This bright and fruity blackberry lemonade tastes like sunshine in a glass. It’s perfect for pool days, playdates, or anytime the kids need a fun, fruity treat!
Despite my pleadings, my kids are growing up quickly. Those days of popsicle stained hands blowing bubbles in the backyard are a treasured memory. My eldest is finishing his sophomore year in high school.
Middle Child will starting high school next year. ACK! And my Princess? She’s finishing her first year of middle school, has dropped her pretty dresses for the standard middle school attire of shorts, t-shirt, sweatshirt and converse shoes.
So this summer, I’m planning on lots of special experiences and time together because it goes by way too fast.
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Recipe highlights
- Simple: To make homemade lemonade, you only need three basic ingredients: lemons, a sweetener and water. This version includes sweet blackberries!
- Family Friendly: After visiting Knott’s Berry Farms for their boysenberry festival, the kids couldn’t stop talking about the boysenberry lemonade they enjoyed at the park. I didn’t have boysenberries, but we had the next best thing: blackberries!
- Flavor: My whole family loves the flavor the blackberries brought to our homemade lemonade.The kids enjoyed it plain, and the adults may have spiked their glasses with something a bit stronger!
Ingredients you need
- Lemon juice: You can use bottle lemon juice, but the real flavor comes from freshly squeezed lemons and the bits of pulp!
- Granulated sugar: I used regular sugar for this recipe, but you can use honey instead.
- Blackberries: You want fresh sweet blackberries for this recipe to shine. You could use frozen, just be sure that the flavor is good.
- Water: Lemonade is not straight up lemon juice. You dilute it with water. If you like it bubbly, you can use sparkling water.
Step-by-step directions
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- Juice the lemons. Halve all of your lemons and juice them.
- Finish the lemonade. Combine water and lemon juice in a pitcher. Add sugar and stir in until dissolved.
- Add blackberries. Coarsely mash the blackberries then add to the pitcher and stir.
- Chill. Refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours. Serve cold.
Recipe tips and FAQs
For a smoother lemonade, you can also combine all the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Pour through a colander to strain and remove the seeds. This method can also be used for raspberries, blueberries or even strawberries.
The amount of sugar you need can be more or less than what the recipe dictates depending on your personal taste and sweetness of fruits. So add less sugar at first and taste the lemonade as you make it. You can always add more sugar if tart or more lemon juice if too sweet!
My kids are used to me mixing fresh fruits into our lemonades. From strawberries to roasted grape lemonade they love it all. I even make a delicious honey lemonade – so many great flavors!
Storing/Freezing Instructions
TO STORE: Store your lemonade in an airtight container and refrigerate for up 7 days, since honey is a natural food preservative.
TO FREEZE: You can also freeze the lemonade – hello lemonade popsicles! Transfer to a resealable bag or freezer safe container and freeze for up to 4 months.
Absolutely! This lemonade recipe is a great basic recipe. You can serve it up alone or add other fruits like raspberries, blueberries or strawberries. As always, the sweetness of the lemonade depends on your personal taste and how sweet the fruit your are adding is.
Absolutely! You can swap out the sugar in this blackberry lemonade and use honey instead. The amount of honey depends on how sweet you like your lemonade.
Blackberry Lemonade
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 5 oz blackberries
Instructions
- Combine water and lemon juice in a pitcher.
- Add sugar and stir in until dissolved.
- Coarsely mash the blackberries.
- Add blackberries to the pitcher and stir.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
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Written by Laura Bashar
Hi, I’m Laura, a certified professional cook and cookbook author living in San Diego. I have been sharing my family’s favorite recipes inspired from all over the world since 2008. Let’s cook up something fun!
Such a nice refreshing drink. And great way to use one of my favorite berries! Just got back from a walk in the hot, hot sun, and really could use one of these to cool down. 🙂
I purchased the Knott’s boysenberry concentrate and saw your comment that you made lemonade with it? What were your measurements concentrate to lemonade? Thanks if you recall?!
I don’t remember what measurements I used. If you are making a pitcher of this, I’d start with adding 1/4 cup of the concentrate to a pitcher of lemonade. If the concentrate is very sweet, you could use less sugar in your lemonade, or add more lemon juice. Hope that helps!
Laura
I’m definitely trying this!
My best friend and I went to Knott’s Berry Farm on our senior year high school spring break. Then the airlines went on strike and we got stuck in southern California—such a shame. All I remember from that excursion was a slice of boysenberry pie. Glad you got some quality time with the family 🙂
What a great memory, Liz! I’m so mad that I didn’t bring home a boysenberry pie. I’ll have to do it next time.
Great refreshing summertime drink. Can also make from frozen blackberries in the dead of winter to shake off the wintertime blahs.
Yes, totally!
this looks SO delicious!!!