Recipes › Drinks

Simple Ginger Lemonade

By Samira Kazan

updated March 26, 2025

A refreshing, fresh ginger lemonade made with under five ingredients, naturally sweetened and perfect served with ice on a warm day!

If you are someone that can’t stand the idea of a hot drink on a warm day, but wants to get a soothing cup of Ginger Tea, then this ginger lemonade may be for you. Using under 5 ingredients, being refined sugar-free, and packing a flavor punch, this lemonade is sure to delight.

Ginger and lemon (and honey) are a match made in heaven, while the fresh ginger heats, with its fiery spice, the honey mellows this with a natural sweetness. Meanwhile, the tangy lemon juice adds delicious zing.

If you’re into refreshing twists like this, you’ll love my collection of lemonade recipes — from fruity blends to herbal infusions, there’s something for every mood.

For this particular ginger lemonade recipe, we’ve kept things classic, using fresh tart lemon juice and still water, with a natural sweetener (honey- however, this can be omitted or swapped out with other options). Perfect served ice-cold, with extra ice cubes, and possibly some additional herbs – like fresh mint.

Plus, if you love lemonade and want more inspiration for delicious lemonade, then you may like this Simple Colour-changing Magic Lemonade (using a simple syrup). I mean grocery stores lemonade has nothing on a tart, fresh homemade lemonade!

Alternatively, if you’re looking for a warm, soothing beverage, then you might like this Lemon & Ginger Tea .

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• How To Make The Ginger Lemonade
• Recipe Notes & Variations
• Other Recipes You May Like
• Simple And Refreshing Ginger Lemonade Recipe

How To Make The Ginger Lemonade

The process of making this ginger and lemon lemonade is super easy. Especially as we don’t even have to make a simple syrup. The entire recipe is made up of five steps in total.

The Ingredients

• Fresh Ginger
• Filtered Water
• Lemon, Juice
• Natural Sweetener – I used honey.

Refer to the recipe card below for the full ingredient quantities, methods, and further notes

The Method

Begin by preparing the ginger ‘tea’ base. Do this by cleaning the ginger knobs and chopping them into 1-2″ pieces.

Add the ginger to a saucepan with the filtered water and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for around five minutes. *

(* For a more concentrated flavor, you can use crushed or grated ginger).

When ready, leave the ginger water to cool completely before moving on to the next step.

Prepare the lemon juice by juicing the lemons. You can use a juicer for this, if you have one, or do this manually. I usually use lemons at room temperature. Otherwise, I sometimes microwave them for about 20 seconds to help the lemons release their juices. I also roll the lemons across the center a few times before cutting them in half and then squeeze them as usual. This helps to get out as much of the lemon juice as possible AND makes the process faster.

In a large jug, sieve the ginger mixture to collect the ginger bits.

Next, add the lemon juice and (optional) honey/sweetener.

Stir well and voila!

How To Store

Leftover homemade lemonade will store within the refrigerator for 4-5 days. Just give it a quick stir before using and away you go.

Recipe Notes & Variations

• Instead of honey, you can use other natural sweeteners such as maple syrup. Just be aware that each sweetener will affect the flavor of the ginger lemonade in different ways.
• You may want to reduce or increase the level of sweetener suggested. Add a little bit at a time, taste, and adjust.
• You can also add various herbs to the lemonade too. My favorites include fresh mint, basil, lavender, or rosemary !
• Meyer lemons will provide the sweetest lemon juice, thus possibly reduce the amount of additional sweetener you need to add. However, you can use any lemons in this recipe.
• If you make up a large jug, make sure only to add ice to individual glasses rather than the entire pitcher. Otherwise, you run the risk of diluting the lemonade. You could also add lemon-juice ice-cubes, to avoid watered-down lemonade.
• If you want to make lemonade using sparkling water, then you may be able to use a smaller amount of homemade Ginger Juice in place of the steeped ginger tea.

Other Recipes You May Like

I’m entirely riding the Summer train right now, even if the weather has decided to start raining again recently. So for lots more Summer inspiration, here are some recipes you may like.

• Watermelon Keg/ Dispenser
• How to make pomegranate juice
• Simple Colour-changing Magic Lemonade (with sugar syrup)
• Lebanese Mint Lemonade (Limonana Mint)
• Or check out my complete list of 40+ Delicious Summer Drink Recipes
• Tropical Mango Salad
• Quick & Simple Watermelon Salsa
• Or check out my list of 40+ The Best Easy Summer Salads .

