Artificial Food Coloring Free Cranberry Orange Lemonade
That gorgeous ruby-pink color in your glass? It comes entirely from real cranberry, lemon, and orange juice — no dye packets, no mystery additives, just fruit doing what fruit does best. Store-bought lemonades and juice blends are notorious for sneaking in artificial colorings to achieve that vivid hue, so making your own is genuinely the easiest way to sidestep the whole issue. A homemade maple simple syrup brings a warm, rounded sweetness that white sugar syrup just can't match, and it dissolves beautifully into the citrus base. The combination of tart lemon, bright orange, and the deep berry bite of pure unsweetened cranberry juice creates a flavor that's layered and refreshing rather than one-note sweet. Sparkling water added at the end keeps everything lively and effervescent without flattening out. Garnish with a lemon slice and a sprig of fresh mint and it looks like something you'd pay twelve dollars for at a brunch spot — except you know exactly what's in it.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
For the maple simple syrup
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup water
For the lemonade
- ¾ cup fresh lemon juice (from about 5–6 lemons)
- ½ cup unsweetened pure cranberry juice (not cocktail)
- ½ cup fresh orange juice (from about 2 medium oranges)
- 3 cups sparkling water, chilled
- 2 cups ice cubes
For serving
- lemon slices, for serving (optional)
- fresh mint sprigs, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Combine the maple syrup and water in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the syrup is fully dissolved, about 2–3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool for 15 minutes until no longer warm to the touch.
- 2
Juice the lemons and oranges through a citrus juicer, then strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a large pitcher to remove seeds and pulp.
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