Most lemonade products — from ready-to-drink beverages to powder mixes — are packed with sugar. Even popular “sugar-free” options, such as Crystal Light and Chick-fil-A diet lemonade, contain a significant amount of net carbs.
For a refreshing lemonade that is both refreshing and healthy, your best option is making it yourself. All you’ll need is three ingredients and this keto lemonade recipe!
How to Make Keto Lemonade: 3 Ingredients, One Step
For a quick and simple keto-friendly lemonade, blend or mix together lemon juice, keto sweetener, and water. Pour over ice (or blend a cup of lemonade with ice for a keto slushy), and enjoy!
Start with the ingredient ratios we recommend in the recipe. After they are mixed together, taste and make adjustments from there to fit your flavor preferences.
For example, if you want a stronger sour flavor in each sip, add a small amount of extra lemon juice. Conversely, to make your lemonade sweeter, use a bit more keto sweetener.
If you end up overdoing it with the lemon juice or the sweetener, simply add more water to balance it out.
What Can I Use to Sweeten my Keto Lemonade More?
Any keto-friendly sweetener will work, but I recommend using the sweetener called for in this recipe first. We made sure to choose a sweetener that works well with lemon juice.
However, if you have a strong preference for a particular keto sweetener, feel free to use it as a substitute. To find the right replacement ratio, use our keto sweetener substitution chart.
How Many Net Carbs are in This Keto Lemonade Recipe?
The net carb content of your lemonade will depend on how much lemon juice you use and how much you dilute the lemonade. According to the USDA database, one cup (8 ounces) of raw lemon juice has ~12 grams of net carbs.
To find how many net carbs are in each cup of lemonade, divide the total number of net carbs in your recipe by how many servings of lemonade you made.
As an example, if you prefer a stronger lemonade, you may end up using 1 cup of lemon juice for every 5 cups of water (as we did in the recipe). This means each cup of keto lemonade would have ~2.5 grams of net carbs (i.e., 12 g of net carbs divided among 5 servings of lemonade). If you add more water and dilute the lemon juice, each serving of lemonade will have fewer net carbs.
Enhancing the Quality of Your Keto Lemonade: Can You Add Fruit?
If you’d like to take your low-carb lemonade to the next level, try implementing one or more of the following tips:
- Use fresh lemon juice — Bottled lemon juice has a different acidity level and an odd flavor because of the added preservatives. Juice your lemons fresh for the best quality lemonade.
- Pick the juiciest lemons — Look for brightly-colored, medium- to large-sized fruits with minimal discolorations. The juiciest lemons will feel heavier than their size indicates, and their skin will give a little when you gently squeeze them. In contrast, hard and surprisingly light lemons will have less juice.
- Upgrade your juicing equipment — If you are planning to make keto lemonade often or in bulk, try using a top squeezer citrus juicer or an electric juicer (rather than squeezing the lemons by hand).
- Enhance the flavor with keto fruit and herbs — Add some blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, mint, basil, and/or cayenne to your lemonade and let it infuse in the fridge as it cools. You can also use frozen low-carb berries as a way to cool your drink and enhance the flavor at the same time. If you end up eating the berries, make sure you add it to your carb count for the day. The same applies to any low-carb fruit you consume on keto.
- Add electrolytes to help remedy the keto flu — You can also turn this refreshing lemonade into an electrolyte drink that will help you adapt to keto eating. Simply add ⅛ to ¼ tsp of sea salt (for sodium), ⅛ to ¼ tsp of cream of tartar (for potassium), and/or 1-2 tbsp of unflavored Natural Calm (for magnesium) to every 6 cups of lemonade. Or, use a pre-made electrolyte supplement (this one is my favorite).
- Turn it into a refreshing keto slushy — Freeze and partially thaw your lemonade or add ice to freshly made lemonade, pour into the blender, and blend until it reaches your desired consistency.
How Long Will It Last? Can You Freeze Keto Lemonade?
Your keto lemonade will stay fresh for at least 24 hours if you are planning to carry it around or leave it out during the day. When stored in the fridge, the lemonade will keep for at least a week.
If you’d like to preserve it even longer, you can also freeze it. Just make sure to leave enough space in your storage container so the lemonade can expand as it freezes.
Yields 5 servings of Keto Lemonade
The Preparation
- 1 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 5 cups water, filtered
- 1 teaspoon liquid stevia
The Execution
1. Add all ingredients to a pitcher large enough to hold all of the ingredients.
2. Mix together and taste. Adjust sweetener to taste. Tip: Add a pinch or 2 of salt to keep electrolytes up.
3. Serve over ice and enjoy!
Makes 5 total servings of Keto Lemonade. Each serving comes out to be 9 calories, 0g fats, 2.5g net carbs, and 0.2g protein.
| NUTRITION | CALORIES | FAT | CARBS | FIBER | NET CARBS | PROTEIN |
| 1 cup lemon juice | 41 | 0.2 | 14 | 1.7 | 12.3 | 1.1 |
| 5 cups water | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 teaspoon liquid stevia | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 43 | 0.2 | 14 | 1.7 | 12.3 | 1.1 |
| Per Serving (/5) | 8.6 | 0.0 | 2.8 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 0.2 |
Sugar-free Keto Lemonade
Ingredients
- 1 cup lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 5 cups water filtered
- 1 teaspoon liquid stevia
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a pitcher large enough to hold all of the ingredients.
- Mix together and taste. Adjust sweetener to taste. Tip: Add a pinch or 2 of salt to keep electrolytes up.
- Serve over ice and enjoy!
