I would like to make clear from the outset that I do not think we, this site, or even the internet necessarily needs a new recipe for lemonade. I’ve covered lemonade that’s picnic pink (with any berry you like), with watermelon, with cucumber, with maple syrup and bourbon, and even lime and mint. But the thing I ran into when my kids left me, once again, with a basket of overpriced strawberries on their last legs — fruit they’d asked me to buy but then mysteriously lost interest in eating when it was presented to them at breakfast — and I decided to instead turn strawberries into strawberry-ade, so to speak, was that every lemonade recipe I’ve already published contains steps I lacked inclination to do.

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Like juicing lemons, which involves straining out seeds and pulp. Making simple syrup, which needs to be heated in a saucepan and cooled for later use. And any fresh fruit or vegetables added need to be blended and pushed through a strainer too, bringing us to three separate processes. Are they hard? No. But they aren’t lazy and this is — lazy in a good way. Lazy like barely-a-recipe lazy.

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Everything goes into the blender. Everything is blitzed and strained at once. And have never in my entire life tasted a more delicious and nuanced strawberry lemonade. It’s vivid and intensely flavorful and it tastes the way cotton candy at a carnival smells, and the strawberry summer cake cooling in the back of our station wagon does wafting through the car, and I hope you go immediately into your kitchen and find out for yourself.

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Previously

6 months ago: Green Angel Hair with Garlic Butter
1 year ago: Double Chocolate Chip Muffins
1 year ago: Classic Shortbread, Quick, Easy Salsa, and Twisty Cinnamon Buns
2 year ago: Rhubarb Cordial
3 year ago: Braised Ginger Meatballs In Coconut Broth
4 years ago: Triple Coconut Cream Pie
5 years ago: Pistachio Cake and A Reall Great Pot of Chickpeas
6 years ago: Potato Pizza, Even Better, Carrot Tahini Muffins and Sheet Pan Chicken Tikka
7 years ago: Strawberry Rhubarb Soda Syrup, Artichoke Gratin Toasts and Maple Pudding Cake
8 years ago: Lamb Meatballs with Feta and Lemon
9 years ago: Ramp Pizza and Yogurt Panna Cotta with Walnuts and Honey
10 years ago: Pasta with Garlicky Broccoli Rabe, Classic Ice Cream Sandwiches and Cinnamon Toast French Toast
11 years ago: Heavenly Chocolate Cake Roll and Crispy Potato Roast
12 years ago: Tangy Spiced Brisket
13 years ago: Pickled Grapes with Cinnamon and Black Pepper and Buttermilk Ice Cream
14 years ago: Fork-Crushed Purple Potatoes, Whole Wheat Apple Muffins, and Caramelized Shallots
15 years ago: Black Bean Confetti Salad and Margarita Cookies and Tequila Lime Chicken

Easy Strawberry Lemonade

  • 4 large lemons (mine were 4 1/2 ounces each), plus a few slices for garnish
  • 1 pound (455 grams) fresh strawberries, plus and a few extra berries for garnish
  • 1/3 cup (65 grams) granulated sugar
  • 2 to 3 cups of water
  • Ice

Cut the skin, including outer white pith, off your lemons and cut the lemons into chunks. Don’t worry about the seeds. Stem your strawberries. Toss the lemon chunks, strawberries, sugar, and first two cups of water into your blender and blend until coarsely pureed. Pour through a mesh strainer to remove any seeds. The lemonade will be very potent at this point and you can add as much of the remaining cup of water as you wish, or all of it, to taste. Fill glasses with ice and pour lemonade over and garnish with extra berry and/or lemon slices. This lemonade is also lovely finished with a splash of seltzer, if you like fizz.