Lactose Free Chilled Cucumber Mint Lemonade
Cool, herby, and genuinely refreshing, this cucumber mint lemonade is the kind of drink that makes a hot afternoon feel like a reward. Fresh English cucumber is blended and strained into a silky juice that gives the whole pitcher a subtle, garden-fresh depth you just can't get from a powder or concentrate. A homemade mint simple syrup — steeped right in the pan and sweetened with maple syrup instead of refined white sugar — layers in a fragrant, slightly floral sweetness that balances the bright lemon juice beautifully. The whole thing is naturally free of dairy in any form, so there's no swapping, substituting, or label-checking required — just clean, whole ingredients doing exactly what they should. It's a great make-ahead option too, since chilling the lemonade for at least twenty minutes lets all those flavors meld into something that tastes far more polished than the effort involved. Serve it over ice with a few lemon slices and a sprig of mint and it looks like something from a café menu.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
For the mint simple syrup
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup fresh mint leaves, loosely packed
For the lemonade
- 1 medium english cucumber (about 10 oz), peeled and roughly chopped
- ¾ cup fresh lemon juice (from about 4–5 lemons)
- 2 cups cold water
For serving
- 2 cups ice cubes
- 4 thin lemon slices (optional)
- 4 fresh mint sprigs (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Combine the 1/2 cup water and maple syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the maple syrup fully dissolves, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, add the mint leaves, and let steep for 10 minutes, until the syrup is fragrant and pale green. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a small bowl or measuring cup, pressing the leaves to extract as much liquid as possible; discard the solids. Let the syrup cool to room temperature.
- 2
Place the chopped cucumber in a blender with 1/2 cup of the cold water and blend on high until completely smooth, about 30 seconds. Strain the cucumber purée through the fine-mesh strainer into a large pitcher, pressing firmly with a spoon to extract all the juice; discard the pulp.
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