Once you take a sip of this homemade cherry limeade recipe you’ll never order a cherry limeade again. It tastes so much better.
One of my favorite summer beverages is a Cherry Limeade. However, I’m not a fan of the artificial flavors and dyes in the one you can buy from a fast food restaurant. In fact, the last two times I bought cherry limeades I couldn’t even finish them. That “fake” flavor bothered me too much, and the syrupy sweetness was total overkill. Of course that meant I needed to create a new option – my own homemade cherry limeade recipe.
I searched online for a quick and easy homemade cherry limeade recipe but they all used 7up or Sprite. High fructose corn syrup anyone? No thanks. I am still using sugar but on my own terms – real sugar (and specifically, raw sugar). I found the best way to incorporate sugar into fresh fruit drinks is to make a simple syrup. This also makes it easy to adjust the sweetness to your preferred taste. However, for this cherry limeade I make a cherry syrup.
As a huge fan of making food and drinks from scratch with fresh wholesome ingredients I knew this was something I was ready to tackle, and sooner than later – before I cave to yet another syrupy drink I’m going to end up wasting.
And what better time to make a cherry limeade than at the peak of cherry season. Oh my, the cherries! (Check out this post all about cherries.) They are huge and juicier than any other cherries I have had this summer.
Cherry Limeade is so much better with fresh juicy cherries and freshly squeezed lime juice. Add a splash of seltzer if you want it to “sparkle”, skip the maraschino cherries, and it’s a match made in heaven.
PrintCherry Limeade
Skip the artificial colors and high fructose corn syrup, and enjoy a refreshing homemade cherry limeade this summer – fresh squeezed and delicious.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Beverage
Ingredients
Drink Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
- Cherry Syrup
- 3 cups water
- Ice
- Cherries and lime wedges for garnish
Cherry Syrup
- 1 cup pitted sweet cherries
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
To Make Cherry Syrup
- Blend cherries, sugar, and water.
- Heat in medium saucepan over medium/high heat until boiling.
- Boil 2 minutes.
- Remove from heat. Let cool.
Mix Drink
- Stir together cherry syrup, lime juice, and water.
- Pour into glass half filled with ice.
- Garnish
Notes
Please note: Nutrition is approximate.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6
- Calories: 165
- Sugar: 37 g
- Sodium: 5 mg
- Carbohydrates: 46 g
- Fiber: 2.9 g
- Protein: 1 g
Products that make the job easier (affiliate links)
More Great Cherry Recipes
- Chocolate Cherry Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Recipe
- Cherry Blueberry Cheesecake Parfait Recipe
- Grilled Fruit Salad with Cherries
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Original Images: 7/2014
I LOVE cherry limeade but all I see here is a recipe for limeade! Lol… Where are the cherries in the recipe?? You didn’t use all 12 pounds did you?? Thanks for the clarification!! ?
Thank you for alerting me to this! It appears that when I switched recipe boxes it got messed up. I am working on fixing it.
YUM! Would totally serve these at a party!
This is something I definitely want to try. I love lime and cherry.
It’s a favorite combination for me too. I want to try a raspberry lime drink next.
This looks so refreshing! It’s the perfect summer beverage! Thanks for sharing!
This is my very favorite drink ever! I LOVE that you made it real!!