This simple 3-ingredient coconut water lemonade is so refreshing and easy to make! It includes coconut water, freshly squeezed lemon juice and sweetener to taste. Great to make ahead or to serve to a crowd, plus ready within only 5 minutes. It is the ultimate summer drink, but also great all year round!
This coconut water lemonade got to be the most refreshing and thirst-quencher drink we have had in a while.
We are a lemonade kind of household always tweaking regular lemonade recipes to make them more unique and fun. Making your own lemonade takes minutes and is so much healthier than store-bought!
I made a matcha lemonade recently that I like to enjoy when I need a boost of energy, but we also love my popular pink dragon fruit lemonade that's beautiful, delicious and eye-catching.
For most homemade lemonades, all you have to do is combine freshly squeezed lemon juice with water and a little sweetener. Then, add your touch with more fruits or flavoring ingredients. So easy!
But this time, I was wondering if I could add lemon juice to coconut water for a tropical twist on the classic recipe. Well, this answer is YES! What an amazing combination it is, we drank the whole batch within minutes.
I like adding coconut water to green smoothies, but I enjoyed how the coconut water's unique flavor was more noticeable in this homemade lemonade recipe.
This recipe is pretty much a DIY energy drink, but made much healthier and includes only natural ingredients. Coconut water is loaded with electrolytes, which you can taste by its naturally mild salty flavor. But then pair it with vitamin-rich zesty lemon juice and you have an ultra-hydrating, potassium-boosted, low-sugar and high vitamin C content healthy drink you can make in 5 min.
Let me know if you gave it a try! ❤️
Why you will love this recipe
- Very flavorful and deliciously zesty!
- Uses 3 simple ingredients only
- Nutritious drink: has more potassium than bananas and good source of vitamin C
- SO easy and done in 5 minutes!
- Ultra refreshing and perfect to enjoy on a hot summer day
- Versatile and can be customized to your taste
- Made without refined white sugar
- Amazing post-workout hydrating drink
- Great for meal prep
- Naturally vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free
Ingredients you will need
- Coconut water: I used the unsweetened coconut water from the brand 365 that I found at Whole Food Markets. You can use any coconut water you like or can find, but I highly recommend using an organic and unsweetened brand NOT made from concentrate.
- Fresh lemon juice: you will need ½ cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice for this recipe, which should be about 3 lemons.
- Sweetener: I used maple syrup, which is usually my preferred sweetener for drinks. That being said, you can taste the maple syrup slightly here, just something to keep in mind. You can also use a more flavorless sweetener such as agave nectar or even simple syrup.
How to make coconut water lemonade
This is such an easy recipe and all you need in 5 minutes to make this lemonade. I recommend keeping the coconut water and the lemons in the fridge until ready to whip up your lemonade so it is nice and cold if you want to serve it right away.
Squeeze the lemon juice
Extract the lemon juice by hand until you get about ½ cup. I like using a manual press lemon squeezer so I can get the juice in a measuring cup easily. You can also use a manual citrus squeezer or simply do it by hand.
If necessary, remove the seeds from the lemon juice.
Combine and adjust
In a pitcher or large glass container, pour the ½ cup of lemon juice and then the 4 cups of coconut water over.
Add sweetener to taste, about ¼ to ⅓ cup, then stir to combine.
You can enjoy it right away or store it in the fridge for later.
Helpful tips
- If you prefer using granulated sugar, then you might need to dissolve it first in a small amount of hot water so you don't end up with the sugar sinking at the bottom of your lemonade. To do it, combine equal parts of sugar and water in a small saucepan and heat up while stirring until the sugar dissolves. Try cooling it down before adding it to your lemonade.
- Adjust sweetener to your preference, which will depend on your taste and how sweet were your lemons.
- Make sure to use unsweetened coconut water for best result.
- For a super fresh lemonade, then feel free to use fresh coconut water for a real young coconut! An average coconut should give you ½ cup to 1 cup of water.
Serving suggestions
This lemonade makes for such a perfect afternoon refreshing drink to help you stay hydrated. Fill up your glass with tons of ice cubes to keep it nice and chill and add more lemon slices for a nice punch of color. You can also add a sprig of mint for a nice presentation.
You can make a big batch and keep it in the fridge for whenever you need a revitalizing elixir or a tropical pick-me-up!
Also, it is great when enjoyed with any kind of BBQ food. You can make a large pitcher, so both kids and adults can enjoy it. Try it with these vegan lentil sloppy joes or these oyster mushroom burgers.
