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In the heat of the summer, what's better than sitting down to a nice cool glass of sweet sparkling cranberry lemonade? This homemade Cranberry Lemonade Recipe is super easy to make, tart, tangy, sweet and oh so refreshing!

close up of cranberry lemonade with mint

Typically, when I think cranberries, I think Thanksgiving. That's because cranberry season is in the fall and fresh cranberries are only available from October through December.

But guys, cranberries are great all year round. Tart, sweet and delicious, they are perfect in this sparkling cranberry lemonade recipe.

I mean, homemade lemonade is already delicious, but once you amp it up with these cranberries, you're going to want to drink this all summer long!

Jump to:

The Ingredients
How Do You Make Sweet Lemonade?
How Do You Make Sparkling Lemonade?
How to Make Sparkling Cranberry Lemonade
How to Make Spiked Lemonade
Recipe
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The Ingredients

Because fresh cranberries aren't available in July, I used Cape Cod Select frozen cranberries, which made this recipe super easy to make. The cranberries were fresh, tart and firm. Once thawed, it was like I was eating a fresh cranberry.

I also recommend using fresh lemon juice. The bottled lemon juice just doesn't have the same flavor - I actually don't like it at all. Fresh lemons are the way to go!

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How Do You Make Sweet Lemonade?

The obvious answer is sugar. However, for this recipe, a combination of honey and sugar is used to sweeten the cranberry lemonade. If you don't want to use honey, you can use all sugar. You can also try using just honey, but I found it was difficult to get it sweet enough due to the tartness of the lemons and cranberries combined.

How Do You Make Sparkling Lemonade?

The key is soda water, seltzer water, or sparkling water. Make your cranberry lemonade ingredients first, and just before serving, combine with the sparkling water.

How to Make Sparkling Cranberry Lemonade

Combine the cranberries, fresh squeezed lemon juice, honey and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add additional sugar to taste if you'd like it sweeter. Remove from heat and strain.

From there it is easy. The syrup can be stored for a later date, or used right away. Fill a glass with ice and fill halfway with sparkling water. Add the syrup to taste and garnish with fresh mint (optional). I like the freshness the mint adds.

Typically, I fill the glass half with sparkling water, half with the syrup.

aprkling cranberry lemonade with bag of cranberries and fresh mint

How to Make Spiked Lemonade

I'm not a drinker myself. But I know you guys are out there. You can add vodka, champagne and/or orange liqueur to make a spiked lemonade spritzer.

glass of sparkling cranberry lemonade garnished with mint, cranberries and lemon slices

It's BBQ season guys! Check out some of these other awesome summer BBQ recipes:

Goat Cheese Stuffed Buffalo Burgers
Grilled Fruit Skewers with Chili Lime Vinaigrette
Grilled Corn with Togarashi Miso Butter
Gochujang Marinated Flat Iron Steak
Roasted Corn and Poblano Macaroni Salad
Jamaican Jerk Grilled Eggplant Skewers

Did you make this cranberry lemonade spritzer? Leave a comment below and let me know how it turned out!

Recipe