This Lychee Lemonade is bright, refreshing, and brimming with tropical flavors! It showcases fresh lemons and sweet lychee for a unique and colorful twist on regular homemade lemonade. It’s the perfect way to quench your thirst on a hot summer day!
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🍋 The Best Summer Drink
This Lychee Lemonade has the perfect balance of sweet and tart flavors, making it one of my go-to summer drinks. Just like my Pineapple Slushie and Strawberry Milk Tea, it offers a unique, refreshing experience that traditional beverages just can't match.
Lychee, also known as litchi, is a tropical fruit with a delicately sweet flavor that adds a new dimension to traditional lemonade. Once it’s combined with the other ingredients, the flavors meld together and just keep getting better over time!
The beauty of this Lychee Lemonade is in its simplicity and flexibility. Whether you prefer your litchi lemonade sweet or sour, you can easily tweak this recipe to fit your taste buds.
This iced Lychee Lemonade isn't just perfect for those lazy, sunny afternoons, but it's also a hit for parties and barbecues. Prepare it in advance and watch as your guests rush for seconds. Don't forget to garnish it with sliced lemons and whole lychees for some visual appeal.
Why You’ll Love It
- Quick & easy: With just 3 ingredients and 15 minutes, you’ll have the most refreshing Lychee Lemonade on your hands. Plus, there is no cooking required!
- Refreshing: The blend of lychee and lemon creates a beverage that's truly invigorating. This Lychee Lemonade is the ideal drink to beat the heat on hot summer days.
- Healthy: This recipe is gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, and vegan. It's a much healthier alternative to store-bought drinks!
🧂 Ingredients
- Lemons: Use freshly squeezed lemon juice, not lemon juice concentrate, for the absolute best flavor. For reference, one lemon is equivalent to about 3 tablespoons of lemon juice.
- Lychee: Make sure to use canned lychees in syrup to delicately sweeten the drink and give it tropical twist. You should be able to find canned lychees in the canned fruit, ethnic, or international aisles of most large supermarkets, or at Asian food markets.
- Water and ice: Use cold water to maintain the flavors and vibrancy in the Lychee Lemonade. Room temperature water would work fine, but the flavors will become more diluted once you add the ice due to the temperature difference.
Substitutions & Variations
- For an adult version, try adding a shot of vodka, gin, or tequila to your lychee-flavored lemonade. It makes an incredibly refreshing and tropical summer cocktail.
- If you’re looking for more texture, include a handful of lychee coconut jelly. You can even add some lychee popping boba for a bubble tea-inspired twist.
- For a little zing and spice, add a few pieces of fresh ginger or garnish with fresh mint. You can also add a splash of sparkling water (or even lychee sparkling water) for a fun spritzer.
- Mix in other fruits like strawberries, raspberry, passion fruit, peach, or watermelon for a colorful twist.
- Make a lychee limeade by replacing fresh lemon juice with lime juice.
👩🏻🍳 How To Make Lychee Lemonade
⬇️ Please scroll down to the recipe card to see full ingredient amounts and instructions.
STEP ONE: First, prep your ingredients. Open the canned lychee and separate the fruit from the liquid. Make sure to reserve the syrup! Then finely dice the lychee and set aside.
Secondly, squeeze 2-3 lemons until you have ¼ cup lemon juice. I recommend a citrus squeezer that also has a measuring cup.
STEP TWO: Assemble your Lychee Lemonade by combining the chopped lychee, lychee syrup, lemon juice, and cold water in a tall pitcher. Stir and taste, adjusting the drink to your preferred level of sweetness. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Fill the chilled pitcher with ice cubes right before serving.
💭 Top Tips
- Use fresh lemon juice: Bottled lemon juice can have a bitter aftertaste and lacks the bright, zesty flavor of fresh lemons. Whenever possible, opt for the fresh-squeezed option.
- Check the ingredients: All canned lychees are not created equal. Look for brands with a high fruit content and minimal ingredients to ensure the best taste.
- Save your lychee syrup: If you have leftover lychee syrup from the canned fruit, don't throw it away! It can be used to sweeten other beverages (like Lychee Bubble Tea) or as a flavoring in desserts.
- More lemon juice: Squeeze out more juice from your lemons by using room-temperature fruits. If they’re cold, just microwave them for 20-30 seconds until they’re lightly warm to the touch, and roll them on the counter before cutting.
