Homemade Fresh Cherry Limeade

A glass bottle filled with cherry limeade, garnished with lime wedges, sits on a wooden table. Behind it, a jar of the same drink and a bowl of cherries are visible. A cut lime is also on the table.

Homemade Fresh Cherry Limeade

Our homemade fresh cherry limeade is simple to make and it's a cool and delicious recipe to add to your summer drink rotation. This classic sweet and tangy limeade only uses 3 ingredients!

Makes 2 quarts

Course Drinks

Cuisine American

Keyword cherry limeade, homemade limeade

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 10

Total Time 30

Servings cups

Calories 170kcal

Author Sarah Jane Parker

Equipment

1 citrus press
1 Small blender

Ingredients

1 ½ cups unbleached sugar (I use Zulka natural cane sugar)
1 ¼ cups fresh squeezed lime juice (about 2 pounds of Persian limes)
2 cups water, divided
1 ½ cups fresh pitted sweet cherries
4 cups ice cubes

Instructions

Wash your limes, cut them in half, and juice them (this will take about 2 pounds of fresh Persian limes). Strain the lime juice and measure out 1 ¼ cups of juice and add it to a 2-quart saucepan.
Add 1 cup of water and the sugar to the saucepan with the lime juice, whisk, and heat over medium heat.
Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes to fully dissolve the sugar.
Remove from the heat and set aside.
Add 1 quart of ice to a 2-quart pitcher.
Wash and pit your fresh sweet cherries, then add the pitted cherries to a small blender with 1 cup of water.
Process the cherries and water for about 30 seconds to make a cherry "juice". Pour the cherry juice through a strainer into the pitcher of ice.
Add the lime juice and sugar mixture to the pitcher with ice and stir to combine.
Add enough cold water to the pitcher to fill it to the 2-quart line.
You can serve this immediately if you want since it will already be cold thanks to the ice, or you can put it in the fridge for later. If chilling for later, make sure to stir before serving.

Notes

Sparkling limeade option: I recently got a Sparkel soda machine for my birthday and we used it to add bubbles to this recipe for sparkling cherry limeade! The Sparkel machine can carbonate drinks besides water, so it works perfectly on our lemonades and limeades.

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