Strawberry Basil Lemonade

No blender, no strainer, just a surprisingly delicious blend of fresh basil, sweet strawberries, and tart lemon juice. A grownup lemonade that's a perfect base for a cocktail.

Prep Time10

Cook Time5

chilling1

Total Time1 15

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Basil, Lemons, Strawberries, Summer

Servings: servings

Calories: 104kcal

Author: Katie

Ingredients

Strawberry Basil Syrup

1 cup strawberries sliced (frozen is perfect!)
¾ cup sugar
½ cup water
½ cup fresh basil leaves

To Make the Lemonade

1 cup fresh lemon juice 7-10 lemons
3 cups water for mixing

Instructions

Make the strawberry syrup. In a small pot on medium heat, mix the strawberries, sugar, and water. Wait for it to boil, then lower the heat. Mash the strawberries with a fork or potato masher while they soften.
Finishing the syrup. Let it simmer for 1-3 minutes until the strawberries are fully softened and the syrup has thickened a bit. Then, take it off the heat and let it cool down a bit.
Steep the basil. Put the basil leaves into the hot syrup and make sure they are fully covered.Leave the mixture for at least 15 minutes so that the basil flavor can become stronger.Take out the basil leaves and throw them away.
Mix and chill. Get a big pitcher and mix together the strawberry basil syrup (including the fruit bits), lemon juice, and water. Stir everything well. Put the pitcher in the fridge and let the lemonade chill for approximately 1 hour until it's completely cool.
Serve. Put some ice in glasses and pour the chilled lemonade. To make it look fancier, you can add a lemon wedge, a fresh basil leaf, and a slice of strawberry on top.

Notes

To make an alcoholic version of this drink, you can add 1.5 ounces of lemon or strawberry-flavored vodka to each glass.

You can use bottled lemon juice for this recipe, but freshly squeezed lemon juice will have a better taste.

Choose ripe strawberries as they are sweeter and more flavorful. If you're using frozen strawberries, you can add them directly to the pot without thawing them first.

Make sure that the fresh basil leaves are bright green and not wilted. If you want a stronger basil flavor, steep the basil for a longer time, or for a more subtle flavor, steep the basil for a shorter time.

After your syrup has cooled down a bit, taste it to see if it's too sweet. If it is, add a bit more lemon juice to the lemonade mix. If it’s not sweet enough, add a little extra sugar to the hot syrup and stir until it dissolves.

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