When life gives you slightly scarred lemons and undersized strawberries, juice them and make this lemonade! We recommend weighing out your ingredients on a kitchen scale for the best results, but if you don’t have one, we provided some rough estimates for measuring. Besides, strawberries, sugar, and lemon are pretty hard to get wrong.
Makes 6-8 servings
Ingredients
Strawberry Basil Simple Syrup
- 300g water (about 1.5 cups)
- 300g sugar (about 1.5 cups)
- 125g strawberries (about 5 medium strawberries), chopped
- ⅓ cup fresh basil leaves
- 1 pinch of salt
Lemonade
- 12 oz lemon juice (about 1.5 cups)
- 16 oz strawberry basil simple syrup (about 2 cups)
- 18 oz cold water (about 2 and 1/4 cups)
Directions
- Make the strawberry basil simple syrup by combining the sugar, water, and chopped strawberries in a small saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat until boiling, stirring often to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat and stir in basil leaves. Let cool, then strain out the strawberries and basil.
- Combine the simple syrup, with lemon juice and water, and then stir to combine.
- Serve your lemonade iced or chilled and garnish with basil leaves and sliced strawberries if desired.
Recipe Notes and Variations
- Save your lemon rinds and add lemon zest to the rim of your glasses. Or mix the lemon zest into your simple syrup and strain out before serving your strawberry lemonade.
- Did you know there’s such a thing as lemon basil? It has a light lemony flavor and would taste delightful in your lemonade if you can find it.
- Swapping out the basil for thyme could also be interesting.
