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.
1 ½cupscucumber juice from about three to four cucumbers
5 ½cupsfiltered waterplus a splash
1 ½cupslemon juice from about 10-12 lemonssee note
Additional fresh mint sprigsoptional, for garnish
Additional lemon slicesoptional, for garnish
Additional cucumber slicesoptional, for garnish
Instructions
Mint Simple Syrup
For the mint simple syrup, add the sugar, water and mint sprigs to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Once the sugar dissolves, turn off the heat and allow the mint sprigs to steep for about 10 minutes. Remove the mint sprigs.
Mint-Cucumber Lemonade
Cut off the end pieces of the cucumbers and peel. Roughly slice into small chunks. Add a small amount of cucumber chunks to a blender with a splash of water and puree until smooth. Continue adding a few cucumber chunks at a time and puree until all the cucumber has been processed.
In the sink, place a bowl or measuring cup under a fine-mesh sieve. Pour the cucumber puree into the fine-mesh sieve and allow to drain until you have 1 ½ cups. Although you can use a cheesecloth in the fine-mesh sieve for extra straining, it's not necessary. If you have more than 1 ½ cups of cucumber juice, you can freeze it for another time.
Pour the mint simple syrup, cucumber juice, filtered water and lemon juice into a large pitcher. Stir to combine and chill until ready to serve. If desired, garnish the pitcher or glasses with fresh mint sprigs, lemon slices and cucumber slices. Enjoy!
Notes
To get the most juice out of your lemons, I recommend putting them in the microwave for about 30 seconds and then using a juicer.
If you'd like to add alcohol directly to the lemonade, add 1 ¼ cups for a lightly spiked lemonade or up to 2 ½ cups for a boozier option.
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.