect non-alcoholic beverage to enjoy with the whole family.
Ingredients for Blueberry Lemonade
You’ll need just 3 simple ingredients to make a delicious blueberry lemonade recipe from scratch.
- Blueberries: Ripe, sweet blueberries are best. I recommend frozen for color, but fresh blueberries will still yield a sweet blueberry flavor.
- Sugar: I used organic cane sugar, but agave or maple syrup will work as a 1:1 substitution.
- Lemon juice: Freshly squeezed lemon juice is key, but keep the lemon seeds out of the blender. Blended lemon seeds can cause your lemonade to taste bitter.
- Sea salt: Technically a 4th ingredient, but a small pinch of salt helps balance the sweet and tart flavors, making it the perfect refreshing drink.
How to Make Blueberry Lemonade
- Blend the blueberries, lemon juice, sugar, salt, and 4 cups of cold water on high until smooth.
- Strain the blueberry liquid into a pitcher filled with ice.
- Serve chilled with fresh lemon slices and blueberries, or as desired. Enjoy!
Caitlin’s Cooking Tips
- Don’t substitute bottled lemon juice. I typically never recommend bottled lemon juice, but when making homemade lemonade I really mean it! Fresh lemon juice has a sweeter, more balanced flavor. Bottled simply does not compare.
- For the best color, opt for frozen berries. For the deepest, vibrant color, use thawed, frozen blueberries. When frozen, ice crystals form inside the berries that cause a release of additional blue and purple pigments. This enhances their color and makes for a brighter, more concentrated blue lemonade without the need for any artificial colors.
Serving Suggestions
Fresh lemonade is the perfect spring and summer recipe to serve at parties, potlucks, BBQs, outdoor picnics, and casual get togethers.
It pairs well with both sweet and savory recipes such as Creamy Dill Pickle Pasta Salad, Pesto Orzo Salad, and this Summer Peach & Chickpea Salad.
If you’re looking for more fruity drink recipes, you’ll also love this Peach Bubble Tea, this Watermelon Slushie and this Mango Pineapple Smoothie!
Or, if you’re looking for more ways to use up fresh blueberries, you can’t go wrong with Blueberry Overnight Oatmeal, Blueberry Maqui Popsicles or this delicious Vegan Blueberry Pie.
How to Store Blueberry Lemonade
If you’re prepping this blueberry lemonade for a party or gathering, it can be made in advance but refrigerate the lemonade in an airtight jar or pitcher covered with plastic wrap without ice.
If storing leftover lemonade, strain the remaining ice from the pitcher before storing. This will prevent the lemonade from tasting watered down.
Once made, this fresh blueberry lemonade will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To freeze, pour leftover lemonade into an ice cube tray. Once frozen solid, transfer the lemonade ice cubes to a freezer safe bag or airtight container. Or, for a fun spin, pour leftover lemonade into popsicle molds and enjoy this lemonade as a frozen treat!
Substitutions and Variations
- Adjust the sweetness: This homemade lemonade recipe is moderately sweet, so feel free to adjust the amount of sugar to your personal preference.
- Add mint: For a blueberry mint lemonade, add two tablespoons of fresh mint leaves into the blender plus additional fresh mint to garnish.
- Add basil: For a blueberry basil lemonade, add two tablespoons of fresh basil leaves to the blender, plus additional fresh basil to garnish.
- Add ginger: For a blueberry lemonade with a spicy, refreshing kick, add 1/2″ of a fresh knob of ginger to the blender (make sure you have a high speed blender for this variation!).
Recipe FAQs
Straining the blended blueberry liquid isn’t required, but is highly recommended for a smoother textured lemonade. If you don’t mind blueberry skins and seeds in your lemonade, feel free to pour it directly into your serving pitcher without straining.
A nut milk bag or layered cheese cloth is the next best option. These are great to have on hand to make homemade nut milk, too!
Yes. Fresh lemonade is perishable and should only be left out for about 2 hours at room temperature. Any longer and it will spoil quickly.
Enjoy! If you make this recipe and decide to share it on Facebook or Instagram, don’t forget to tag me @FromMyBowl + #FromMyBowl! I would also love it if you could leave a comment below with a recipe rating! Thank you for the support 😊
Blueberry Lemonade
Ingredients
For the Lemonade:
- 2 cups blueberries fresh or thawed from frozen
- 2/3 cup fresh lemon juice*
- 1/2 cup cane sugar* plus more if necessary
- 4 cups cold water
- Pinch of salt
- Ice for serving
- For garnish optional: additional fresh blueberries, lemon slices, fresh mint
Flavor Variations (optional – choose one!)
- 2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil leaves
- ½ piece fresh ginger peeled
Instructions
- Blend: Add the blueberries, lemon juice, sugar, and salt to the base of a large blender. Cover with cold water, seal well, and blend on high for 30 to 45 seconds, until smooth (Note: if you have a smaller blender, use only 2 cups of water, then add the rest of the water to the pitcher in step 2 after straining)
- Strain: Fill a pitcher with ice, then strain the blueberry liquid into the pitcher using either a fine mesh strainer or a nut milk bag. Both will remove the blueberry skins and seeds, but the nut milk bag does have a slightly smoother texture and is what I recommend!
- Serve: Serve chilled and garnished with fresh lemon slices and blueberries, if desired. Leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days; just shake well before serving as the blueberries will settle.
Recipe Notes
- Lemon Juice: Fresh lemon juice has a more balanced flavor and tastes sweeter; don’t substitute for bottled!
- Sugar: I used organic cane sugar for this recipe, but agave or maple syrup would also work. The lemonade is moderately sweet, so feel free to adjust the sugar level according to your personal preference
Excellent recipe! I have made this to drink as well as to freeze in as ‘cicles. I did not bother to filter out blueberry particles (just as many juices have pulp, this was fine by me). Making again today. 🙂
Happy you loved it, Candice! Thank you so much.
I made this last weekend and it was so refreshing. I added some ginger ale to it as well. Just great!
I made this last weekend and it was so refreshin. I added some ginger Alex to it as well. Just great!
A truly wonderful recipe wonderful! It is simple, delicious, easy to prepare and colorful. Thank you.
Happy you enjoyed it, Jo!