This super easy recipe for semi-homemade Blackberry Lemonade is made with a shortcut! It starts with fresh blackberries and good quality store-bought lemonade. No blender needed to make the blackberry syrup.
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We have a wild blackberry patch on the edge of our woods in our back yard, so I made this semi homemade lemonade recipe with wild blackberries during the summer months.
Another one of my favorite blackberry recipes is Easy Wild Blackberry Crisp with Pecan Streusel. It's super easy, too!
If you don't have access to wild blackberries or a farmers market, luckily, larger grocery stores have them in the produce section almost all year round and often on sale in the summer.
Blackberry lemonade recipes don't have to be complicated or require a special equipment like a blender or juicer to be truly blackberry lemonade. In my shortcut version, you're basically making homemade blackberry juice and stirring it into prepared lemonade.
I first experimented with a homemade blackberry simple syrup and added it to the lemonade. It was way too sweet for my taste since the prepared lemonade already had plenty of sugar in it. So, I added just enough sugar in this blackberry syrup to help the fresh blackberries release their juice when heated in a saucepan.
Shortcuts
- Starting with prepared, store bought lemonade saves time. It also means you don't have to own a lemon juicer, reamer, or squeezer required to make lemonade from scratch.
- No blender needed. I find that blending up blackberry seeds just creates a thick pulp that takes hours to strain juice from cheesecloth...that I never seem to have handy. By heating the berries with sugar while gently mashing the berries, releases plenty of juice and drains quickly in a fine mesh strainer.
Ready to learn how to make shortcut blackberry lemonade?
Ingredients
Scroll down to printable recipe for ingredient quantities.
- Store bought lemonade: Pick your favorite brand. I like Simply brand juices and drinks found in the refrigerated drink section of my grocery store.
- Fresh blackberries
- Sugar and a little bit of water to cook with the berries to help release juice.
Can I make it with frozen blackberries?
Yes, you can make this blackberry lemonade recipe with either fresh or frozen berries. Simply use 2 cups of frozen, thawed, blackberries for the syrup mixture first, then make the lemonade recipe according to directions.
How to make easy blackberry lemonade
These step by step pictures will show how you can make shortcut blackberry lemonade with fresh blackberries.
Scroll down to the bottom for the printable recipe with detailed instructions.
- Combine berries, sugar and water in a medium-size saucepan.
- Cook over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until the berries are soft, gently mashing with a potato masher the last 2 minutes of cooking.
Note: Don't ask me why, but fresh blackberries turn more of a red than a purple when cooked. As you can see in the picture in the left, there were no unripe, red berries in the pan. I will say, wild blackberries like these, do tend to have more of a red tint than grocery store berries.
- Pour the cooked blackberries into a fine mesh strainer (metal sieve) with a bowl underneath to catch the blackberry syrup.
- Using the back of a spoon, mash the berries and gently press them against the strainer to extract ¾ cup syrup.
The seeds and pulp can can be thrown away but I add them to my compost pile.
Now you're ready to stir the syrup into the lemonade, garnish with berries, lemon slices and mint sprigs and serve over ice!
Substitutions & Variations
- Blackberry Lemonade Mocktail- A mocktail is a nonalcoholic drink that is served in a cocktail glass, typically at parties. Just garnish this berry lemonade with fresh blackberries, lemon slices, and fresh mint.
- Bourbon Blackberry Lemonade- I'm a teetotaler, but if you want to make a hard blackberry lemonade, just stir in 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) of bourbon or vodka for every 1 cup of lemonade.
- Sparkling Blackberry Lemonade- Stir in 1 cup of one of these to add a little effervescence to your homemade lemonade: club soda, tonic water, lemon-lime soda, lemon-flavored sparkling water.
- Blackberry Basil or Mint Lemonade- Before adding ice to the glasses, muddle a few sprigs of fresh basil or mint with a wooden spoon. Pour the blackberry lemonade over the ice and stir gently. Keep the basil or mint in the glass or remove it. Garnish with a fresh basil or mint sprig.
- Skinny Lemonade- Trade out store bought sugar-free, zero-sugar, or even Chick-fil-A's diet lemonade for the lemonade. You can also omit the ¼ cup sugar when cooking the blackberries. Check the labels for nutrition information.
Helpful Information
Blackberries are typically ripe here in the South from June to early August so we can enjoy wild blackberries all summer. Blackberries are sold almost year round in major grocery stores.
Yes, there are several ways to extract the juice from blackberries. The easiest is to run them through an electric centrifugal juicer. If you do not own one of these handy kitchen appliances (I don't), here's the best alternative. Heat the blackberries in a saucepan with a small amount of water, strain the seeds and pulp in a fine wire mesh strainer.
What to serve with blackberry lemonade
The gorgeous reddish purple color of this halfway homemade blackberry lemonade is perfect to serve at brunch with a breakfast casserole and fresh fruit, at a pool party over crushed ice in festive glasses with individual jarcuterie, or by itself as front porch sippin' lemonade on a hot summer day.
How to store homemade lemonade
Store any leftovers in the refrigerator, covered or in an air tight container up to 6 days.
Want more summer drink recipes?
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How to Make Shortcut Blackberry Lemonade
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh blackberries (one pint)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 52 ounce container lemonade or about 7 cups prepared lemonade (I used refrigerated Simply Lemonade)
- Garnishes: fresh blackberries, mint sprigs, lemon slices
Instructions
- Wash blackberries by putting under running water briefly.
- Combine blackberries, sugar and water in a medium-size saucepan. Bring up to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook 5 minutes, or until berries are soft, while gently mashing the berries with a potato masher or large fork to help release blackberry juice.
- Place a fine mesh strainer or sieve over a medium-size bowl. Carefully pour the hot blackberry pulp and juice into the strainer. Let the juice (light blackberry syrup) drip into the bowl below.
- Gently press the pulp against the metal strainer with the back of a spoon or spatula until you have about ¾ cup juice (light syrup).
- When ready to serve Shortcut Blackberry Lemonade, pour the blackberry juice into a pitcher of ice and lemonade. Stir well and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition analysis on GritsAndGouda.com recipes are mostly calculated on an online nutrition calculator. I am not a dietitian and nutritional information is an estimate and can vary based on products used.
Jodie Kay Baker Minor
So pretty
So simple
So delicious!
Eva Royal
Outstanding ! ! ! I made this with some black raspberry juice from my garden and it was a huge success.
gritsandgouda
Black raspberry lemonade sounds delicious! I bet it was pretty color!
Kathleen
Thank you,
Thank you,
Thank you!