Skip the store-bought soda and make this low-sugar Homemade Gingerale to sip on!
Hi Friends!
Time for another month of Recipe Redux. This month the challenge was beverages. Here’s the prompt:
Beverages Are Hot – That which is served in a mug, glass, or stein is becoming just as interesting as what’s on the plate. New cocktail-only blogs are emerging. Pinners are cooking with their Keurig K-cups. Hot beverages have gone way beyond hot cocoa. Beverages are in! Whether you’re serving something hot or cool, kid-friendly or happy hour worthy, show us your healthier drink.
I’m not a soda drinker. Even when I was little, it wasn’t something I was allowed to have often…and when I did have it, all I really liked was Sprite + Pink Lemonade and Gingerale. No Coke, Dr. Pepper or Root Beer for me. Now that I’m older, pretty much the only soda I drink is Gingerale…and pretty much the only time I drink it is on the airplane. There’s something about airplanes and Gingerale that just go together for me….
Hubby, on the other hand, used to be a big time soda drinker. Eventually my non-soda drinking ways rubbed off on him and he rarely drinks it anymore…but lately, thanks to one of our friends, he has acquired a taste for Captain Morgan. And his favorite thing to mix it with is Gingerale.
So…when I started thinking about this month’s challenge, I thought it might be cool if I could make a homemade Gingerale…something I wouldn’t mind taste-testing…something I could try making lower in sugar than the canned version…something hubby could potentially use in his mixed drinks!
Turns out, homemade gingerale is about as easy as it gets. It requires very few ingredients and you can adjust the ratios to suit your tastebuds.
Here’s what you do:
Print{Recipe Redux} Homemade Gingerale
A simple, homemade recipe for Gingerale that’s lower in sugar and can be customized to your taste.
Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
- 2 cups water
- lemon & lime slices, optional
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- seltzer water
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, combine the ginger and 2 cups of water (and the lemon and lime if desired).
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
- Strain through a strainer or cheesecloth and let liquid cool.
- Clean the saucepan, then combine 1 cup water and ½ cup sugar.
- Bring to a boil and stir until sugar dissolves. Remove simple syrup from heat and let cool.
- In a glass, combine ½ cup seltzer water with ½ cup ginger water.
- Add 3 Tbsp simple syrup, stir and taste. Add an additional Tbsp if needed.
- Serve over ice!
Some notes:
- I made my ginger water with 3 slices of lemon and 3 slices of lime. If you want to make it with just ginger, go for it…or you can add more lemon or more lime to your preference.
- You can also make just plain ginger water and then squeeze in a bit of lemon or lime juice to the mixed drink.
- Most recipes for simple syrup call for a 1:1 ratio of sugar to water but I think it’s plenty sweet with only 1/2 the sugar.
- Most homemade recipes called for 6 Tbsp of traditional simple syrup. I cut that in half and used a lower-sugar simple syrup and it’s just sweet enough for me!
Next up is having hubby put this to the test in his mixed drink and replicating my holiday favorite Cranberry Gingerale! Stay tuned!
Enjoy!
–Lindsay–
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This is so cool! I’m definitely going to try it. Maybe with grapefruit and mint? So many possibilities!
omg sounds delish!
I LOVE gingerale and can’t wait to try this!
Ohh Ginger Ale is totally one of my guilty pleasures! I’m gonna give this a try this weekend. Thanks for sharing 😀
Def trying this! This will save me so much money with my Zevia addiction! lol! I’m with you.. the only soda I drink is ginger ale!
After being sick, I rediscovered that I really like ginger ale. But I don’t like all the extras. This looks amazing. Gotta try it soon!
I am not a big soda fan either…just the occasional rootbeer float 😉 but this looks so tasty! Will definitely try this out now that the weather is warming up and I can drink this by the pool.
yes! bring on the pool weather!
very cool! never would have thought to make homemade gingerale – so creative!!
Yum! I didn’t realize how easy it is to make gingerale! We have a soda stream since my boyfriend loves to make his own sugar free sodas at home. We’ll definitely have to try your recipe!
perfect! super easy with a soda stream!
Oh my husband loves ginger ale and would LOVE this!
As a kid, I always used to drink flat gingerale when I had a soar stomach. It worked like a charm.
