Pickle Lemonade
Updated June 12, 2025
Joel Goldberg for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Hadas Smirnoff.
- Total Time
- 20 minutes
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 15 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
7 large organic lemons (see Tip), at room temperature
⅔ cup granulated sugar
3 cups chilled, filtered water
1 to 1 ¼ cups dill pickle juice (see Tip), plus pickle spears for garnish
Ice, for serving
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 to 10 servings)
21 grams carbs; 75 calories; 2 grams fiber; 145 milligrams sodium; 1 gram protein; 15 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Thinly slice 1 lemon, discard the seeds, and set aside for garnish. Roll the remaining lemons firmly against your counter top before juicing them in order to extract as much juice as possible. Quarter the lemons, then squeeze enough of the lemons into a measuring cup to get 1 cup of lemon juice. (A citrus juicer may be helpful here, if you’ve got one.) Add the squeezed lemon peels and any unsqueezed lemon pieces to a large jar, such as an 8-cup Mason jar, a wide pitcher or even a large bowl.
- Step 2
Add the sugar to the lemon peel pieces in the jar and, using a wooden spoon or a muddler, muddle together until the sugar has mostly dissolved, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Step 3
Add the lemon juice to the jar, cover and shake vigorously (or stir, if your vessel doesn’t have a lid) to ensure the sugar has fully dissolved. Add the water, then add pickle juice to taste. Shake or stir to mix; then strain using a fine-mesh strainer. (To store, refrigerate up to 3 days.)
- Step 4
To serve, pour into glasses over plenty of ice. Garnish with a lemon slice and a pickle spear.
Because conventional lemons are often sprayed with pesticides, this recipe calls for organic lemons. If using conventional lemons, be sure to wash the fruit thoroughly. The size and juiciness of lemons can vary; save any leftover lemon for another use.
When choosing pickles for this recipe, look for refrigerated dill-flavored ones like Grillo’s, for brighter flavors. Sweet bread and butter pickles, or other pickles that use too much garlic or other seasonings, might overpower the balance of acidity (lemon), sweetness (sugar) and saltiness (pickle brine). Depending on your pickle choice, you may need to adjust the sugar and lemon ratios.
Private Notes
Comments
I gotta believe a drop of gin couldn't hurt.
I was thinking vodka :-)
Hehe, when I read the ingredients list my first thought was "where's the gin?"
I love lemonade! I love pickles! This, however, tastes exactly—EXACTLY—like the gallon of laxative you have to drink the night before a colonoscopy. I’m not sayin’ it’s bad; I’m just sayin’.
So weird, so wonderful I’ve made it again and again - delicious
Loved this drink (sweet + salty kinda like a margarita) and find it a fine substitute for alcohol during my annual dry January. I cheated on the lemonade and used premade Simply Lemonade that I had in the fridge along with 2 Tbs of Clausen’s Kosher pickle juice. I had hubby try it and didn’t tell him what it was. He probably would have rejected the offer to taste if he knew about the pickle juice. To my surprise he thought it was “very interesting” and surprisingly pleasant after I told him about the pickle juice.