A low carb and keto friendly version of cherry lemonade! This healthy sugar free lemonade recipe is made with fresh sweet cherries, lemon juice and some sweetener and water. SO easy. Yummy, vibrant and healthier for you too!
This sugar free cherry lemonade recipe is healthy, and a keto or low carb dieters dream! If you're looking for a summer afternoon pick me up, or a great base for a refreshing summer cocktail, look no further! It's so simple to make with only a few staple ingredients. You can use fresh or frozen cherries, but this time of year (August) in the Midwest we have more cherries than we know what to do with!
Briana is originally from Traverse City, Michigan which is the cherry capital of the world. You could say her affinity for cherries runs deep. Cherries are also a decently keto-friendly fruit, at just under 10.5 net carbs for 100 grams of fruit, which is quite a few cherries!
If you're looking for a sugar free drink option to enjoy during the summertime, you're in luck. Want to jazz up your keto lemonade with a little more flavor and color? This sugar free cherry lemonade recipe is the perfect and healthy choice.
We'll share some other ideas for what to pair this delicious cherry lemonade with later on this post. There are plenty of process pictures to show how this lemonade is made, as well as FAQ's answered. You can also skip right to the recipe card to get right into it, or check this post out as a Google Web Story here!
Ingredients:
- Fresh cherries, sweet and pitted - You could use frozen if you prefer, but we often have fresh cherries on hand in the summer months.
- Fresh squeezed lemon juice - Essential for all lemonade recipes! We de recommend squeezing it fresh.
- Sugar free sweetener - You can use any sweetener you prefer for this recipe. We often opt for granular erythritol or allulose. Allulose can be known to upset stomaches for some people however, so we do generally use erythritol instead.
- Hot boiling water - To draw out juice from the cherries, as well as dissolve the sweetener.
- Cold water - To dilute the mixture and make it drinkable.
- Ice
How to Make Sugar Free Cherry Lemonade:
In a medium sized bowl, add the pitted cherries. Add in your fresh squeezed lemon juice, and gently push on the cherries with a wooden spoon so you release the juices.
Add in your sweetener, then boiling water, and mix together well. Allow to cool before adding it to glasses.
Then, add in your cold water. Stir, then give it a taste so you can decide if it's sweet enough. Add ice and lemon slices to your glass, then fill with lemonade.
Garnish with lemon wedges, and cherries!
There are various ways you can make homemade cherry lemonade. One way would be to create a very concentrated cherry syrup, and then combining it with fresh squeezed lemon juice. You could also use a pre-made sugar free lemonade, and then combine it with a cherry syrup.
We don't make ours that way for a few reasons. Our method of simply combining fresh cherries with boiling water cuts down not only on total carbs and sugar, but also on time when making it, so it's super easy and approachable. With our method, you don't need to use very many cherries to get a cherry flavor and color! We simply pit the cherries, and add them to a bowl, then add fresh squeezed lemon juice and a sugar replacement.
Then, we add in some boiling water and mash the cherries gently with a spoon. Then, we add in fresh water. You can let this mixture sit in the fridge for up to three days before serving, if you want to make it ahead of time. This also lets the flavors come together further. We also add thin slices of lemon to the bowl if we are going to let it sit for a while, to further enhance that lemon flavor.
You can truly sweeten this however you prefer. If you aren't concerned with carb or sugar count, free to substitute honey, agave or even maple syrup. However, around here, we eat low carb and refined sugar free, so we always use sugar replacements! We are super used to the taste of high quality sugar replacements, since we truly believe that excessive sugar consumption is just not healthy, so for us we are completely used to sugar replacements in everyday life.
The sugar replacement we used for this recipe is our favorite, Swerve Sweetener! It has zero impact on your blood sugar, measures (and tastes) like sugar, is totally tummy friendly (i.e. it won't upset it) and it's zero calorie. What more could you want?
For this recipe, fresh squeezed lemon juice can't be beat. Since there are so few ingredients in this sugar free cherry lemonade recipe, using high quality ingredients go a long way. It can be a bit daunting to squeeze a bunch of lemons, we get it. Our suggestion would be to use a high quality citrus squeezer or wooden reamer to get all of the juice out easily.
To brighten up your dinner with a lively drink, serve it with this Shrimp Salad! For a light snack, try it with this Keto Fruit Salad! Serve alongside these Oven Baked Ribs with Keto BBQ Sauce, or with these sweet and spicy Mango Habanero Wings!
Yes, definitely. We don't think dried cherries would work very well for this, but either fresh or frozen cherries are perfect. If you try this with frozen cherries, let us know how it works in the comments.
This will keep for about five days in the fridge in a sealed container. We don't recommend adding any ice to the mixture before refrigerating because it will water the mixture down. Only add ice to serve. This batch makes about six servings of eight ounce glasses.
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Related Recipes:
- Best Sugar Free Keto Grenadine Recipe
- Baked Nectarines with Cherries and Burrata
- Keto Fruit Salad
- Mango Cherry Popsicles (Sugar Free)
If you get a chance to try this recipe, let us know what you think, would ya?! Leave us a comment below. You can also catch up with us on Facebook or Instagram. Pin this recipe to your favorite Pinterest board so you can make it later. Also, we love sharing your versions of our creations over on Instagram @afullliving, so tag us!
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Until Next Time,
Briana & Chamere
📖 Recipe
Cherry Lemonade Recipe (Sugar Free)
Ingredients
- 3 ounces sweet cherries (fresh or frozen)
- 6 ounces fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 5 lemons)
- 108 grams granular erythritol
- 8 ounces boiling water
- 16 ounces cold water
- Ice
- Garnish with: lemon slices, cherries, mint or herbs (optional)
Instructions
- Put freshly pitted cherries into a medium bowl with fresh squeezed lemon juice. Using a spoon, gently press on the cherries to release the juice.
- Add in sweetener, then boiling water and stir until dissolved. Stir in cold water, taste, and adjust sweetness level to taste.
- Divide cherry lemonade among six glasses filled with ice. Garnish with lemon slices, and cherries.
- Store in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Store in the fridge in a covered container for up to 5 days.
- Please sweeten to suit your personal preferences, and keep in mind that any sweetener can be used here.
Nutrition
These nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy and are only estimates. We cannot guarantee the accuracy.
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