Cucumber Lemonade
When it comes to summer sippin’ this cucumber lemonade is it! Quench your thirst and invigorate your senses with this refreshing Cucumber Mint Lemonade. This homemade lemonade is simple to make and infused with a delightful hint of mint, fresh cucumber, and tart lemons. It is crafted to perfection, but is ridiculously easy to make, and only requires a few simple ingredients. The marriage of crisp cucumbers, tangy lemons, and the cooling essence of fresh mint leaves is the perfect combo for refreshment and hydration this summer.
Serve with Couscous Salad and Chipotle Pesto Grilled Chicken Skewers for a great meal.
This lemonade recipe is a must have for summer, you get the rejuvenating and hydrating qualities of cucumber, with the zesty brightness of lemon in a delightful beverage that teases the tastebuds.
The addition of just a touch of aromatic mint adds some natural freshness, and elevates this classic to new heights. Here is why you need to make it:
- Summer favorite: The perfect companion for sunny picnics, lazy afternoons by the pool, or a back yard BBQ.
- Amazing flavor: this flavor combo strikes the ideal balance between tangy and soothing, with crisp freshness!
- Easy and Refreshing: a simple homemade lemonade that is anything but ordinary.
What You Need to Make Cucumber Mint Lemonade
Making this cucumber lemonade is eazy peazy and the ingredients are easy to find, here’s what you need:
- Simple Syrup (homemade: sugar and water)
- Lemon Juice
- Water
- Cucumber
- Mint
Recommended Equipment
- Sauce pan for making simple syrup
- Large Pitcher for serving
- Tall Glasses for serving lemonade
How to Make Cucumber Lemonade
Making cucumber lemonade is simple, and only requires a few steps:
Step One: Slice Cucumbers
For this recipe we use English cucumbers, also known as hothouse cucumbers. They are elongated, slim, and typically wrapped in plastic to maintain freshness.
This is the best variety for this recipe because the English cucumbers have a crisp and tender texture. They are crunchy, succulent, and typically sweeter than regular cucumbers. Also, the skin is thin and doesn’t require peeling, which means a nice pop of color in your lemonade without any bitterness or ick.
Step Two: Make Simple Syrup
Simple syrup is just that…simple. You can make your own, or buy it. To make it:
- In a small saucepan over medium high heat, combine sugar and 1 cup water.
- Stir constantly to dissolve sugar while mixture comes to a boil. Once liquid is clear, and no sugar remains coating the bottom, remove from heat, and pour into another container.
- Set aside to let cool.
Step Three: Juice Lemons
The lemons are key to making homemade lemonade, and you want to extract as much juice from them as you can. So here are a few tips for getting the most juice from your lemons:
- Choose ripe and juicy lemons: Pick the right lemons that are ripe, heavy, and ready to be juiced. Look for lemons that are firm yet yield slightly to gentle pressure, have a vibrant yellow color and feel heavy for their size.
- Roll lemons: One of the simplest tricks for getting more juice is before juicing, firmly roll the lemons on a countertop. Just press on the lemon with the palm of your hand, apply gentle pressure, and roll back and forth some to help break down the internal membranes and releases the juice.
- Apply heat or microwave them: Much like rolling and massaging lemons, a little heat can help loosen up the juices and make extracting it easier. If your lemons are cold, pop them in a bowl of hot water, or microwave them for 10-15 seconds before juicing them.
- Use a citrus juicer or an electric juicer: To get the most out of each lemon, use a juicer, as it is made for efficiently separating the juice from the pulp and seeds. I recommend this one: Cuisinart
- Consistent Pressure: Apply consistent pressure when squeezing the lemons to extract as much juice as possible. Reposition the lemon halves and squeeze again to get every last drop.
Step Four: Muddle Mint
Now it is time to start assembling the lemonade. To get that subtle mint flavor, you put it in the bottom of your pitcher and muddle it a little. All this does is break up the leaves and let the mint oils out.
Step Five: Assemble
Add the cucumbers, the lemon juice, water, and simple syrup to a pitcher, and stir it all up. Then serve it in glasses over ice.
Pro tip: Don’t add ice to the pitcher, as it will water down the lemonade, instead add it as your serve.
Tips and Tricks
Making this recipe is Eazy Peazy…
- Use Ripe Lemons: Pick good lemons. The base of this lemonade is the lemon, so choose ripe lemons. Look for firm, bright yellow, and heavy lemons.
- Customize to Taste: This recipe has a standard amount of simple syrup to make a sweet, but not too sweet lemonade. If you prefer your lemonade more on the tart side, or want less sugar, then adjust the amount of simple syrup you use.
- No Ice In Pitcher: Putting ice in the pitcher can water down your lemonade, so serve over ice, but make without it, it stores better that way too.
Make Ahead and Storage
This recipe is really easy to make ahead. You can do it one of two ways:
- Make all the components and store separately. Then assemble when ready to serve.
- Make in full, and refrigerate for up to 3 days. The cucumber taste will get stronger with time.
Other Great Recipes:
- Pineapple Lemonade
- Peach Lemonade
- Mango Lemonade
- Homemade Lemonade
- Sparkling Strawberry Lemonade
- Mango Black Tea Lemonade
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Cucumber Lemonade
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups lemon juice fresh
- 7 cups cold water
- 2 english cucumber sliced
- 5-6 mint leaves
- Ice as needed
Simple Syrup
- 1 1/2 cups white granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Slice cucumbers into medallions
Prepare Simple Syrup
- In a small saucepan over medium high heat, combine sugar and 1 cup water.
- Stir constantly to dissolve sugar while mixture comes to a boil. Once liquid is clear, and no sugar remains coating the bottom, remove from heat, and pour into another container.
- Set aside to let cool.
Assemble Cucumber Lemonade
- Meanwhile, juice the lemons to get your 1 1/2 cups of fresh lemon juice. To get the most juice out of your lemons bring them to room temp, then roll lemons around on your counter to soften. Cut in half lengthwise, and squeeze juice out into a liquid measuring cup.
- Discard any seeds, and use pulp only if desired.
- Now assemble cucumber lemonade by placing mint into the pitcher, and muddle a little, then add the cucumbers into the pitcher, pour in lemon juice, and 7 cups ice-cold water into a large pitcher. Stir in simple syrup to taste.
- Serve in glasses over ice. Do not add ice to the pitcher, as this can dilute the lemonade.
- Garnish glasses with cucumber slices and fresh mint.
Nutrition
Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.
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Mignone says
Thanks looks very good and refreshing. How long can be preserved in the fridge please? Thanks.
Rachael says
It stays good in the fridge for about a week. The fresh lemon juice is the part you have to worry about, so I would shoot for 5-7 days.
Linda says
I would like to try it but not sure about recipe. In ingrédients list its 1/2 cup lemon juice and in the instructions it states juice lemons to make 1 1/2 cups.
Thank you
Rachael says
Oh my, thank you so much for catching my typo. It is 1.5 cups of lemon juice.