Healthy Cherry Limeade

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This Healthy Cherry Limeade is a refreshing summer drink with just 4 ingredients! Cherries, lime juice, sparkling water and a touch of sugar.

Hi Friends!

Let’s have a drink together, shall we? A non-alcoholic one for me of course!

When I was younger, I was on the swim team for a country club near our house. I loved it. In fact, one of my biggest regrets is not doing high school swim team. But anyways, summer was our swimming season and after almost every swim meet, we would stop at Sonic to eat. I always got the same thing- a plain footlong hotdog and a cherry limeade.

The other day I saw a commercial for Sonic and their cherry limeade and it sparked a craving. I tried to ignore it, but it just wouldn’t go away…so I did some research. Most homemade recipes call for frozen limeade concentrate, Sprite, or tons of added sugar. I wanted something simpler.

Make yourself a homemade Healthy Cherry Limeade on a hot summer day. This drink is refreshing and lower in sugar than the famous Sonic version.

Here’s what I came up with. Just 4 ingredients. It’s not an exact replica…but it’s a heck of a lot healthier and it did the trick to cure my craving! I could taste the lime and cherry flavors and I got the bubbles from the sparkling water. Best of all, it wasn’t overly sweet!

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Healthy Cherry Limeade

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5 from 3 reviews

A simple, 4-ingredient recipe for a refreshing summer drink!

Ingredients

Scale
  • 11/2 cups Rainier cherries (pitted)
  • 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 2 teaspoons sugar (more if desired)
  • 2 cups sparkling water

Instructions

  1. In a blender, puree the cherries, lime juice and sugar.
  2. Taste and add more sugar if needed.
  3. In batches, pour puree into a large piece of cheesecloth, pull corners into a bundle and squeeze the bottom gently to get the juice out and leave the cherry skins in the cheesecloth. In between batches you can rinse the cheesecloth to get rid of the skins, squeeze out the excess water and repeat.
  4. When you’re done you should have about 1 cup of cherry lime juice.
  5. Mix with 2 cups sparkling water and pour into glasses with lots of ice.
  6. Garnish with slices of lime and cherries if desired.

A few notes:

  • I know virtually nothing about cherries…I bought the Rainier cherries because the sign said they were super sweet, which I equated to being able to use less sugar. However, they’re kinda yellowish red, so this drink won’t come out bright red like that traditional cherry color you may be expecting.
  • You could probably use other kinds of cherries but if they’re more tart, you may need to add more sugar.
  • The straining through the cheesecloth is a little annoying, but worth it I think. If you’re lazy, or don’t care how it looks visually, you could skip that step!

Make yourself a homemade Healthy Cherry Limeade on a hot summer day. This drink is refreshing and lower in sugar than the famous Sonic version.

I’m definitely bringing one of these to our next cookout so I can feel fancy!

Make yourself a homemade Healthy Cherry Limeade on a hot summer day. This drink is refreshing and lower in sugar than the famous Sonic version.

Let’s chat:

What’s your favorite summer drink?

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

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Comments

  1. This sounds so refreshing! I may have to try this. I just bought some delicious cherries at the Co op. Hmm, a favorite drink is a tricky one as I pretty much stick to water most of the time but a favorite drink from my childhood memory is a Shirley Temple 🙂

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  2. My favorite summer drink is water… LOTS of water! This recipe would be nice to make for my in-laws tomorrow. Thanks!

    Reply

  21. You know, I’ve never loved cherries but I always LOVED cherry limeade. I haven’t had one in so long, thanks for reminding me about them! Can’t wait to try!

    Reply

  25. I really love any concoction with fruit and sparkling water. Alcoholic, I have been vibin’ cucumber vodka mixed with water or the vodka mixed with cucumber dry soda. On the plus side, cherries have a natural sleep effect like melatonin… Zzzzz! Sweet dreams!

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  27. I have an OBSESSION with Sonic cherry limeades. They were a high school tradition with my friends, and every time I go home to KS, a stop to Sonic is mandatory. I’m so in love with you hacking recipes to make healthier homemade versions! (And def sharing this on the blog this week!)

    Reply

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