Looking for a refreshing summer drink but don't want to share? This single-serving lemonade is perfect for making a tall glass of your favorite drink. No pitchers are required.
Recipe: $0.89 | Per Serving: $0.89 | Servings: 1

Lemonade is an incredible drink, and I love it so much I'd drink it all day, every day if I could, but sometimes making an entire pitcher's worth isn't necessary. And that's why it's great for smaller batch lemonade recipes like this one.
Serve up your lemonade with this delicious Easy 4 Ingredient Scone Recipe or some Orange Creamsicle Fluff. Perfect for a light brunch!
Looking for more lemonade? Check out my Strawberry Pink Lemonade, Orange Lemonade, and Pickle Lemonade. These flavored lemonades are sure to turn some heads, but sometimes you just can't beat the classics!
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🍯 Why This Recipe Works
- Minimal effort. When you have a single drink, you have far less of each ingredient or space needed. Mix everything together in one glass, and you're good to go.
- Tangy and sweet. This drink is honestly a scaled down version of my Old Fashioned Lemonade, and the proportions are perfect. Not too sweet and not too tart, this lemonade is strong and well balanced.
- You can make two smaller glasses if desired. This recipe will fill a 16-ounce cup to the top, but if desired, you can make the lemonade mixture in a tall cup and then divide it between two smaller cups of ice for a drink to share with someone else. You can even add in a little flavoring to make Blue Raspberry Lemonade.
🥘 Ingredients
Ingredient Notes:
Lemon juice- You'll need some lemon juice for this lemonade. You can use fresh squeezed or lemon juice concentrate, depending on what you have on hand.
Water- You'll need some hot water to dissolve the sugar and create the base of this lemonade. While we usually make Microwave Simple Syrup, it won't be necessary for this small of a batch.
For specific ingredients and measurements, please see the recipe card below.
🧾 Substitutions
Lemon Juice. If you don't have real lemons on hand, you can use concentrate in a pinch. You can also use it to bring the fresh lemon juice up to the required measurement so you can keep that strong lemon flavor.
🔪 Instructions for Single Serving Lemonade
Step 1: Add your sugar to a tall 16-ounce drinking glass.
Step 2: Add in your warm water and stir until the sugar looks dissolved.
Step 3: Add in the lemon juice and stir to mix.
Step 4: Now add in ice and stir again to cool the drink down.
Step 5: Add some sliced lemons for garnish (if using).
Serve immediately and enjoy!
🍴 Recipe Tips
- For more lemon juice, microwave fresh lemons for 10-30 seconds. Before slicing, roll them on the counter to extract more juice, as if rolling out dough.
- Dissolve sugar in about ¼ cup of warm water; then add cold water. Using all cold water is feasible but requires longer stirring to dissolve sugar.
👩🏻🍳 Storage
This lemonade is best served immediately, but if you want to divide the lemonade into 2 servings you can store the one that you didn't drink from in the fridge for up to 5 days. Once you drink from it, the shelf life is reduced significantly due to the bacteria in your mouth.
💭 Recipe FAQs
Lemonade is a combination of lemon juice, water, and sugar (or another sweetener). It's an uncarbonated drink that has been around for centuries. Of course, some lemonade recipes can add even more ingredients to make it more unique, like our Whipped Frozen Lemonade.
You can add in just about anything and have it taste great! Adding in a little fruit juice or fresh fruits can really add a lot of flavors and color. You can even add in fresh herbs like mint for a refreshing spin.
Honestly, it's cheaper to buy pre-bought lemonade than it is to squeeze your own lemons for lemonade. That said, homemade is better because you are in control of the ingredients and can omit preservatives and reduce sugars as desired.
❤️ More Delicious Beverage Recipes
If you tried this single serving lemonade, please leave a ⭐️ star rating and share your feedback in the 📝 comments section below. I would truly appreciate it!
📖 Recipe
Single Serving Lemonade
Ingredients
- ¼ cup granulated sugar ($0.09)
- ¾ cup warm water ($0.00)
- ¼ cup lemon juice (can be fresh squeezed from 1-2 large lemons) ($0.22)
- ice cubes ($0.00)
- 1 small lemon, sliced *for garnish ($0.58)
Instructions
- Add your sugar to a tall 16-ounce drinking glass.
- Add in your warm water and stir until the sugar looks dissolved.
- Add in the lemon juice and stir to mix.
- Now add in ice and stir again to cool the drink down.
- Add some sliced lemons for garnish (if using).
- Serve immediately and enjoy!
Notes
- Use lemon concentrate if fresh lemons aren't available or to enhance the lemon flavor.
- Microwave lemons for 10-30 seconds to extract more juice.
- Initially, use a small amount of warm water to dissolve sugar, then add cold water.
- Best served immediately; store leftovers for up to 5 days in the fridge, but its shelf life is reduced after drinking from it.
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