Refresh yourself with this perfect summer drink! Sparkling Raspberry Lemonade…sweet, tart and oh so delicious!

When raspberries are in season, this delicious sparkling raspberry lemonade is a must! It’s so refreshing during the summer. We add a little diet lemon lime soda to make it carbonated. It’s a fun drink for a party or just on a hot summer day.

A few years ago I planted two raspberry bushes and those first few summers, I thought that they had died. Fast forward to now, and we have a full raspberry patch! It’s so fun to go out and pick a bunch of raspberries. Outside of just enjoying them as they are, along with our favorite homemade granola and yogurt in the morning, we are adding them to all the things.

Here’s some of the raspberry recipes we’ve shared:

fresh raspberries | NoBiggie.net — My raspberry picking buddy. 🐶

Sparkling Raspberry Lemonade Ingredients:

1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 6-7 lemons)
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup water
4 cups diet lemon lime soda
12oz. raspberries + more for serving
lemon slices for serving
mint for serving

How to make Raspberry Lemonade:

Make a lemon simple syrup: start by rinsing the outside of all the lemons and drying off with a clean hand towel. With a vegetable peeler, peel the outer layer off of 6 of the lemons (careful not to peel the white pith off, just the yellow outer layer). Add all the lemon peelings to a glass bowl.
Pour the one cup of granulated sugar over the lemon peels and toss the sugar all over with a rubber spatula. Let this mixture sit for 5 minutes or longer. The lemon oils will release into the sugar.
In a medium sauce pan, bring the cup of water to boil. Carefully pour the hot water over the sugar and lemon peels. Stir mixture to help the sugar dissolve. Let this mixture sit while you juice the lemons.
With a lemon juicer, juice the lemons. Strain the lemon juice to remove the lemon seeds. Set the lemon juice aside. Strain the lemon simple syrup.
Add the fresh raspberries to a blender. To assist the raspberries in blending, add in the 1/2 cup of water. Blend until smooth. Press the raspberry puree through a strainer to strain out all the seeds.
In a large pitcher combine the raspberry juice, lemon juice and lemon simple syrup. Stir mixture together until well combined.
To serve, fill each glass with ice and pour about 1/2 cup of the raspberry lemonade into each glass. Top of with the diet lemon lime soda. Garnish with lemon slices, fresh raspberries and a sprig of mint. Enjoy!

Tips for making the best sparkling raspberry lemonade:

strain the raspberry puree (get all the seeds out)
strain the lemon juice (get all the seeds out)
Use only fresh lemons and fresh raspberries for the best flavor.
Add the sparkling diet soda just right before serving to keep it from going flat and losing it’s fizziness.

How many lemons are needed for 1 cup of fresh lemon juice?

It takes about 6-7 medium sized lemons to make one cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice. To help with cost, buy the bag of lemons. It’s always nice to have a few extra lemons for lemon slices to garnish with. Plus lemons last so long on the fridge, it’s always nice to have extra lemons on hand.

Why do you have to strain the raspberry puree?

Raspberries have a lot of tiny seeds. When you strain out the seeds, it just makes for a better drink without tiny seeds. Sometimes I run the puree through the strainer a few times to make sure to get all the seeds, and it helps to rinse the strainer after each run through.

Can I use sparkling water rather than diet lemon lime soda?

If you’d rather not use the diet soda, but you still want to add carbonation, you can use sparkling water or club soda in its place, but please note you might want to increase the amount of sugar added if needed. If you’d rather not add any carbonation, you can just use filtered water or tap water.
We made a simple video so you can see it in action!

Sparkling Raspberry Lemonade

A delightful sparkling pink raspberry lemonade made with fresh lemon juice and fresh raspberries.

Author Kami | NoBiggie.net

Ingredients

1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 6-7 lemons)
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup water
1 2 liter diet lemon lime soda
12 oz. raspberries + more for serving
lemon slices for serving
fresh mint for serving

Instructions

Make a lemon simple syrup: start by rinsing the outside of all the lemons and drying off with a clean hand towel. With a vegetable peeler, peel the outer layer off of 6 of the lemons (careful not to peel the white pith off, just the yellow outer layer). Add all the lemon peelings to a glass bowl.
Pour the one cup of granulated sugar over the lemon peels and toss the sugar all over with a rubber spatula. Let this mixture sit for 5 minutes or longer. The lemon oils will release into the sugar.
In a medium sauce pan, bring the cup of water to boil. Carefully pour the hot water over the sugar and lemon peels. Stir mixture to help the sugar dissolve. Let this mixture sit while you juice the lemons.
With a lemon juicer, juice the lemons. Strain the lemon juice to remove the lemon seeds. Set the lemon juice aside.
Strain the lemon simple syrup.
Add the fresh raspberries to a blender. To assist the raspberries in blending, add in the 1/2 cup of water. Blend until smooth. Press the raspberry puree through a strainer to strain out all the seeds.
In a large pitcher combine the raspberry juice, lemon juice and lemon simple syrup. Stir mixture together until well combined.
To serve, fill each glass with ice and pour about 1/2 cup of the raspberry lemonade into each glass. Top of with the diet lemon lime soda. Garnish with lemon slices, fresh raspberries and a sprig of mint. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

The raspberry lemonade will keep in the fridge up to one week.

Making This Recipe? Tag us on Instagram: @NoBiggie using the hashtag #NoBiggieRecipes, so we can see what you are making in the kitchen!

Do you love raspberries? Do you have a favorite recipe for raspberries?