This healthy lemonade recipe contains no sugar or artificial sweeteners. All it takes is fruit juice to make this summertime sip delicious and sweet!
If you think about it, the phrase “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade” is a bit close minded.
You could make lemon bars or lemon poppyseed muffins or lemon sherbet or lemon cake or lemon meringues even! Lemonade is not the only option.
Perhaps it was just written knowing that if we are having a sour day we are not likely to put much effort into making anything extravagant. Lemonade does wins for simplicity. So I guess it’s good that philosophical proverbs take laziness into account.
And another potential issue is what if life gives you lemons but no water with those lemons? Maybe you’re in a dessert. Or no sugar? What are you supposed to do now, make disgusting lemonade that would just make your day worse?
Despite all the holes I just poked in that phrase, I really do agree with the meaning. Optimism is most important when it is the hardest to muster.
Life didn’t give me lemons in the metaphorical sense, but I am making lemonade today. In fact no one gave me lemons. I had to buy them. “When you buy lemons from the grocery store, make lemonade”…nope doesn’t sound nearly as profound.
The Sweetness in this Healthy Lemonade Recipe
Don’t worry, I didn’t put dates in the lemonade. (How hideous would that color be??) I know that’s what “fruit-sweetened” usually means around here, but this sunshine-colored sip is sweetened with a much juicier form of fruit: white grape juice!
White grape juice is one of the most neutral flavors of juice, and it’s quite sweet. It’s often concentrated and used to sweeten packaged things for just that reason. Replacing much of the water in your standard lemonade recipe with white grape juice makes for the perfect sweet tangy taste and not even a hint of grape. No sugar necessary.
I used a 2:1 ratio of white grape juice to water in this healthy lemonade recipe, but you can adjust the sweetness level quite easily by adding more or less grape juice. Just make sure you keep the liquid total at 3 cups per 1/2 cup of lemon juice. Did that just get way too confusing and math-y? I hope it makes sense.
The next best juice options if you can’t find white grape juice would be pineapple and apple. Those will both have a more pronounced flavor, but still taste good.
Giveaway
The clever little lemon cover you see above and in the video is from a really fun and quirky little website called Catching Fireflies. They have lots of creative gifts, inspirational home decor, and clever kitchen gadgets.
So when your homemade lemonade ends up using the juice of exactly 3 and 1/2 lemons this little stretchy reusable food saver can take care of the other half. It’s also really helpful if you drink lemon water in the mornings and only use half a lemon to protect the other half from fridge funk till the next day.
They have tons of other fun kitchen things that caught my eye like magic soap to get the scent of onion and garlic off your hands, an oil-free microwave popcorn maker, a clip on dip holder for your hummus or guac, and this adorable spoon rest. You get the idea–fun stuff!
They were kind enough to do a giveaway for one of my readers, so enter below to win a $48 gift card to the Catching Fireflies online shop! (U.S. only)
Or you can use the discount code FRUIT to get 20% off any purchase from now until June 16.
Fruit-Sweetened Lemonade! No sugar. No artificial sweeteners. Just fruit makes this summertime sip healthy and sweetClick To Tweet Print

Fruit-Sweetened Lemonade
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 3 1x
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 cups white grape juice
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 tsp lemon zest
- Pinch of turmeric (optional)
Instructions
- Blend or shake or stir all the ingredients to combine.
- Enjoy! Keep in the refrigerator.
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Sounds delicious!
Thanks Dori, it is!
Love this!! White grape juice is a genius way to add sweetness without the sugar. I imagine apple would do the same. What a great idea. I definitely will be trying this as my son LOVES lemonade!
Yep, I think apple would be great too since apples are what is used to sweeten most juicing recipes and it goes so well with lemon 🙂 Again with the kid friendly recipes, I just can’t help it lol!
Microwave popcorn
Great recipe! I love that you don`t need sugar for the lemonade. Thank you!
Yes it’s great! Can’t wait to try!
I hope you love it!
Lemonade, the best cleanse for your body! Wonderful recipe as always 🙂
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It certainly beats lemon water on taste, hopefully some of those great cleansing properties are still at work 🙂 Thank you Danna!
SO SMART! I thought grape juice had added sugar. You just made me very happy. 🙂
I’m sure there are some that do have added sugar, they toss sugar into everything, but this was just the organic store brand stuff and it didn’t have any 🙂
I agree: why would you cut it off at lemonade! Love the way you think Natalie. And I love this fruit sweetened idea too. Where is summer so I can try this?!?!
No summer up there yet? Aww bummer! Come on weather, it’s May already! Well I hope it warms up soon and you can make all the lemony things 🙂
I LOVE white grape juice but it has been forever since I”ve had any! And you are right, it is so sweet. I can’t remember the blogger right now but she uses white grape juice to sweeten all her baked goods! My favorite juices to drink when I used to drink them was always lemonade and apple juice and grape juice. I only really buy apple juice now for use in baking and a few frozen desserts.! My hubby LOVES lemonade but we don’t drink juice but once in a blue moon, just mainly water, I typically sweeten with syrup but I’m thinking this summer would be a great time to make him some with white grape juice..sounds so dang good! That lemon cover thing is absolutely adorable too…I usually just use plastic wrap, lol.
That’s so funny, and now I’m very curious who this blogger is, sounds like something I’d be into! Apple juice is great for baking too, but it has more of it’s own flavor. I never drink juice either. Even if I buy it I just never get around to it, water all day. Except now I have a 3/4 full big bottle of white grape juice, so I’ll probably be making some more lemonade soon 😀 It’s amazing how sweet lemonade tastes after you get used to drinking lemon water!
Hee! I had to laugh when you said you hoped it wasn’t too math-y at some point, because sometimes recipes can require some serious conceptualization, like when one deals with “dl” measurements.
