Easy Lemonade Popsicles (just 3-ingredients)

These homemade Lemonade Popsicles are an absolute delight. Tangy, sweet and refreshing, they are everything you need on a hot Summer's Day to cool you down. Made with only 3-ingredients, you'll never buy a Lemon popsicle again!

These Lemon Ice Pops are a fun, simple tasty summer treat. When the temperature soars outside, grab one of these from the freezer to instantly cool down. For kids and parents alike, if you love homemade lemonade you are going to LOVE these popsicles. They have that perfect sweet and sour combination that is totally addictive. You'll just want more!

For more summer frozen dessert ideas, Pecan Praline Ice Cream, Créme Brûlée Ice Cream and Chocolate Semifreddo are all perfect options.

Ingredients needed

Lemon Juice - Freshly squeezed lemon juice is my go-to when making anything that uses lemon juice as a predominant flavour. You just can't beat that mouth-puckering, sweet lemon taste.

Sugar - Granulated or caster sugar is best here. I prefer these sugars over light brown or brown sugar as I want the taste to be clean and refreshing. The molasses in brown sugar would alter the taste a bit.

If you prefer, substitute the sugar for runny honey or maple syrup but note that this will change the overall taste.

Water- There definitely needs to be some form of liquid to dilute the stronger taste of the lemon juice to make it more palatable.

Optional: Lemon slices - Add a lemon slice into each popsicle - it adds to the flavour as the lemonade freezes, but also looks super pretty!

Can you use bottled lemon juice rather than freshly squeezed lemon juice?

The answer is yes you can if you don't have access to fresh lemons. Bottled lemon juice is more concentrated so you may have to increase the amount of sugar to balance out the sourness.

My preference is to use freshly squeezed lemon juice for that unbeatable freshness.

How to make lemonade popsicles

The steps involved in making these lemon popsicles are incredibly simple- but let me show you how.

*Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full ingredients list & instructions!*

How do you juice a lemon without an electric juicer?

Heat the lemon. Pop the whole lemon in a microwave and heat it for 20-30 seconds (Image 1). The heat helps some of the membranes inside the lemon to burst and juices to run freely when cut. Careful though when cutting into it, as the juices may burst out!

Alternatively, place the lemon in a bowl of hot water for a couple of minutes until the skin is warm (Image 2).

Roll the lemon. Once warm, roll the lemon back and forth on a work surface, gently pressing it with the palm of your hand (Image 3). This helps break and loosen the membranes inside. Works a treat for limes too.

Squeeze or press firmly. Cut the lemon in half, then squeeze firmly until you've pressed the lemon in half and all the pulp inside has squashed speeding out all the juice. Tip: put your hand cupped underneath to catch the pips, or squeeze over a strainer (Image 4).

If using an all-in-one juicer, put your weight behind pressing the lemon down on all sides to extract the juice (Image 5). The juicer cup catches all the juice which is brilliant.

Make the lemonade

It's so simple to make this recipe that I kind of feel bad calling it a recipe! It's definitely one of the easiest recipes on my site. But I guess the ratios of lemon juice to sugar to water are important to get the right balance for the taste of these Lemonade Popsicles.

Heat water and sugar together until dissolved Add the sugar and half the water into a small saucepan and heat over medium heat until the water is simmering. Stir until the sugar has dissolved (Image 6 & 7).

Add in the lemon juice and stir. Into the saucepan, add the remaining water and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Mix altogether. (Image 8)

Pour the liquid into a large jug or container with a spout and leave the lemonade to cool (Image 9). Having the liquid in the jug will make it easier when it comes time to pour the lemonade into the popsicle molds.

Pour lemonade into popsicle molds and freeze

Pour the lemonade into each individual mold. Using the jug makes the process super easy (Image 10).

Did you know that liquid expands once frozen? Make sure to leave a ½ cm (¼ inch) at the top of the mold (Image 11). This gives enough room for the liquid to expand without touching the popsicle cover (or foil). If the liquid touches the top, it can get a little tricky to pull the top of the foil off as the foil tends to stick to it.)

Freeze the popsicles for a minimum of 6 hours, they may well take longer depending on your freezer. Tip: placing food at the back of the freezer will help it freeze quicker!

How to keep the wooden sticks standing straight up

There are varying ways of doing this depending on what type of popsicle maker you have. Some have a flat plate cover with slots for the stick, some have individual covers, whilst others have none.

1. Individual plate covers: The popsicle make I have uses a small metal cover with a rubber slit to slide the wooden stick through. Quick and easy way to hold the sticks in place. (Image 12)
2. Pegs: A wooden or plastic peg, clipped around the popsicle stick and lain over the opening of the mold will hold the stick steady. (Image 13)
3. Foil: A sneaky little trick with one sheet of aluminium foil. Wrap the foil over the top of the mold, then with a sharp knife, cut small slits where you want the sticks to go. Then simply pierce the sticks through the hole. Simple right?! (Image 14)

Decoration: For a cute effect, I added a lemon slice into each popsicle. When testing the recipe I found that the lemon made the popsicle have a bitter aftertaste around where the slice was.

So, if you decide to add a lemon slice into the popsicle, then add the slices into the sugar syrup, just when the sugar has dissolved. Let the slices soak up the sugar syrup for 5-10 minutes. Pull them out of the lemonade and carry on as per the recipe. Then add the lemon slices into the popsicles before freezing.

I liked them poking out the top, so I used pegs to pinch them to the popsicle stick and hold them both in place. This trick worked a treat! (Image 15 & 16)

2 ways to remove the popsicles from the molds.

1. Room Temperature: Leave the popsicles out at room temperature before gently pulling them out of the molds.
2. Warm water: Or run the mold under warm running water for a couple of seconds and then pull the popsicles out gently.

Variations

There are so many add-ins that you can incorporate into these ice pops. The lemon flavour works so beautifully with a variety of different ingredients. Here are a few options.

• Strawberry Pink Lemonade Popsicles: Hull a handful of strawberries and pop the lemonade and strawberries into a blender then pulse until smooth. Once frozen the lemon strawberry flavour shines through but also makes the prettiest coloured popsicle!
• Raspberry Lemon Popsicles: Crush some raspberries and pop them into the mold along with the lemonade. The colour will seep into the popsicle resulting in a gorgeous looking and tasting ice pop (Image above).
• Blueberry Lemon Popsicles: Pop a few blueberries into the lemonade for a juicy pop when you bite down. The kids will love how they look! (Image above)
• Lemon Lime Ice Pops: Lime juice adds a twist to the flavour and an extra layer of sweetness in a tangy way! You get what I mean!
• Lemon Yogurt Popsicles: If you want a creamier version of these popsicles, then add 60g (¼ cup) of yogurt when you add the lemon juice whisk together until combined.
• Lemon and Thyme Popsicle: I adore thyme and lemon together and they work perfectly in sweet as well as savoury dishes. Add a couple of thyme sprigs into the saucepan with the sugar so that it can infuse into the water as it heats up. Add a couple of fresh thyme leaves into the popsicle holder for a really pretty effect. (Image above)
• Lemon Popsicles with Edible Flowers: Perfect for a garden party, pop in your favourite edible flowers to see them peeking through the frozen lemonade. (Image above)