- Adjust sweetness as needed: Everyone's taste buds are different. Some people prefer a tart, less sweet lemonade, while others love a sugary drink. Start with the suggested amount of syrup from the canned lychees, but don't be afraid to adjust it to your taste with homemade simple syrup, honey, or agave. Simply boil your sweetener of choice with water for an quick and easy homemade syrup.
- Use a boba straw: Prevent your small straws from getting clogged from the diced fruit. Instead, serve the Lychee Lemonade with large boba straws.
What to Serve with Lychee Lemonade
Looking for the perfect accompaniment for your refreshing glass of Lychee Lemonade? This sweet and tangy beverage pairs well with an array of dishes. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Spicy Asian dishes: The sweetened litchi lemonade beautifully offsets the heat in Asian dishes like Vietnamese Chicken Curry or Korean Cold Spicy Noodles.
- Meat: Whether it's Vietnamese Pork Skewers, BBQ Chicken Drumsticks or Vietnamese Beef Stew, the citrusy notes of the lemonade provide the perfect complement to your BBQs or hearty meat dishes.
- Seafood: Drink it alongside Furikake Salmon or Korean Shrimp Tacos for a refreshing and flavorful meal.
🥡 Storing & Freezing
Storing: Keep any leftover Lychee Lemonade in an air-tight container or tightly covered pitcher with a lid or plastic wrap. Store in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
Freezing: You can freeze the lychee-lemon mix in ice cube trays and then store them in freezer-safe bags for up to 6 months. Simply thaw in the fridge or at room temperature to enjoy Lychee Lemonade again. You can also use them to chill your next litchi lemonade to prevent diluting the drink at all.
Make ahead: You can prepare this drink 1-2 days in advance for parties or events. Just store it tightly-covered in the refrigerator until ready to serve, then mix with ice cubes right before serving.
📖 Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can use fresh lychees but you will need to make a simple syrup to add the necessary sweetness. To make simple syrup, mix 1 part water and 1 part sugar and simmer until all the sugar has dissolved.
Absolutely! Lime, orange, grapefruit, or mandarins both make great substitutes or additions to Lychee Lemonade if you want to impart different flavors.
Of course! Other fruits you can use include rambutan, longan, pineapple, passion fruit, strawberries, or raspberries. Just make you use a simple syrup to adjust the sweetness.
🍽️ Looking For More Drinks?
If you enjoyed this tropical Lychee Lemonade recipe, take a peek at some more refreshing drinks like these:
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below and consider leaving a comment. It's always greatly appreciated!
📋 Recipe
Lychee Lemonade
Ingredients
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice about 1-2 lemons
- 1 (20 oz) can lychee in syrup
- 2 cups cold water
- Ice cubes
Instructions
- Open the canned lychee and strain, reserving syrup. Finely dice the lychee fruit, making sure it's small enough to fit through a straw.
- In a large pitcher, combine diced lychee, 1¼ cup (300 ml) syrup from canned lychees, lemon juice, and cold water. Stir well and season to taste. Store in fridge.
- Right before serving, fill pitcher with ice cubes.
Notes
- Squeeze out more juice from your lemons by using room-temperature fruits. If they’re cold, just microwave them for 20-30 seconds until they’re lightly warm to the touch, and roll them on the counter before cutting.
- Everyone's taste buds are different. Some people prefer a tart, less sweet lemonade, while others love a sugary drink. Start with the suggested amount of syrup from the canned lychees, but don't be afraid to adjust it to your taste with homemade simple syrup, honey, or agave. Simply boil your sweetener of choice with water for an quick and easy homemade syrup.
- Prevent your small straws from getting clogged from the diced fruit. Instead, serve the Lychee Lemonade with large boba straws.
- Storing Leftovers: Store lemonade in an airtight container or tightly covered pitcher with a lid or plastic wrap. Refrigerate for up to 7 days.
- Freezing: You can freeze the lemonade in ice cube trays and then store them in freezer-safe bags for up to 6 months. Simply thaw in the fridge or at room temperature to enjoy Lychee Lemonade again.
- Make ahead: You can prepare this drink 1-2 days in advance for parties or events. Don't add ice until ready to serve.
Nutrition
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