Give your lemonade an herbal upgrade with this Basil Lemonade recipe! No heating or blending required. Simply steep fresh basil overnight in water to create an incredibly fragrant and aromatic herbal infusion, then mix with fresh lemon juice and sweetener. It’s simple, fresh, healthy and delicious!
🍋🌱Fresh Basil Lemonade Highlights🌱🍋
- Cold Infusion: No need to break out your blender or turn on your stove top! Make an herbal infusion by steeping fresh basil in water overnight, then use the herby-water to make your lemonade. It’s incredibly simple & incredibly fragrant!
- Refreshing & Delicious: Steeping fresh herbs in cold water is an easy and gentle way of infusing water with the volatile oils (aroma) of your herbs which makes for a more fragrant and thirst-quenching lemonade – the perfect drink to enjoy on a hot day!
- Easily Customizable: Sweeten your lemonade with a natural sweetener, sugar or simple syrup of your choice. Try adding other herbs like fresh mint. Add fresh fruit or sliced cucumber to your glass when serving.
What is an herbal infusion?
Simply put, herbal infusions = herbal teas. Infusions are made by steeping fresh or dried herbs in hot or cold water to extract the flavor and potentially healthy plant compounds.
Hot water infusions (tea) are great when preparing dried herbs or hardy plants (like rosemary) while cold infusions are ideal for fresh and delicate herbs (like basil) that may degrade or lose flavor from extended cooking.
This is why I opted to make this basil lemonade with a cold, overnight infusion instead of preparing a basil syrup to sweeten and flavor the lemonade. It’s a slower process, but the fresh, basil flavor is undeniable.
🫖Tea vs Tisane🫖
Technically, true tea (like green, black and oolong tea) is made with plant parts from the tea plant ‘Camellia sinensis‘.
Botanical drinks made with different plant species that are prepared in a tea-like manner are tisanes.
How to Make Basil Lemonade
Altogether, the process looks like this:
- Make an overnight basil-water infusion.
- Juice lemons.
- Mix lemon juice and sugar/sweetener together
- Strain basil and add the herb-water to the lemon juice.
- Mix, taste, sweeten again (if needed)
- Enjoy!
Bite-sized recipe steps with pictures:
Wash: Wash well to rinse off bits of dirt & debris.
Chop: Roughly chop or tear basil to release volatile oils.
Add Water: Add basil to a large pitcher or jar and cover with water.
Steep: Cover and place in the fridge overnight to steep.
Juice: Juice about 5 large, fresh lemons or enough to fill 1 cup (240ml).
Sweeten: Whisk lemon juice, sweetener & 1 cup water.
Strain & Combine: Strain basil and add the infused water to the lemon mixture.
Serve & Enjoy: Pour into ice-filled glasses and serve. Add fresh herbs, lemon slices of fruit if desired.
What type of basil should I use?
You can make this with any type of basil – just keep in mind the flavor differences between various basil types.
| Genovese/ Sweet Basil | You’re probably most familiar with sweet basil (aka Italian basil) as it’s the one you’ll like find in most grocery stores. It has a fresh and clean aroma with somewhat peppery and sweet with a mild licorices-like notes. |
| Lemon Basil | This one is similar to Sweet Basil with more lemon-forward notes. If you want less of the anise/licorices flavor and more sweet-lemon flavor – use this. |
| Thai Basil | Thai basil leans more into the spice and anise/licorice flavor. It’s got a much bolder flavor that will appeal to some, and put off others. |
| Holy Basil (Tulsi) | Holy basil is similar to Thai Basil, but its flavor is more clove-like than licorice. |
| Cinnamon Basil (Mexican Basil) | Cinnamon basil has menthol-like compounds which gives is a bit of a spicy, cinnamon-like flavor. |
Additions & Lemonade Variations
- Fresh fruit: This would make a fantastic summer drink served with seasonal fruit like fresh strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, melon balls or even thinly sliced cucumbers.
- Make it minty: Add a small handful of mint leaves or swap out half the basil for mint. Mint is cooling and incredibly refreshing. Both herbs can be quite intense on their own, but they’re great at balancing each other out.
- Add lime juice: Juice a couple limes in addition to the lemons for an even perkier beverage.
- Use Coconut water: Boost your electrolytes and stay hydrated longer by using coconut water to infuse your basil. The gentle sweetness of the coconut water pairs wonderfully with the slightly savory basil flavor.
More Refreshing Drink Recipes
Enjoy!
Let me know if you try this homemade Basil Lemonade Recipe! I’d love to hear what you made with it and how it turned out! Please leave a comment and review with your thoughts and suggestions for me and future readers.
Fresh Basil Lemonade Recipe
This herbal lemonade is fresh, healthy, & customizable. Steep basil in water overnight, add lemon, sweetener & enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 big handful fresh basil, leaves and stems (25g)
- 5 cups water, divided (1.2L)
- 1 cup fresh lemon juice, about 5 large lemons (240 ml)
- 1/2 cup honey (170g) or maple syrup (160g)* OR 3/4 cup white sugar (150g)
For Serving - Optional
- ice
- fresh basil leaves
- strawberry slices
- lemon slices
Instructions
- Wash basil: Thoroughly wash and rinse your basil first to remove dirt and debris.
- Chop: Roughly chop the basil (stems & leaves) then add the herbs to a a large jar (quart-sized or larger). Cover with 4 cups of cold water. Secure the lid then refrigerate for about 6 hours or overnight. The longer you let it infuse the stronger the basil flavor.
- Lemons & Sweetener: Add lemon juice, your sweetener of choice and the remaining 1 cup of water to a large pitcher. Whisk together well until the sugar/sweetener has fully dissolved or mixed into the liquids.
- Strain: Take the basil infusion out of the fridge. Place a fine mesh strainer or sieve on top of the pitcher then pour the basil water into the sieve to strain out the leaves and stems.
- Mix: Stir it all together than taste. Add more sweetener if you see fit.
- Serve: Pour the lemonade into tall ice-filled glasses and enjoy. Serve with fresh basil leaves, lemon slices and fresh fruit if desired and enjoy.
Notes
- Basil Amount: Fresh herbs can be tricky to measure without weighing. If you don't own a kitchen scale, don't worry about getting an exact amount. Aim for 1 handful or 1 cup - packed before chopping.
- Steeping Time: The longer you let this steep, the stronger the flavor. I like to do this overnight, but if you're short on time you can let it steep for a couple of hours.
- A note about crystallized honey: You don't need heat to dissolve the sugar/sweeteners, just whisk well for a minute or two and you're good to go. The exception - if your honey has crystallized, I recommend you gently heat it up in a small pan with the water until dissolved.
- Low FODMAP/Vegan: Use pure maple syrup or granulated sugar - not honey.
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