Name: Mint-Cucumber Lemonade
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 1 ½ cups sugar; 1 ½ cups water; 3-4 fresh mint sprigs; 1 ½ cups cucumber juice from about three to four cucumbers; 5 ½ cups filtered water (plus a splash); 1 ½ cups lemon juice from about 10-12 lemons (see note); Additional fresh mint sprigs (optional, for garnish); Additional lemon slices (optional, for garnish); Additional cucumber slices (optional, for garnish)

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Is it even patio season without a good lemonade on the menu? Made with all fresh ingredients, this mint-cucumber lemonade is the perfect combination of sweet and tart for the ultimate thirst quencher on warm days.

Three glasses of mint-cucumber lemonade with flowers and a carafe.

I’m particularly excited to share this recipe because I’m a huge sucker for all things cucumber once we move past winter. Of course, this means plenty of cucumber-laced salads and homemade pickles, but I don’t stop there.

Juicing cucumbers and adding that delicious liquid to all sorts of beverages is one of my favorite ways to enjoy this refreshing vegetable. If you’ve tried my cucumber-lavender gin fizz or blackberry-cucumber-vanilla vodka spritzer, you already know how delicious cucumber is in cocktails. And if you haven’t, do yourself a favor and put those drinks on your spring and summer cocktail menu.

Sometimes I’ll even make a big batch of cucumber juice and add it to my sparkling water throughout the week. Not only is this a nice way to add a little flavor to your water, but it also gives you a healthful boost of antioxidants. Given how much I love spiking my beverages with cucumber juice, I knew I needed a good cucumber lemonade in my life.

And best of all, you don’t need an expensive juicer. You can juice a cucumber simply using your blender. Neat, huh? Let's dive into it.

A glass of mint-cucumber lemonade with two other glasses in the foreground and background.

How to Make Cucumber Juice

To make this lemonade, we need fresh cucumber juice, so let's start there. First, we peel the waxy skin and cut off the two ends. We then roughly chop the cucumber, throw a small amount of cucumber pieces into a blender with a splash of water and blend until smooth. Once we blend the first few pieces, we can keep adding a few more pieces at a time and process until we eventually add all the cucumber.

Don't add too many cucumber pieces in the beginning. Your blender will have a hard time processing too much cucumber, so it's best to start with a small amount.

A blender full of cucumber puree to make cucumber juice.

Now that we have our cucumber puree, we pour it into a fine-mesh sieve with a bowl underneath and allow it to drain. And that's it. We now have our cucumber juice.

We need 1 ½ cups of cucumber juice for this lemonade. I find three cucumbers typically work for me, but you can always juice more cucumbers at a time and freeze the leftovers or use later in the week.

How to Make Mint-Cucumber Lemonade

Along with our cucumber juice, we also need a mint simple syrup, fresh lemon juice and filtered water to make this lemonade. We start by making the mint simple syrup to give it time to steep and cool.

To do this, we simply combine sugar, water and fresh mint sprigs in a small saucepan. Let the mixture come to a boil and then simmer, stirring every so often. Once the sugar dissolves, we remove the saucepan from the heat to allow the mint to steep. About 10 minutes of steeping time should do.

The mint simple syrup boiling to make mint-cucumber lemonade.

And now the process gets even easier. We grab a pitcher and pour in the cucumber juice, mint simple syrup, freshly squeezed lemon juice and filtered water. Give it a good stir and that’s it.

If you’re feeling fancy, you can add some cucumber and lemon slices along with some fresh mint to the pitcher. Chill the lemonade until you’re ready to serve, grab a seat on the patio and enjoy one refreshing beverage.

How Far in Advance Can You Make Mint-Cucumber Lemonade?

I love how you can make homemade lemonade in advance, which makes for easy entertaining. That said, you don't want to make this mint-cucumber lemonade too many days before you need it. After a few days, the lemon starts to lose its brightness. I recommend enjoying this lemonade within three days.

And if you obsessively freeze all your leftovers like me, good news! I've stored many homemade lemonades in the freezer over the years with success. This lemonade works well as a make-ahead option.

An aerial view of the mint-cucumber lemonade.

Looking down into three glasses of mint-cucumber lemonade.

Can You Add Alcohol to Mint-Cucumber Lemonade?

This mint-cucumber lemonade is delicious by itself, but if you’re in need of a refreshing cocktail, you can certainly add your favorite liquor. Vodka, rum, gin and tequila are all good bets, or you could add a splash of this lemonade to your Champagne for a fun brunch cocktail. I even have a tequila lemonade that proves this was meant for a little kick.

Even Irish whiskey is a delicious option. I made this lemonade for our St. Patrick’s Day party and put out a bottle of Jameson for our guests to add to their lemonade if they’d like, and the combination was a hit.

If you plan to use this mint-cucumber lemonade as a cocktail, you can either pour the alcohol directly into the pitcher, or you can put out a few bottles to let guests pick their favorite liquor and control the strength of the pour.

Perfect Pairing

While there are so many pairing possibilities with this recipe, the mint and cucumber make this lemonade lovely with Greek food. Try a big Greek salad with grilled chicken or a plate of gyros with plenty of tzatziki sauce on the side. My Mediterranean-inspired cucumber pico de gallo is another tasty option.

For those moments when nothing but a refreshing sipper will do, I hope you give this mint-cucumber lemonade a try.

Cheers!

Three mint-cucumber lemonades on cheesecloth and a pink background.

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