I am the thirstiest person. I’ve taken a city-wide poll, and yep… it’s me. I win the prize for the thirstiest human.
I’m trying to get creative with the cold beverages that I take in this summer. I’ve been brewing my own black tea which is remarkably easy, reasonably priced, and delicious. Adding fresh mint (stems and leaves) into the brewing tea makes it fancy in a flash. I’m also a huge fan of adding cucumber and lemon slices to water, smashed strawberries to sparkling water, and a splash of orange juice in my iced green tea.
None of it feels particularly genius though it is pretty dang refreshing.
This lemonade though… this neon magenta lemonade feels like a small stroke of genius. Sweet, tart, and big bright pink! Let’s drink.
If you’re feeling like you’d like to add a glug of vodka into this lemonade refresher… well, I get you. Go on and get it!
Let’s start with the basics: fresh lemons juiced up just right, granulated sugar, filtered water, and raw, grated beet (about 1/4 cup). Yes, actual beet root!
Lemons are juiced! We’ll need about 3/4 cup of fresh lemon juice.
One small beet is grated on the small side of a box grater. We’ll only need about 1/4 cup of raw beet. The color and flavor is potent but not overpowering!
Fresh lemon juice, shredded raw beets, sugar, and a bit of water are blended together in a food processor. You might also use a blender. Either works well!
The beets will never be perfectly smooth, but a good blending will infuse the lemonade with lots of beet color and flavor.
Pass the beet lemonade through a fine mesh strainer. That way we’ll get all of the bright pink beet lemonade without the actual beet pulp.
Not strawberry. Not raspberry. Pfffttt..
Pretty pink beet!
Lots of ice because it’s summer and I’m pretty sure that lemonade without ice is a crime.
Sweet and tart with a hint of beet and a whole lot of pink.
No need for a fancy juicer.. just a citrus juicer, a blender, and a mega amount of ice.
Happy hot days to us! Let’s drink to our thirst!
Beet Lemonade
makes about 8 cups
adapted slightly from Saveur
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup finely grated raw beet*
6 cups filtered water, divided
*I used the fine grating side of a box grater to shred a small, raw, unpeeled beet. You can also use a food processor with the shredder attachment, but I found the box grater to be much easier.
In a blender or a food processor (fitted with the blade attachment), blend together lemon juice, sugar, shredded beet, and 1 cup of water. Blend for 1 minute until the mixture is bright pink and well combined. The beets will never be fully smooth, that’s ok!
Strain mixture through a fine mesh strainer and into a medium bowl. Use the back of a spoon to press any remaining juice out of the beets and into the lemonade. Transfer strained mixture to a pitcher and discard the beets. Add remaining 5 cups of water to the pitcher and stir. Taste and add more lemon or sugar as necessary. Store in the refrigerator and serve chilled.
40 Responses
This is fabulous…used beets from our garden. Thank you!
Looks great and refreshing. Wondering if can the same results with grape stevia for sweetener. I can’t use sugar.
I absolutely LOVE that color but I HATE beets! I just can’t stand them. Any ideas on how to get that color but with a different flavor? Raspberry and strawberry lemonades are OK, but are old news and don’t give a great color.
Try blueberry pomegranate lemonade!! same beautiful color but no beets!
Wow! I love this. It was so nice meeting you in LA last month! Hope you’re having a great summer.
Thanks Joy! I have been trying to find some new and fun options for lemonade to make this summer! I can’t wait to make this.
This looks so delicious! And perfect for this upcoming holiday weekend!
Beet lemonade sounds like something I could really get into. I wonder if I could convince my family it was something else though. I might have to make this in secret so they don’t see me! Pinning!
This was a big old mess to make, and I don’t regret it one bit. It’s unique, delicious, refreshing and the prettiest beverage I have ever made!
Thanks for giving the nice ideas how to make beet recipe with lemon. It looks so delicious. I would love to try this in my kitchen.
You’re a genius!
When I was in New Orleans in February, I was always tempted by the beet lemonade at Satsuma Cafe & planned to recreate it when I got back home. Never did & I see you did all the work :) Hooray!