Equipment

• Pitcher

IngredientsUS CustomaryMetric1x2x3x

• ▢ 5 cup filtered water
• ▢ 3.5 oz ginger fresh
• ▢ 1.5 cup lemon juice
• ▢ 0.5 cup honey or other natural sweetener

Instructions

• Prepare the ginger ’tea’ base. Do this by cleaning the ginger knobs and chopping into 1-2" pieces.
• Add the ginger to a pan with the filtered water and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for around five minutes. * (* For a more concentrated flavor, you can use crushed or grated ginger).
• When ready, leave the ginger water to cool completely before moving on to the next step. When it is lukewarm, add the sweetener of your choice and mix well. It’s easier adding it to the mixture when slightly warm, however many people prefer not to add honey to hot water, so I suggest leaving it till ‘warm.’
• Prepare the lemon juice by juicing the lemons. You can use a juicer for this, if you have one, or do this manually. I microwave my lemons for between 10-30 seconds to help the lemons release their juices, roll the lemons across the center a few times before cutting in half, and then squeeze as usual. This helps to get out as much of the lemon juice as possible AND makes the process faster.
• In a large jug, combine the ginger tea mixture and lemon juice and voila!
• How To Store: Leftover homemade lemonade will store within the refrigerator for 4-5 days. Just give it a quick stir before using and away you go.

Video

Notes

• Instead of honey, you can use other natural sweeteners such as maple syrup . Just be aware that each sweetener will affect the flavor of the ginger lemonade in different ways.
• You may want to reduce or increase the level of sweetener suggested. Add a little bit at a time, taste, and adjust.
• You can also add various herbs to the lemonade too. My favorites include fresh mint, basil, lavender, or rosemary !
• Meyer lemons will provide the sweetest lemon juice, thus possibly reduce the amount of additional sweetener you need to add. However, you can use any lemons in this recipe.
• If you make up a large jug, make sure only to add ice to individual glasses rather than the entire pitcher . Otherwise, you run the risk of diluting the lemonade. You could also add lemon-juice ice-cubes, to avoid watered-down lemonade.
• If you want to make lemonade using sparkling water, then you may be able to use a smaller amount of ginger juice in place of the steeped ginger tea.

Nutrition

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Simple And Refreshing Ginger Lemonade

Equipment

• Pitcher

Ingredients

• 5 cup filtered water
• 3.5 oz ginger fresh
• 1.5 cup lemon juice
• 0.5 cup honey or other natural sweetener

Instructions

• Prepare the ginger ’tea’ base. Do this by cleaning the ginger knobs and chopping into 1-2" pieces.
• Add the ginger to a pan with the filtered water and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for around five minutes. * (* For a more concentrated flavor, you can use crushed or grated ginger).
• When ready, leave the ginger water to cool completely before moving on to the next step. When it is lukewarm, add the sweetener of your choice and mix well. It’s easier adding it to the mixture when slightly warm, however many people prefer not to add honey to hot water, so I suggest leaving it till ‘warm.’
• Prepare the lemon juice by juicing the lemons. You can use a juicer for this, if you have one, or do this manually. I microwave my lemons for between 10-30 seconds to help the lemons release their juices, roll the lemons across the center a few times before cutting in half, and then squeeze as usual. This helps to get out as much of the lemon juice as possible AND makes the process faster.
• In a large jug, combine the ginger tea mixture and lemon juice and voila!
• How To Store: Leftover homemade lemonade will store within the refrigerator for 4-5 days. Just give it a quick stir before using and away you go.

Video

Notes

• Instead of honey, you can use other natural sweeteners such as maple syrup . Just be aware that each sweetener will affect the flavor of the ginger lemonade in different ways.
• You may want to reduce or increase the level of sweetener suggested. Add a little bit at a time, taste, and adjust.
• You can also add various herbs to the lemonade too. My favorites include fresh mint, basil, lavender, or rosemary !
• Meyer lemons will provide the sweetest lemon juice, thus possibly reduce the amount of additional sweetener you need to add. However, you can use any lemons in this recipe.
• If you make up a large jug, make sure only to add ice to individual glasses rather than the entire pitcher . Otherwise, you run the risk of diluting the lemonade. You could also add lemon-juice ice-cubes, to avoid watered-down lemonade.
• If you want to make lemonade using sparkling water, then you may be able to use a smaller amount of ginger juice in place of the steeped ginger tea.

Nutrition

Recipe on Alphafoodie: https://www.alphafoodie.com/simple-and-healthy-ginger-lemonade/