Introduction to Keto Sugar Free Lemonade
Nothing is better than a fresh glass of keto sugar free lemonade on a hot day, except for this refreshing keto frozen lemonade!
Is Lemonade Keto?
Homemade lemonade and store-bought lemonade is usually made with a lot of sugar and a little bit of fresh lemon juice or lemon flavoring. Because of this, traditional lemonade would NOT be considered keto due to the high sugar and carb count. Our sugar-free lemonade recipe, however, uses a keto-friendly sweetener that is low carb, sugar-free, and pairs great with the fresh lemon juice to remind you of your favorite childhood drink.
Is Store Bought Sugar Free Lemonade Keto?
Store-bought lemonades can be a huge hit or miss. While it may sound really enticing to grab the premade sugar-free option, take a look at the carbs and ingredients before checking out. Higher quality brands will use sweeteners like erythritol and stevia in their recipes making the product a little more expensive, but well worth the cost. Other companies will make their product more expensive, but then pack the pitcher with cheap sweeteners like sucralose and acesulfame k to make their lemonade sugar-free. These cheap sweeteners usually have added carbs and a few grams of sugar, which can come from fillers and non-traditional sweetening agents. If you want lemonade sugar-free, your best bet is making homemade lemonade that you know exactly what went into it.
Are Lemons Keto?
Yes, lemons can be keto. Traditional keto dieters know that when you cut out carbs, you often have to cut out some of your favorite fruity flavors along with it. While you may have to say goodbye to oranges, lemons are another story. Per lemon, there are about 3.3g of carbs in the fresh lemon juice with only 1.2g of sugar. That makes lemons a great option for those cutting back on sugary drinks and want a light lemony flavor in their water instead.
Can I use Bottled Lemon Juice?
This is quite a common question and one I will answer quickly, no. Well, yes, but no. Can you? For sure, but is it recommended for a lemonade where the star is lemon? Nope! The nutrition is about the same for fresh lemon juice versus bottled varieties, however, the flavor just doesn’t hold its own when matched up in a head-to-head competition. I recommend just walking down to the grocery store, buying a few lemons, and then giving them a good roll with light pressure before cutting to get out all the juice possible.
Is Chick Fil-A Frosted Lemonade Keto?
While our keto frozen lemonade is definitely 100% low carb and sugar-free, the same can’t be said for all lemonades. The Chick Fil-A frosted lemonade has 330 calories, 65g of which are carbs, and 51g that are pure sugar. Even their diet frosted lemonade has 46 grams of carbs in a serving! Standard lemonade is made with water, lemon juice, and sugar. Sugar being the main reason their lemonade is not keto-friendly. That’s why our frosted keto lemonade uses erythritol or stevia as sugar-free sweeteners instead of cane sugar. As well as pure lemon juice for the best possible flavor when making lemonade sugar-free.
Keto and Sugar Free Lemonade
It’s sometimes hard to believe just how simple keto swaps can be. All we had to sub was a keto sweetener like erythritol to achieve the same final product. Fresh squeezed lemon juice is totally keto-friendly, and if you take out the cane sugar, you’ll immediately have a delicious sugar-free lemonade.
Keto Sweetener Options
If you are looking to create the best-tasting keto lemonade, we’ve got you covered. Our favorite keto sweetener options that make great subs for sugar are:
- Erythritol – This is going to be most similar to sugar in terms of consistency, but it is a little less sweet than regular sugar, hence why we used stevia too.
- Stevia – Stevia is extracted from a plant, making it a great sugar-free natural sweetener that doesn’t normally have any artificial additives.
- Monk Fruit Sweetener – Monk fruit is going to be the most similar to sugar because it combines both a natural plant sweetener and erythritol to make a substance as sweet as sugar.
- Liquid Monk Fruit – Liquid varieties of products like monk fruit and stevia are more concentrated, so you need a lot less per serving to get the same level of sweetness.
A Simple Syrup Free Recipe
Homemade sugar-free lemonade should be easy to prepare without a lot of extra steps. That is why we chose to make our sugar-free lemonade without any simple syrup. Simple syrup is normally made by heating sugar, or sugar substitute with water in a pan until thick and dissolved. That takes extra time that we found really wasn’t necessary to make a delicious sugar-free lemonade.
Sugar Free Lemonade Nutrition
As listed in the notes of this recipe, there are very few carbs, meaning you can enjoy a few cups or even a pitcher without really doing any damage to your diet. Each serving has about 1-2 grams of net carbs and 10 calories (approx.). Since the carbs and calories are so low, it does give a little extra room to spike your lemonade if you feel so inclined. Just make sure everything is properly blended and dissolved for the smoothest taste.
Possible Fruity Mix-Ins
Lemonade is delicious, but don’t always feel limited to making a sugar-free lemonade plain. Instead, spice up your lemonade with fruity options like:
- Strawberries – Strawberry lemonade is another classic base that is super tasty and really refreshing. It is also low sugar and low carb to make sticking to your keto diet easy.
- Blueberries – This is definitely less common, but turns your lemonade into a blueberry refresher. The lemon blueberry base is the perfect summer drink that can even be spiked with a keto-friendly liquor.
- Cucumber Mint Limeade – Sub lime juice for the lemon juice in this recipe and add a little mint and cucumber. It will bring an extra light mojito vibe to the party.
Recipe
Servings: 6
Calories per serving: 9
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Instructions:
- Add all ingredients to a blender and blend on high until everything is evenly mixed (about 45 seconds).
- Serve and enjoy! Add more ice and blend further to create a frozen lemonade slushie.
Notes:
Add as much or as little ice as you want to create your desired consistency.
2g net carbs per serving
Nutrition Facts:
- Calories: 9
- Fat: 1g
- Saturated Fat: 1g
- Sodium: 10mg
- Potassium: 42mg
- Carbohydrates: 3g
- Fiber: 1g
- Sugar: 1g
- Protein: 1g
- Vitamin A: 2IU
- Vitamin C: 16mg
- Calcium: 8mg
- Iron: 1mg