I can’t enter but just stopped by to say it sounds delicious! xx
Oh I know! Thank goodness for google’s conversion thingy lol! Plus I’m just not very good with exactness in recipes, I like more freeform style stuff where a little less or a little more won’t hurt anybody 😀 And yeah I’m sorry about the whole US only thing, it’s a bummer since so many of my readers are all over the world. But I appreciate your lovely comment anyways <3
What a great idea to use juice instead of sugar! I have been in a big lemonade mood lately.
Gotta love those random recipe ideas that pop into your head while you are trying to go to sleep 🙂
That lemonade looks awesome, and what a cute little kitchen gadget that lemon cover is!
Thanks Becky 🙂 It is a fun little thing, and there are other sizes too for jars or cans. Very handy 🙂
I’m interested in trying their aromatherapy shower bursts.
This sounds amazing! I was actually contemplating grapes as a sweetener in a recipe recently, but never thought to use the juice. Hmmm… you just gave me ideas, you clever lady! 😀 And lol on the date sweetened lemonade color — maybe those would work for some sort of a homemade coke though…
Have you ever seen date-orade? It does look so much like coke in color, plus it gets really foamy if you blend it so thats a spot on comparison. Oooh grape juice in a dessert perhaps?? That is a really good idea actually, I should play around with that more too 🙂
SO beautiful! I love your photos 🙂 And it sounds DELICIOUS
Thank you Aimee 🙂
Love your quote about optimism being the most important when it’s hardest to muster. And thanks for host g such a great giveaway!
Thank you Molly 🙂 And thanks for entering!
Wow Natalie, this lemonade is gorgeous! The photos are so stunning! I love that this is sweetened with grape juice, such an amazing, healthy way to enjoy lemonade! I can’t wait to try this! <3 pinned!
★★★★★
It was one of those ideas that just popped into my head in the middle of the night and actually worked out 🙂 I love lemonade too but I don’t like having to pour SO much sugar into it. And lemon is such a strong flavor, you really can’t taste the juice at all!
I’d love on the listography books or the coloring books. The wine glasses are cute, too!
So many great products but I really like the bathtub teas and they come in four different aromas.
Lemon has always and will always be one of my favorite flavors. Also, that little gadget is amazing. I am going to have to check out their website! Also loving the photos for this SO MUCH.
Mine too, in sweet or savory things! They are both better with a little tang 🙂 Thanks Casey!
I would absolutely love the lemon cover. 🙂
Awesome giveaway and AWESOME RECIPE! I never thought lemonade could be made without sugar! This is so cool. Great idea using grape juice! I bet this is so refreshing.
Thanks girl! I know right usually when I make it I have to add SO much sugar to get it to taste right, but the juice totally took care of it 🙂 Yay for lemonade in my life again 🙂
I’m curious if you think this would work with limes as well? I was just given a dozen . ☺
Yes for sure Heidi! What a lovely gift 🙂
Well how convenient is this…I JUST bought a couple bags of lemons! I am loving this bright, sunshine-y color!!!! We love making homemade lemonade during the summer, but I’ve never paired it with white grape juice! Such a great idea!! And how fun is that little lemon cover! What a great giveaway! 🙂
Perfect timing then!! We used to make it at home with meyer lemons…before that meyer lemon tree died haha! See terrible gardener I tell you 😀 But I was always shocked by how much sugar it took to sweeten. Although after getting used to drinking straight lemon water it probably doesn’t require as much sweetness to make me happy anymore. But juice works so well too! And makes it extra sunshine-colored I think!
I like the cover blubber reusable food savers. I won’t need to store the other lemon half in a ziploc bag.
I know the random 1/2 a lemon is always a problem. Good luck!!
I never would have thought of using grape juice as a sweetener. What a great idea! Thanks!
I hope you try it, it’s surprisingly delicious and perfectly sweet enough! Thanks for your comment Amber 🙂
I am so excited about this recipe!
Yay!! Me to Carly!
Definitely the bird spoon roast or the cover blubber reusable food saver. I always have half a lime or lemon leftover!
Yep the pesky half lemon always floating around the fridge, it’s perfect for that! Good luck Sage 🙂
This mug is too cute! http://catchingfireflies.com/love-you-still-porcelain-mug/ Thanks for the chance to win!
Aww that is adorable I agree! Good luck Ashley!
I like the mr right and mrs always right mug set.
The lemonade looks delicious. If I were to win I would really love to have the flower nesting condiment bowl set!
★★★★★
Those are so cute, I kinda want them too 🙂
Will be trying this , this weekend. Sounds delish. Trying to find some great recipes for diabetics.
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Oh I hadn’t even thought of that, great idea! Enjoy 🙂
This lemonade looks so refreshing!! White grape juice – who knew?? 😉
I know right! I used to love these gummy snacks that were sweetened with white grape juice, that’s kinda where I got the idea. It’s pretty neutral flavored, and works perfectly!
Great idea with the grape juice! I have been wondering how to make a sugar-free lemonade for some time, and now I know!
I’ve been trying to figure it out for a while too because lemonade is the best! Grape juice is the key 🙂
That’s such a smart little cover, I wonder if it would work for avocados too? Not that they taste nasty once they start to brown but a lot of people just throw them out at that point. I would love to get the cocktail tool and the wooden postcard for my husband (there’s a line in there about the jelly to my peanut butter and he HATES peanut butter lol). Can’t wait to try this lemonade!
Oh and the frog soap spitter…and the forked up stuff….ahhhhh tooo much awesomeness!
It is so handy to have around, and there are other sizes of those little covers too so I’m sure one of them would fit an avocado! They are also super helpful for closing cans when you use half a can of beans or pum