This Is the Laziest Way to Make Lemonade — And It Will Change Your Summer

At Kitchn, our editors develop and debut brand-new recipes on the site every single week. But at home, we also have our own tried-and-true dishes that we make over and over again — because quite simply? We love them. And we decided to start sharing some of our absolute favorites with you. Here’s a peek into what we’re cooking and eating in our own kitchens.

There’s nothing quite as delightful as a long, slow sip of bracingly cold, sweet and tangy lemonade on a hot June day. And as a mom of two school-aged kids, large batches of lemonade are a regular part of our meal prep. I’ve even shared how we use homemade lemonade to get both kids to drink more water.

I’ve tried a lot of lemonade recipes — some easy, some complex — but last summer I discovered the easiest method for making lemonade that also happens to be the most flavorful.

This lemonade recipe is proof that you don’t need to spend 30 minutes juicing lemons to make a pitcher of lemonade. Instead, you’ll quarter the lemons, place them in your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, then “beat” the juice out of the lemons. While it may seem odd, this technique draws out the lemon rind’s essential oils, making for an intensely lemony juice.

There’s no need to make simple syrup, because no one wants to stand over the stovetop in June, July, or August. Instead, the sugar is dissolved almost entirely by the acidity of the lemons. In the year since this recipe was originally published I’ve taken to using slightly less sugar — 3/4 cup compared to 1 cup — and find that to be the perfect sweetness for our tastes. I’ll also occasionally incorporate other citrus fruits, berries, and even cubed watermelon into the juicing step for different flavors and colors of lemonade.

The best thing about this lemonade is drinking it ice cold on a hot day. Thanks to the lemon-squeezing technique, it has a bright citrus flavor I’ve never had in another lemonade.