Cucumber Lemonade with Jalapeño
Any other home gardeners with an abundance of one (or a few) specific crops at the moment? Mine are green beans, salad greens, and cucumbers. I currently have 12 cucumbers sitting in the produce drawer in my fridge and I am determined to use them all up.
When I was in my third year of university, my friend and roommate, Karen, introduced me to cucumber lemonade. It is a recipe her mom used to make. We used to do Thursday night roommate dinners and one evening Karen blessed us with the serving of her cucumber lemonade. This drink is so refreshing, delicious, and mixes extremely well with tequila while still being lovely on its own. Since Karen introduced this delicious drink to me, I’ve tweaked the recipe a bit to make it my own, but the core ingredients have remained: cucumber, limes, and lemon.
Recipe Details
For this recipe you’ll need some large cucumbers, a jalapeño pepper, sugar, lemon and lime juice, plus some tequila if you’re in the mood to upgrade your lemonade.
The combination of the fresh cucumber, lime juice and lemon juice creates a tart but refreshing beverage perfect for a summer evening. The sweetness and hint of heat from the jalapeño simple syrup brings the whole drink together! You can adjust the sweetness and heat to your desire as well.
Make the Jalapeño Simple Syrup
The first step in making this drink is to make the jalapeño simple syrup.
To make the syrup, you will need to add equal parts sugar and water to a small pot over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring until the sugar has fully dissolved. Remove the pot from the heat and add in some sliced jalapeño pepper. You can add more or less jalapeño depending on how spicy you would like your syrup to be.
Set the syrup aside to infuse for about 30 minutes before removing the jalapeño slices and transferring the syrup to a clean jar for storage. You can infuse the syrup for up to an hour if you would like a stronger jalapeño presence.
Make the Cucumber Lemonade
While the jalapeño syrup is infusing, you can make the cucumber lemonade.
Add the peeled and chopped cucumber to a high speed blender along with lemon juice, lime juice, and water. Blend on high until completely smooth.
Next you will want to strain the lemonade to remove the pulp. This is an optional step, but I find that it yields the best results. Set a fine mesh sieve over a large mixing bowl and pour the lemonade through.
Stir the infused jalapeño simple syrup into the strained lemonade, tasting and adjusting the syrup quantity as needed.
Create Your Cocktail
To create your final cocktail you have two options. Option one is to enjoy the lemonade as a refreshing non-alcoholic beverage. To achieve this, serve the lemonade in a glass over ice, garnishing with a slice of jalapeño.
To create an alcoholic cocktail, follow the instructions above but mix in 1 oz of silver tequila.
Voilá that is all there is to it! I hope you have an excellent weekend. Be sure to kick it off with a refreshing cocktail or mocktail in hand!
Lastly, if you make this Cucumber Lemonade, be sure to leave a comment or give the recipe a rating! I love to hear from you. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram!
xx
Ashley
Cucumber Lemonade with Jalapeño Simple Syrup
Equipment
- Blender
- Fine Mesh Sieve
Ingredients
Jalapeño Simple Syrup
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 6 slices jalapeño pepper
Cucumber Lemonade
- 4 cups cucumber, peeled and chopped
- Juice of 3 lemons
- Juice of 4 limes
- 1 cup water
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup jalapeño simple syrup (see above recipe)
- Silver tequila (optional)
- Ice (to serve)
- Jalapeño slices (to serve)
Instructions
Jalapeño Simple Syrup
- Combine the sugar and water in a small pot over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring until the sugar has fully dissolved.
- Once the sugar has dissolved, remove the syrup from the heat and add the slices of jalapeño. Allow to infuse for 30 minutes. You can prepare the rest of the lemonade during this time.
- After 30 minutes, remove the jalapeño and transfer the syrup to a clean jar. This recipe makes more syrup than you will need for the lemonade. Store the leftover syrup in the fridge to use as desired.
Cucumber Lemonade
- To a high speed blender, add the chopped cucumber, lemon juice, and lime juice. Blend on high until completely smooth.
- Place a fine mesh sieve over a large mixing bowl. Pour the blended lemonade through the sieve to remove the pulp. This step is optional, but well worth it if you are not a pulp fan.
- Stir the jalapeño simple syrup into the strained lemonade. Start with 1/3 cup of the syrup, taste, and then adjust from there.
To Serve
- Serve the lemonade in glasses over ice. Option to add a slice of jalapeño to each glass as a garnish.
- To make it a cocktail, add 1oz of silver tequila to the glass.