Nothing beats an ice-cold glass of Southern lemonade—unless you give it a bold and sassy kick! Invigorating Jalapeño Lemonade is the perfect mix of sweet, tangy, and just the right amount of heat, made with fresh-squeezed lemons, a homemade lemon simple syrup, and spicy jalapeño slices. It’s bright, refreshing, and guaranteed to wake up your taste buds this summer in the best way! Pitcher serves 6-8.

Honestly, is there anything better than a refreshingly cold drink on these hot and humid summer days? Southern sweet tea or an Oaks Lily cocktail or a Mexican mule - give me all of the ice cold drinks during the hot summer days.
Today we are taking a summer southern drink classic and giving it a kick with some fresh jalapenos. It is sweet and tart with this little bit of heat that I am obsessed with! And after making this many times, I believe it has the perfect flavor balance!
Let me show you how I like to make it in my own home!
First thing we need to do
We need to make the homemade lemon simple syrup - this is the key ingredient for that extra bit of well-rounded lemon flavor!
Since this is a cold drink that doesn't need to be hot and brewed like tea, using a liquid sweetener is best. Have you ever tried to dissolve sugar in ice water? It doesn't work.
By boiling together equal parts of water and sugar (ie: 1 cup of water to 1 cup of sugar), this will give you a sticky sweet liquid sweetener that mixes and blends perfectly into lemonade. Leaving 0 sugar granules at the bottom of your pitcher.
- With a vegetable peeler, peel the yellow rind off 1 lemon. Be careful not to get the white rind, just the yellow.
- To a large saucepan add in the sugar, water, and juice of 1 lemon and lemon peel. Turn to medium-high heat and bring to a low boil.
- Once at a low boil, turn to medium-low and cook for 10 minutes until the syrup has reduced and the sugar is dissolved.
- Pour into a mason jar and let come to room temp before using it in this recipe.
⭐️ To store simple syrup, keep it in a sealed mason jar in the fridge for a couple of weeks. This lemon simple syrup would be delicious in other summer cocktails like a vodka soda with a splash of this and a lemon wedge or in 3 ingredient peach frozen rose!
Let's make lemonade
- Freshly squeeze the juice of 8 lemons (about 2 cups) into a pitcher.
- Thinly slice a jalapeno and add to the pitcher.
- Add 1 cup of the freshly made lemon simple syrup (that is at room temp or cold) to a large pitcher. Stir very well.
- Add in a couple of handfuls of ice. Stir very well.
- Add in cold water to fill up the rest of the pitcher and stir with a wooden spoon very well.
- Garnish with lemon wedges and sliced jalapeno for an extra kick!
Just for fun - Make it A Cocktail! 😉
- Add ice to a large tall glass.
- Add in 1 shot of Vodka (we are Tito's fans).
- Fill the glass ¾ full with Jalapeno Lemonade and top the rest off with sparkling water for some bubbly!
- Garnish with lemon wedges and extra jalapeno slices for an extra kick. Enjoy!
Recipe
Invigorating Jalapeno Lemonade with Fresh Lemons
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 1x
Description
Nothing beats an ice-cold glass of Southern lemonade—unless you give it a bold and sassy kick! Invigorating Jalapeño Lemonade is the perfect mix of sweet, tangy, and just the right amount of heat, made with fresh-squeezed lemons, a homemade lemon simple syrup, and spicy jalapeño slices. It’s bright, refreshing, and guaranteed to wake up your taste buds this summer in the best way!
Ingredients
Lemon Simple Syrup
- 2 Cups Sugar
- 1 Cup Water
- Juice of 1 Lemon
- Peel of 1 Lemon
Jalapeno Lemonade
- 3 Cups Water
- 1 Cup Lemon Simple Syrup
- 2 Cups Lemon Juice (roughly 8 large lemons)
- 1 Large Jalapeno, thinly sliced
- Lemon Slices, Jalapeno Slices, and mint to garnish
Instructions
Lemon Simple Syrup
- With a vegetable peeler, peel the yellow rind off 1 lemon. Be careful not to get the white rind, just the yellow.
- To a large saucepan add in the sugar, water, and juice of 1 lemon and lemon peel. Turn to medium-high heat and bring to a low boil.
- Once at a low boil, turn to medium-low and cook for 10 minutes until the syrup has reduced and the sugar is dissolved.
- Pour into a mason jar and let come to room temp before using it in this recipe.
Jalapeno Lemonade
- Freshly squeeze the juice of 8 lemons (about 2 cups) into a pitcher.
- Thinly slice a jalapeno and add to the pitcher.
- Add 1 cup of the freshly made lemon simple syrup. Add in a couple of handfuls of ice. Stir very well.
- Add in cold water to fill up the rest of the pitcher and stir with a wooden spoon very well.
- Garnish with lemon wedges and sliced jalapeno for an extra kick!
Make it A Cocktail!
- Add ice to a large tall glass.
- Add in 1 shot of Vodka (we are Tito's fans).
- Fill the glass ¾ full with Jalapeno Lemonade and top the rest off with sparkling water.
- Garnish with lemon wedges and extra jalapeno slices for an extra kick. Enjoy!
Notes
- To store the lemon simple syrup, keep it in a sealed mason jar in the fridge for a couple of weeks.
- If you like a sweeter lemonade you can more simple syrup.
- If you want more kick, add more jalapeno slices.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Drinks
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 glass
- Calories: 129
- Sugar: 28.7 g
- Sodium: 6.7 mg
- Fat: 0.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 34.7 g
- Fiber: 0.7 g
- Protein: 0.6 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg