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Lemonade is the classic drink for a hot summer day, but the usual recipes are super sweetened and involve a lot of sugar! I love the flavor and effervescence of other fermented drinks, so why not probiotic lemonade? I looked it up to find it was a thing and decided to give it a try.
The result was wonderful, and thanks to the benefits of fermentation this lemonade contains little sugar and lots of healthy bacteria that is good for gut health.
Real Lemonade… With Probiotics!
I’m a big fan of water kefir and kombucha for their probiotics and beneficial enzymes. They do require specific cultures though, so if you don’t happen to have a SCOBY sitting around your kitchen, you are pretty much out of luck.
Luckily, there is an easy lacto-fermented drink that you can make with basic ingredients from your grocery store, and your kids will probably even drink it!
This probiotic lemonade is very easy to make and is ready in just a couple of days. As I mentioned, you don’t need any special ingredients like kefir grains or kombucha starter to make it (just the liquid from some strained yogurt).
As for the flavor, we all loved it (even the kids) and now keep a batch going through most of the summer months.
What Makes Probiotic Lemonade?
Full disclosure: this recipe does call for whey, which is basically the liquid drained off of yogurt. It’s packed with probiotics and easy to make if you start the night before. The recipe is here.
I get lots of requests for a dairy-free option for this recipe (or a way to make it if you just don’t have whey around). I haven’t tried to make a dairy-free version myself yet (will update when I do), but there are dairy-free yogurts or yogurt starters that may work. I’ve also heard of using kombucha or a ginger bug as a starter. Let me know if you try it!
Probiotic Lemonade Recipe
Ingredients
- ¾ cup sugar or sucanat
- 2½ to 3 quarts filtered water
- 10 lemons or limes juiced to make about 1 cup
- 1 cup whey here's how to make it
Instructions
- In a gallon size glass jar, stir together sugar and just enough hot water to dissolve the sugar.
- Add the lemon juice and fill the jar about ¾ full with filtered water.
- Make sure the liquid is at room temperature and then add the whey.
- Cover tightly and let sit on the counter for 2-3 days.
- After 2-3 days, keep the lemonade in the refrigerator and drink 4-6 ounces per day. The flavor will continue to develop.
- Since the sugar ferments out, it is rather tart. Add a couple drops of stevia if it is too tart for you!
Notes
Nutrition
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Feeling adventurous? Will you try this healthy drink? Tell me below!
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I made this a few days ago and am drinking my yummy lemonade as we speak. It really is delicious and my kids love it.
typically you do not want to use honey with fermented drinks, as the sugar is the food for the fermentation.
also, melissa, the whey is different from whey protein powder. WM linked to an easy way to do whey, with just some plain organic yogurt and the liquid drippings from it becomes the whey. check out her link in the recipe.
Actually honey is perfectly fine for fermenting. The first fermented lemonade recipe I ever made called for honey, and was delicious. Honey is, after all, just another kind of sugar. The little bugs who do the fermenting will eat it just the same.
When the recipe calls for whey, are you referring to whey protein powder? I’m not very educated about it.
If you click on “whey” in the recipe above, it will link to a post that explains how to extract it from plain yogurt 🙂
can you use honey instead of sugar?
I am sure you can. I usually use 1/2 honey because it is sweeter.
This is super good when you add some fresh grated ginger to it, too! 🙂
Is this lemonade supposed to be fizzy? I followed the recipe and used whey from straining my homemade yogurt. After leaving it for 2 days in an airtight bottle, there is no carbonation at all. I was wondering if fermentation did happen at all. From taste and appearance, it seems to be the same as before.. I wonder if I got it right.
I’ve always wanted to make lemonade but I do not have a juicer. Is there an easy way to juice at home, or should I aks my friend who has had a juicer for 5 years and never uses it if I can use hers??
juicers do make it faster, but you can juice by hand too. Just make sure the lemons are at room temp and roll them firmly on the counter with your hand before cutting open. I also use a spoon to help
squeeze out all the juice.
juicers do make it faster, but you can juice by hand too. Just make sure the lemons are at room temp and roll them firmly on the counter with your hand before cutting open. I also use a spoon to help
squeeze out all the juice.
I know this question is old already, but to help others, if you don’t want to buy a big juicer, they have small, plastic, by hand citrus squeezers that work really well. That is what I use. 10 lemons equal about 1 cup of juice. I have also frozen the juice and the whey for when I go on vacation and want to have probiotic lemonade. Takes only 2 days to ferment…and very tasty!
i am so excited to try this! and thanks for the link on whey!
Can you give a rough estimate for how much the juice of 10 lemons comes to? I juice lemons when they’re ripe here in the winter and keep it in the freezer, so I have juice, I just don’t know how much to use!
Just do it to taste, but a cup to a cup and a half should be about right
Just do it to taste, but a cup to a cup and a half should be about right
I’m going to try this today!!
Done! On the counter fermenting now…
This sounds delicious, and my kids love lemonade – I’m guessing with a little stevia they’ll drink it up.
Do you (or anyone?) have any thoughts on coconut palm sugar – is it just like any other? Is the taste different?
I love coconut palm sugar. It has fewer carbs and more fiber than white or brown sugar. In my opinion, the taste is pleasantly sweet, with notes of butterscotch and caramel. I get mine from Whole Foods – the brand is “Thai Taste”, and you can find a little white tub of it in the asian food aisle. This product is called “jaggery”, and the texture is a paste.
I’ve heard that you should avoid the hard nuggets of “palm sugar” that you find in some asian markets, because it is usually not from the coconut palm and is often adulterated with regular white cane sugar.
I am lactose intolerant. Was wondering if the whey would bother me. If so; do you have any suggestions of any thing else that I can add to help the fermentation process along?
Use a ginger bug instead of whey. It works well too.
What is a ‘bug’? do you mean ‘scoby’?
do you use the usual proportion of ginger bug? 1/4C of bug to 1 Qt H2O?
Komucha or Water Kefir will work great too. These are cultured bugs so if you don’t make your own or know where to get it (live Komucha can be found in bottles at health food stores and some grocers, use the whole bottle as the bug is likely weak.) If you do any fermenting at all you can use the starter or brine from those (or from Bubbies pickles at the grocers.) Use it in your first batch to get started, after that transfer a couple of cups of your fermented lemonade to the next batch to keep it going all summer and adjust your portions based on how fast you drink it.
If I use kombucha, (I have a continuous brew going, also a scoby hotel) how much should I use, and which should I use would like to make some of this ASAP, and it will be awhile before I can make the whey, I want to try both.
Hi Lori, Did you ever find out about how to use the kombucha scoby for this drink instead of whey? I also wonder if you can use the whey from store bought probiotic yogurts. Haven’t had time to make my own for a while and wondered if that would work too?