Cherry Limeade Recipe

Cherry Limeade is a fun and refreshing drink. Make it with lime and tart cherry juices instead of dyed syrups and artificial flavors for a real food treat.

Homemade Cherry Limeade is a great drink to serve for the 4th of July, alongside Blue Lagoon Mocktails for a fun red, white, and blue theme!

Cherry Limeade is the epitome of refreshing drinks. Cold and refreshing, sweet and tart, sparkling and happy, it’s what happy days are made of.  You can’t help but smile when someone hands you a glass of Cherry Limeade.

Can you?

Now the problem with Cherry Limeade is that the commercial versions are the epitome of fake food. Artificial sweeteners and colors galore! Not to mention that it can be expensive at take-out joints, especially when you have a crowd craving Cherry Limeades.

Can you make a Cherry Limeade at home? 

Yes, yes, you can!

How Do You Make A Cherry Limeade?

For years I tried to recreate it at home, but it seemed that you had to buy artificial cherry syrup in order to make it really taste right. I didn’t want fake food, as good as it was. I wanted a sweet treat that I didn’t have to feel {too} guilty about.

After much experimentation with different sweeteners and mixers, I finally landed on the perfect combination: lime juice, tart cherry juice, real sugar, and club soda. I promise you, it’s a winner, folks!

I tested this a few different ways, with sugar and with honey. My kids preferred the version mixed with sugar instead of honey. The honey flavor does try to overpower the cherry and lime flavors. Choose which sweetener you prefer.

Since the lime and cherry juices are not dirt cheap, I am leaning toward sugar since it’s a little more inexpensive. I like to make this with club soda so that it’s a fizzy drink, but you can make it with filtered water if you prefer a flat drink instead.

If you’ve got fresh limes and frozen cherries to use for garnish, you’ll have a super yummy summer drink for any hot summer day or holiday celebration — or any day you need a glass full of Happy. I love it that it’s made from all natural ingredients without dyes and funky stuff.

Love cherries? Be sure to try our Easy Cherry Cheesecake Recipe!

After you mix up a batch — or two! — of Cherry Limeade, I’d love it if you’d come back and leave a starred review. Thanks in advance for your feedback.

How to make this cherry limeade good and cheap:

Here are some of the strategies you can use to make this recipe more economical:

• Stock up on ingredients when they are on sale. Instead of paying full price, buy more than you need when you see it on sale. Then you always have it when you want it. This is particularly true for bottled cherry and lime juices as well as club soda. It’s always nice to have a stockpile of that kind of stuff. It’s a great way to save money on your groceries without clipping a single coupon. 
• Store your bulk purchase of limes in the fridge. Yes, citrus tastes best and juices more efficiently when it’s at room temperature, but you can extend its shelf life by storing it in the fridge.
• Shop the stores that have the best prices. When I did my big grocery store showdown, I learned that ALDI and Costco have the best prices for a lot of the things I buy. You will naturally save money if you shop the best store for the items YOU buy. This may not be ALDI or Costco, so you’ll need to do your own price comparisons. The time investment as your research it is super valuable!

How I make this recipe easy:

This recipe really couldn’t be easier than it is, but having the right kitchen tools can really make your time in the kitchen more enjoyable. Over time, I’ve honed my collection so that they are perfect for my needs.

Here are the tools that I use for this recipe:

• plastic cutting boards – I have blue boards for veggies and white boards for meat.
• Ergo Chef chef’s knife – I’ve had my set for several years and they work well.
• citrus reamer – great for quick juicing projects.

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