Whole Lemon Lemonade Recipe (No Peeling or Juicing)

This Whole Lemon Lemonade is sure to be your new favorite refreshing summertime (or anytime) drink. It's made with only wholesome ingredients, no squeezing or peeling needed, and much more nutritious than most homemade lemonade recipes.

Once you try this frothy blender lemonade recipe and its blend of sweetness and bitterness, you'll likely never go back.

A glass of homemade lemonade is the perfect super simple summertime drink to quench your thirst, but who has time to squeeze all those lemons? Not me, and likely not you, either.

With this recipe, even when the world gives you lemons, you can put the WHOLE thing in your blender and you make the easiest and healthiest lemonade ever.

What Makes This Blender Lemonade Recipe Better

Most blender lemonade recipes call for straining out and tossing quite a bit of the pulp or adding in condensed milk, but not this one.

Of course, you can strain if you like, but I'm too busy for that. I like to use a high-powered blender (like Vitamix or Blendtec, but I'm partial to Vitamix) to blend everything together really well so you have less waste, more benefits to your drink, and it's faster too! But even if you don't have a super duper blender, there's likely no straining needed if you blend long enough.

Ingredients/What You'll Need

• blender: (I recommend a high-powered blender like Vitamix)
• mesh strainer: (optional)
• lemons: (I recommend organic since you'll be eating the peel)
• knife and cutting board
• water: (filtered water is, of course, best and highly recommended)
• sweetener: I prefer using stevia extract, but you can use honey, coconut sugar, maple syrup, simple syrup, or whatever sweetener you like. I don't recommend using granulated sugar or agave nectar for health reasons.) You could also use dates in place of another sweetener.
• salt

Does Whole Lemon Lemonade Taste Bitter?

Whole lemon lemonade has a slightly more complex flavor than traditional lemonade because the peel is blended into the drink. Many people (like me) enjoy the extra lemon flavor, but if you're sensitive to bitterness, there are a few easy tricks:

• Choose thin-skinned lemons when possible.
• Remove any seeds before blending.
• If your lemons have very thick pith (the white part under the peel), trim some away.
• Remove the ends of the lemons before blending, especially if they are larger than normal.
• Add a little extra sweetener if needed.
• Strain the finished lemonade for a smoother texture.

Benefits of Lemon Peel

Most people don't eat citrus peel, or use just a little for a garnish. But once you know what you're missing in nutrition by tossing the peel, it makes this whole lemon lemonade that much more appealing (see what I did there?)

Lemon peel gives a really nice nutritional boost to this drink. As mentioned in my post about Homemade Vitamin C Powder, there's more vitamin C in the peel of citrus fruits than in the fruit itself. There's a whopping 129mg of vitamin C in 100g of peel compared to 53mg in 100g of peeled lemon fruit. That's more than double!

Blender Lemonade Variations

There are so many great options for adding a delicious and nutritious twist to this lemonade. Simply add a handful of any of the following fruits to the blender before blending. Truly the possibilities are endless.

• cherries
• fresh strawberries
• blueberries
• peaches
• raspberries
• lime wedges for a blender lemonade/limeade drink
• condensed milk for a Brazilian lemonade

Recipe Notes

• Excess Pith: Remove excess pith if it's unusually thick, including bulky stem-end nubs. This can help reduce bitterness.
• Seeds: While lemon seeds contain fiber and antioxidants, they can add bitterness to the drink. Sometimes I leave them in if I'm in a hurry, but for the smoothest flavor, removing them is recommended.
• Use Organic Lemons: If you can't find organic lemons, at least scrub the peel really well. Better yet, shave off a thin layer of the outer peel.
• Smaller Lemons: While not always the case, smaller lemons tend to have less pith. The pith is nutritious, but it also contributes bitterness.
• Choose Thin-Skinned Lemons: Thin-skinned lemons are typically juicier and have less pith than thick-skinned lemons, resulting in a less bitter drink.
• Straining: If using a high-powered blender, you may not need to strain the lemonade at all. The drink will be thicker, but I truly prefer it that way.
• Sweetener: I usually make this recipe with stevia, but honey, maple syrup, sugar, monk fruit, or sweetener blends all work well. Start with less sweetener than you think you'll need and adjust to taste, while keeping in mind that honey and maple syrup are sweeter than sugar.