This lemonade concentrate is so easy to make with freshly squeezed lemon juice, sugar, and your pressure cooker. Make it in minutes for a fresh authentic lemonade taste.
Never had I ever thought to make lemonade concentrate at home. You can just buy it…right? Then a neighbor gifted me with a big bag of lemons so I got to experimenting!
Yes, you can certainly buy frozen lemonade concentrate at the store. And it’s super cheap! But have you looked at the ingredient list? Some brands use high fructose corn syrup and chemicals I can’t pronounce. Others list sugar as the main ingredient. One even stated 10% juice! Really?!
When you make lemonade concentrate at home, you know exactly what is going into it. And you can control the amount of sugar you use.
And nothing says summer like a nice tall glass of lemonade!
For some other tasty refreshing summer drinks, try my:
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Ingredients needed to make lemonade concentrate
- Lemon juice – from real lemons, please!
- sugar
- a little lemon zest
- water and ice for the lemonade
- You’ll also need a pressure cooker – this recipe was developed in the 6 qt Instant Pot
- Don’t even try to juice all those lemons without a citrus juicer!
- A lemon zester makes zesting lemons so easy.
How to made lemonade concentrate in the Instant Pot
Step 1: Juice the lemons
Start by juicing lemons. And I mean a whole lot of lemons! Depending on the size and juiciness of your lemons, you’ll need anywhere from 7-10. And this is if you are using a citrus juicer. If you decide to juice my hand then count on using a few more.
The best part about the citrus juicer I use is that it has an adjustable sieve around the top so you can control how much pulp gets into your juice. And more importantly for juicing lemons, you can keep those pesky seeds from getting into your freshly squeezed lemon juice!
Before you discard the lemon peels, make sure to zest a couple of them. You’ll want about 2 teaspoons of lemon zest.
In fact, you shouldn’t discard the peels at all! I put my used lemon peels in a freezer bag and then later when my drain starts to smell a little…funky, I just pop one or two out of the freezer and into the garbage disposal. Grind away and your drain will be sweet-smelling before you know it!
step 2: Cook the concentrate
Put the lemon juice, zest, and sugar into the inner pot of the Instant Pot. Do not add any water!
Close the lid and the vent.
Manually set on high for one minute. That’s right – ONE minute! It will take up to 10 minutes to come to pressure.
Step 3: Finishing the concentrate
After it comes to pressure for one minute then carefully do a quick release following the manufacturer’s directions. I use a long-handled wooden spoon and open the vent.
When you can handle it, pour the cooked concentrate into a container with a lid and refrigerate for 6 hours. You are going to want these silicone mitts that are perfect for lifting out a hot pot!
This should keep for at least a week in the refrigerator.
Serving Suggestions
Oh, you are going to love this part!
Just like the frozen concentrate, you can buy at the store, the ratio of concentrate to water is 1:3. So for an individual serving, you would put 2 ounces of concentrate in a glass with 6 ounces of ice and water.
For a large pitcher, you can combine all of the concentrate with 5-6 cups of ice and water. Stir and enjoy.
Some tasty recipes that use lemonade concentrate:
- Strawberry Lemonade Sorbet
- Lemon Ice Cream with Coconut Milk
- Delicious Sparkling Grape Juice Lemonade recipe from Mommy Kat and Kids
- Tropical Mermaid Punch recipe from Finding Zest
- Peach Flip from The April Blake
- Grinch Punch from Recipes From a Pantry
The printable recipe card for lemonade concentrate
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Lemonade Concentrate, Made in the Instant Pot
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
- lemon juicer
Ingredients
- 2 cups lemon juice about 8-10 lemons
- 1½ cups sugar
- ½ Tablespoon lemon zest (1½ teaspoons)
Instructions
- Squeeze the lemons to get fresh juice. You will want to use a lemon juicer with this amount of fresh lemon juice needed.
- Strain out any seeds or pulp.
- Add the ingredients to the inner pot of a pressure cooker. I used the Instant Pot 6 quart.
- Close the lid and the venting according to the manufacturer's directions.
- Using the manual setting, set the timer for 1 minute on high pressure.
- It will take at least 10 minutes to come to pressure. After it has come to pressure and counted down the minute, carefully do a quick release following the manufacturer's directions.
- Using mitts, carefully pour the lemonade concentrate into a container with a lid. Refrigerate for about 6 hours or until very cold.
- Just like the frozen lemonade concentrate you can find in your freezer section, the ratio to 3:1. Fill a large pitcher with a little over 6 cups of water and ice. Add the concentrate and stir. You can also do a single serving with six ounces of water and two ounces of concentrate.
