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This sugar free lemonade is absolutely delicious and so easy! My husband thought it was made with white sugar, and it has become a staple in our fridge. THM Fuel Pull (sipper)
Lemonade for the birthday boy
When I asked Ryan what he wanted for his birthday supper and he said he wanted lemonade, I remembered this recent recipe from his cousins’ blog and took inspiration from their pretty pictures and process, making my own tweaks and discoveries along the way (and turning the lemonade into a sugar free drink).
Verdict: Ryan loved it and asked if it was made with white sugar. 🙂
Homemade Lemonade: the Process:
1) Combine lemon slices, sweetener, and salt in a quart jar.
2) Use something like a wooden spoon – or the tamper from your Vitamix blender – to muddle the lemons and sweetener together. You’re juicing the lemons and dissolving the sweetener.
3) Use a fine mesh sieve to strain the juice into a half gallon jar. Use some cold water to rinse the rest of the juice and sweetener out of the lemon rinds and strain that water into the half gallon jar as well.
4) Top off the jar with ice and cold water to make 2 quarts. Enjoy your lemonade!
What sweetener should I use to make sugar free lemonade?
I chose to use THM Super Sweet Blend in this recipe because I wanted something with a more rounded flavor than pure stevia, but I didn’t want to break the bank on tons of THM Gentle Sweet (or give people the runs with lots of liquified xylitol). Feel free to use your favorite low glycemic sweetener to taste, but this is what I liked in terms of taste and budget.
THM Gentle Sweet would be my next choice, but you’ll need about 3 times as much according to THM’s sweetener conversion chart.
The Sweet Blend dissolved no problem when muddled with the lemons and later mixed with water and ice.
Is this sugar free lemonade a THM sipper?
Yes! This recipe is a THM (Trim Healthy Mama) sipper drink – a drink that can be sipped on all day without having to worry about conflicting fuel types or taking in a constant stream of calories.
Homemade lemonade tips
- You can easily multiply this recipe for a larger batch.
- Make half the recipe in a quart jar for a single serve sipper for the afternoon!
- Please use real lemons, not bottled juice. There’s a pretty big difference in flavor. With real lemons, you get those naturally occurring oils from the rinds that boost the flavor.
- A pinch of salt rounds out the sweetness and curbs any bitterness.
- I found that leaving the rinds in the lemonade makes it bitter very quickly, so I strain them out after muddling the lemons with the sweetener. You can use the leftover lemon rinds to flavor water!
- A homemade lemonade recipe I consulted online suggested using a stand mixer to juice lemons, but I tried that and did not have good luck with it – lemons all over! Maybe my mixer was too small.
- Lemonade is at its very best when freshly made, but it can also be made ahead no problem.
Change it up!
- The first time I made this I added ½ teaspoon vanilla bean powder (vanilla extract would also work). It was neat for something different! (The vanilla bean powder did make the lemonade look a little murky and I think I prefer the plain version.)
- You could use sparkling water in place of regular water for a sparkling lemonade!
- Adding some fresh mint along with the lemons in the muddling stage would also be neat.
- Limeade would be a nice twist. (Since limes are usually smaller than lemons you’ll need to approximate how many you’ll need and adjust to taste.)
As always, check out the Notes section of the recipe for helpful info and answers to frequently asked questions!
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RECIPE INDEX BY FUEL TYPE/ALLERGY/THEME
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Grapefruit Slushie
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The Velvety Golden Detox
Sugar Free Lemonade
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 2 quarts
Description
This sugar free lemonade is absolutely delicious and so easy! My husband thought it was made with white sugar, and it has become a staple in our fridge. THM Fuel Pull
This recipe is a THM sipper drink – a drink that can be sipped on all day without having to worry about conflicting fuel types or taking in a constant stream of calories.
You can easily multiply this recipe for a larger batch or make half the recipe in a quart jar for a single serve sipper for the afternoon!