This looks beautiful. I love beets in any form and this is definitely on my to-try list. Will do me a world of good in this 45 C heat in Delhi, India!
This couldn’t be more perfectly timed! My acupuncturist said I need to get more beets in my diet – which of course I don’t like. Buuuuttt, this I could totally get behind!! Thanks Joy! :)
Lots of different lemonades out there, but this is the first time I’ve seen a beet version! Really cool idea and really gorgeous ice cubes!
I love it! What a cool drink!
Love this! I was looking for creative ways to use the beets I grew in my garden for the first time this year! I have a gorgeous rainbow of beet colors, so I may have some crazy cool drink colors resulting! The beets I grew are these: https://botanicalinterests.com/products/view/0174/Beet-Gourmet-Blend-Heirloom-Seed Since I have to be on a liquid, low residue diet, this is another great way to *sneak* healthy beets into my drinks!
This is brilliant and quite possibly the most gorgeous lemonade ever!
What an interesting idea + I would never have thought of beet lemonade.
I love it. Beautiful photos too :)
Anisa – The Macadames. xx
http://www.themacadames.com
Ooh, so lovely! And I’m super glad to see that there’s no juicer required (since I neither have that nor a food processor. A blender I can do, though!). This may have to happen with some of our CSA beet haul!
Brilliant, Joy. The color is straight from Candy Land – which is completely appealing – but I imagine the flavor gives a vegetal grounding (ha!) and depth that I often find lacking in most pink-ish lemonades. Market tonight! And my brain is fluttering with other beet-y lemon delights, like lemon-beet cake (of course).
Never would have thought to do a Beet Lemonade. I love your creativity. This is a definite must try for me. I hate beets but I will have them juiced with other fruits and veggies. I’m sharing this post with my friends.
Yummy! I love that you don’t need a juicer for this… because let’s be real, I wouldn’t ever use it often enough to justify it. Beets are also some of my fave veggies, so this looks perfect! Thanks for sharing.
https://www.youtube.com/sparklesandsuch26
I’m a fan of the color coordinated table you got there ;)
This is genius. And it would be so good with vodka too. But most importantly a friend’s Korean grandmother used to always say beets make you pretty soo….
So pretty! And quite honestly, a little genius. I can’t wait to try this for a party and then tell everyone that it’s beet juice!
xoxo
Taylor
Oh this is so fun! Beet juice is so good for you anyway. We’ve been doing lots of infused water this summer (https://girlnamedallyn.wordpress.com/2014/06/10/strawberry-mint-water/), but now I want lemonade with beets! Wonder how much side eye I’ll get for suggesting that one.
This looks so delicious and is SO PRETTY!
This looks fantastic! I love the color!
me encanta esta receta, que tal si pruebo con remolacha y flor de jamaica
I used to get the most refreshing beet lemonade at the farmers market on Magazine Street in nola when I was living there.
This looks yummy!
My favorite drink is kombucha. It’s $3.29 a bottle so I am making my own right now!
No words to describe how much I love this idea!!!!
right?
Are you serious? I have just started adding beets in my diet. You know, for all those crazy awesome properties it has. However, I have had a hard time enjoying pure beet juice. This is great! I will definitely give it a try.
pure beet juice can be pretty intense! this is a great way to make it an everyday happiness!
Looks so refreshing!! I love what they are now doing with popsicles too. That would make a great popsicle — very colorful. Your photos are fantastic!! Do you stand on your table to get those overhead shots or is your tripod 10 feet tall. And if that’s the case how do you focus?? I am always amazed at your wonderful photography. And I imagine you are super thirsty because you’re not used to the weather in NOLO.
This is so far up my street that it’s come into my house, opened my fridge, grabbed a beet and it is holding my hands as I grate in a purple-stained lemonade frenzy. And yes, there will be vodka. Too much vodka but not quite enough.
I think you have just made lemonade more addictive and prettier than ever. Grapefruit would look awesome here too!
Wow! I’ve been making beet infused vodka and gin recently and trying to invent cocktails using them-and am now so inspired to add lemon elements into the mix. Thanks for the ideas!