Here are a few more healthy meal-pairing suggestions:
- Vegan taco bowl
- Vegan jackfruit wraps
- Watermelon cucumber salad
- Vegan fish tacos
- Roasted mango habanero salsa
- Vegan taquitos
- Shiitake mushroom sushi rolls
- Vegan fajita bowl
Variations to the recipe
This lemonade recipe is so versatile and you can play around with the ingredients to make it perfect for you. Add more lemon juice or sweetener if needed or dilute with more water or coconut water if the flavors are too strong for you.
Also, you can add more ingredients to the lemonade to change the flavor profile a bit. Here is some inspiration:
- Strawberry or watermelon: you can simply add sliced fruit to the lemonade when serving or blend them in using a stand blender with the other lemonade ingredients.
- Frosty: Blend the lemonade ingredients with a handful of ice cubes.
- Creamy: Add a few spoonfuls of coconut cream or coconut milk to your lemonade for a creamy texture and mild coconutty flavor.
- Orange: you can swap some of the lemon juice for freshly squeezed orange juice. This would make the lemonade sweeter naturally and less zesty.
- Sparkly: pour the lemonade halfway into your serving glass and top it off with some sparkling water or seltzer water.
- Herby: lemonades go great with fresh basil or mint leaves. You can crush the herbs at the bottom of your serving glass before pouring the lemonade to help extract their flavor.
- Fiber-boost: add a small spoonful of chia seeds, stir well and let your lemonade rest for 10-15 minutes before enjoying. Check out my lemon chia water to get more details!
- Berries: add a few berries to your glass or crush them at the bottom before pouring the lemonade for more flavor and color.
Storage tips
Store the lemonade in an airtight container or a glass jar for up to 3-4 days.
I recommend adding the ice cubes only when serving and ready to enjoy so the melting ice does not water down the flavors.
FAQ's
This depends on what brand of coconut water you are using. Some brand adds extra sugar or uses concentrate to make the water, which I would avoid using for making this recipe. Look for no added sugar coconut water brand that also is not made from concentrate.
Yes, you can! The natural sweetener from coconut water might be enough for your taste buds to flavor your lemonade, so feel free to make it all first without the maple syrup and simply taste before deciding if it needs more sweetener or not.
You can simply double or triple the recipe and combine it in a large pitcher. Do not add the ice cubes into the pitcher until ready to serve to avoid watering down the flavors.
I would highly recommend against it. Bottle lemon juices don't have great flavor and would not make the lemonade taste fresh and authentic.
More refreshing drinks you might like
- Iced matcha lemonade
- Ginger turmeric lemon shots
- Healthy mixed berry tonic
- Blueberry lavender lemonade
- Strawberry kiwi water
- Strawberry acai lemonade refresher
- Mango water
- Dragon fruit lemonade
I hope you like this coconut water lemonade recipe as much as we do! If you try it, please leave a comment below and rate the recipe to let me know how it was. Your feedback is so helpful!
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📖 Recipe
Coconut Water Lemonade
Ingredients
- ½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 4 cups coconut water - choose unsweetened and not made from concentrate
- ¼-⅓ cup maple syrup - or favorite sweetener, see notes
Instructions
- Start by squeezing the juice out of the lemons. To get the ½ cup of lemon juice, you will need about 3 lemons.
- Pour the lemon juice into a large glass jar or small pitcher and then pour the coconut water over. Stir well and add sweetener to taste.
- Serve over ice cubes and more lemon slices. You can also transfer to the fridge to serve later.
Video
Notes
- Storage tips: keep in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
- Maple syrup adds a mild flavor to the lemonade. If you want to avoid that, then you can also use agave nectar or simply granulated sugar. If using granulated sugar, then you will have to first dissolve it in water so the sugar does not sink to the bottom of your lemonade. To do it, simply combine equal parts of sugar and water in a small saucepan and heat up while stirring until completely dissolved. Then, cool down before using.
- Feel free to add more to your lemonade, such as fresh herbs, strawberries, coconut milk, sparkling water, etc. Check out the blog post for more ideas!
- Nutrition: please note that the nutritional information is an estimate per serving (without flavoring ingredient) provided for informational purposes only (calculated by software) and accuracy is not guaranteed. Consult with your healthcare provider or a registered dietitian if you need precise nutrition calculations for health reasons.
Delicious!!!!
Great! So glad you liked it!