Easy Homemade Frozen Limeade Concentrate

This 3-ingredient homemade frozen limeade concentrate is fresh, zesty, and so easy to make. Freeze it in portions, then add cold water whenever you fancy a refreshing drink.

Course Drinks

Cuisine Vegan

Diet Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Prep Time 20

Freezing Time 8

Total Time 8 20

Servings servings

Calories 75kcal

Author Tajda Ferko

Ingredients

1 cup fresh lime juice roughly 8-10 Persian limes
2 tablespoon lime zest roughly 2 Persian limes
1 cup water
½ cup white sugar

US Cups - Metric

Instructions

Zest the limes. Wash and dry the limes thoroughly. Finely grate the green zest from 2 limes. Avoid grating into the white pith underneath. Set the zest aside.
2 tbsp lime zest
Juice the limes. Cut the limes in half and squeeze out the juice using a citrus juicer (or by hand). Continue until you have 1 cup (240 ml / 8 fl oz) lime juice.
1 cup fresh lime juice
Dissolve the sugar. Add lime zest, 1 cup water and ½ cup white sugar to a small saucepan. Warm over medium heat, stirring regularly, until the sugar has dissolved. No need to boil the mixture. As soon as the sugar has dissolved, remove the saucepan from the heat.
1 cup water, ½ cup white sugar
Add the lime juice. Allow the mixture to cool slightly (5 minutes), then add the fresh lime juice and stir well. Adding the lime juice after heating rather than boiling it with the syrup helps preserve its bright, fresh flavor.
Strain. Place a fine-mesh sieve over a large bowl. Pour the lime mixture through the sieve to remove the zest, pulp, or any seeds.
Freeze. Pour the strained concentrate into an ice cube tray or freezer-safe container (no need to completely cool it first). Leave a little room for expansion if using a sealed container, then freeze until solid (5-8 hours or overnight).
Once frozen, transfer individual cubes to a reusable freezer-safe bag or container if desired.
To serve, start with 1 part concentrate to 1–2 parts cold water, then adjust to taste.

Notes

YIELD: This recipe makes roughly 2¼ cups (550ml) of limeade concentrate.

Plan on roughly 8–10 medium Persian limes for 1 cup of juice. You'll generally need more if using smaller Key limes.

Zest before you juice. Once a lime has been squeezed, zesting it becomes difficult.

Avoid the white pith. When zesting, you only want the thin green outer layer.

Roll your limes. Before cutting, firmly roll each lime back and forth on the counter to make it easier to juice.

Use room-temperature limes. Limes release juice more easily when they aren't fridge-cold.

Don't boil the lime juice. Heat the water and sugar just enough to dissolve the sugar, then add the fresh lime juice afterward.

Taste before freezing. Limes vary in acidity. Taste your concentrate once it has cooled. It should taste too strong to drink on its own.

Freezing time. I used a VERY large ice cube tray. Your concentrate might freeze faster if using a regular-sized tray.

Freeze in useful portions. Ice cube trays are brilliant if you usually make one or two drinks at a time. For larger quantities, freeze the concentrate in small freezer-safe containers.

Nutrition