Ingredients
- 3 lemons (medium-large lemons, approx 5-6 oz each)
- ¼ cup THM Super Sweet Blend (to taste)
- Pinch of salt
- Cold water and ice to make 2 quarts
Instructions
- Wash the lemons. Roll them on the counter with some pressure from your hand to get the juices flowing, then slice them thinly. Place the slices in a quart sized jar with the sweetener and salt, then use a wooden spoon – or the tamper from your Vitamix blender, like I did – to mash the lemons and release all the juices, dissolving the sweetener at the same time. Pour the juice through a fine mesh strainer into a half gallon jar.
- Add some cold water to the lemon mixture in the quart jar, top with a lid, and shake to get all the juice and sweetener out of the lemon rinds. Strain again, and add this liquid to the half gallon jar too.
- Top off the half gallon jar with enough ice and cold water to make 2 quarts. Taste and adjust sweetness or lemon if needed. (Feel free to dilute even more if you like.) Serve over ice. Lemonade is at its very best when freshly made, but it can also be made ahead no problem.
Notes
Please use real lemons, not bottled juice. There’s a pretty big difference in flavor. With real lemons, you get those naturally occurring oils from the rinds that boost the flavor.
The pinch of salt just serves to round out the sweetness and curb any bitterness.
I found that leaving the rinds in the lemonade makes it bitter very quickly. You can use the leftover lemon rinds to flavor water!
Sweetener: I chose to use THM Super Sweet Blend in this recipe because I wanted something with a more rounded flavor than pure stevia, but I didn’t want to break the bank on tons of THM Gentle Sweet (or give people the runs with lots of liquified xylitol). Feel free to use your favorite low glycemic sweetener to taste, but this is what I liked in terms of taste and budget.
Tweaks: The first time I made this I added ½ teaspoon vanilla bean powder (vanilla extract would also work). It was neat for something different but the lemonade looked a little murky and I think I prefer the plain version. You could use sparkling water in place of regular water for a sparkling lemonade! Adding some fresh mint along with the lemons in the muddling stage would also be neat. Limeade would be a nice twist. (Since limes are usually smaller than lemons you’ll need to approximate how many you’ll need and adjust to taste.)
Allergy info: Gluten, egg, dairy, and nut free
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Category: Drinks
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: THM FP, low carb, low fat, sugar free, gluten free, dairy free
Keywords: trim healthy mama, thm, sugar free lemonade recipe, low carb lemonade recipe, homemade lemonade recipe
Any sugar free treats will be great.
Alexandra
Excellent! Everyone loved it. Thank you Briana.
★★★★★
Yay! So glad you liked it, Michelle!
Hi! Need to try this s/f version, but I wondered at your comment about the rinds making the lemonade bitter, but then suggesting to use them to flavor water. Wouldn’t they make the water bitter, too?
Haha…I thought about that as well. I guess I just expect lemonade to be sweet with no bitterness, but in water I’m just looking for a lemon flavor and don’t mind if it’s a little more on the bitter side. 😛 Illogical? Maybe.
I agree that THM Super Sweet makes the best lemonade. A couple doonks of stevia work great when the kids or I am making a quart for ourselves, but when I’m making a pitcher to share, I prefer using Super Sweet (I think I use about 2-3 Tablespoon sweetener, 1/2 cup lemon juice, & pinch a of salt, to 1/2 gallon water).
Thanks for sharing the ratios you like!
This looks so good. I recently started making lemonade also. Please tell me if this is THM approved:
1 cup 100% lemon juice
6 1/2 cups water
3 Tbs THM Super Sweet Blend.
I just shake it up and pour over ice. It’s soooo good. I keep 2 quarts in the fridge all the time.
Yes, that would be a THM Fuel Pull.
About how much lemon juice is this. I have a lemon tree and just sit there and juice them as they come in and freeze it.
I have a recipe (that uses sugar), it calls for 2 c of lemon juice (1 c of sugar).
Thanks
I really recommend using whole lemons for the best result due to the oils in the rinds that will be released when muddling the lemon slices and sweetener together. 🙂 If you want to try with just the juice I’m sure you can find that info via Google.
I made this today and was so pleased with it! Tastes very fresh and not overly sweet. A very clean tasting lemonade.
Awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Susan!