Fresh & Crisp! Nice work -xo-
This looks delicious! I am a big ginger fan and will for sure be trying this asap!
I used to be a soda drinker, but not anymore. I stopped drink it because of all the added sugar and other bad stuff. I love the idea of making my own! Now I’ll know what’s going in it and it won’t be loaded with sugar. Looks wonderful!
thanks holly!
I’ve made a similar drink before with ginger and lemongrass – would love to do it with lime. You can’t go back to Canada Dry after tasting the real thing!
i agree!
Now this is amazing! There is nothing better than ginger ale when you’re sick and I love that you made this so simple to do!
Ha! As a kid the only soda I got was cherry 7-Up at my grandma’s. I have gotta make this…have ginger in the freezer. Always wanted to make homemade ginger ale!
woohoo! cheers!
Wow, I never would have thought you could make your own soda like this!
pretty cool isn’t it?!
Ah I LOVE this! ginger ale is one of my faves, but it never crossed my mind to make a from-scratch version (DUH! You are brilliant). What a treat!
haha from scratch for the win!
I love gingerale! What a delicious idea!
This is SO COOL! I have always wanted to make something like this, and just never knew how! I am trying to slowly make everything myself, and this can be next on my list of things to try homemade! Thanks for the recipe Lindsay!
me too! homemade for the win!
Awesome! I’ll definitely keep this recipe in my bookmarks!
Ginger ale is the only soda I drink, too! Well, I’ll add fruit juice to seltzer watch on occasion, but I don’t think that counts. I love this homemade version! Did he love in Captain Morgan?
★★★★★
he did indeed 🙂
Oh wow that sounds delicious! I myself love Diet Soda but they are so so so bad for you so this might be a nice healthier alternative!
I always want gingerale on airplanes too! Not sure why…. maybe that’s all they served when I was a kid?
Thx for the recipe, excited to try it!
yay! let me know how it turns out!
I used to drink a ton of diet soda and then quit cold turkey a few years ago. I do love ginger beer though so I’ll have to try this gingerale!
hope you like it!
I used to be a huge soda drinker too…thank goodness not anymore! Though when I’m not feeling my best, I always keep a can of ginger ale in the fridge, organic of course! This looks so easy…I am definitely trying this asap!
yay! hope you love it!
My daughter is home sick today–perfect timing!
Oh my gosh, I wish I could kick out soft drinks all together. I used to drink two Dr. Pepper’s a day while in college. Now, almost seven years later, I limit it to one or two on the weekends. I guess that’s a little better…
I’ll have to try this!
that’s definitely an improvement! great job!
Love this recipe! My boyfriend also has a new acquired taste – for jameson – and likes mixing it with ginger ale, so I’m sure he’ll appreciate this fresh twist :). Thanks for sharing!
ahhh perfect!
being a huge ginger lover, i dont know why i dont drink ginger ale often. thanks for the reminder.
you’re welcome 😉
YUM!!! Is it bad that I thought this would taste great with some vodka in it? 😉 But YUM, I LOVE gingerale!!
haha sounds like you should try it out 🙂
Gingerale is the only ‘soda’ I like, ok love. My mom made it home made for us when we were sick. And it got me through morning sickness!
yep! childhood sick day staple for me!
Great idea! I love gingerale, but rarely drink it. I wish I could wean my hubby off his diet pepsi addiction, maybe a little homemade gingerale would work.
never know til you try!
Wonder if I could get hubby to replace his store bought with this! 🙂
always worth a shot!
If you’re going to drink soda, this is the way to do it Lindsay! Mmm, I can only imagine how homemade would taste, without the 22 packets of sugar!
xoxo Sarah Grace, Fresh Fit N Healthy.
thanks sarah! love being able to control the ingredients
This is so awesome. I will definitely give it a try
let me know what you think of it!
I love ginger ale but I’ve never had any homemade stuff before. Definitely going to have to try this one.
let me know what you think!
Gingerale is my favorite soda too, especially the stronger varieties like Reed’s. I’ll have to try making my own though…thanks for sharing!
This one looks and sounds so good. I like to drink ginger beer sometimes when I have an upset stomach.
I love gingerale! I have a sodastream, but I don’t drink a lot of actual soda — just carbonated water with a splash of lemonade mix, usually. Gingerale is one of those things I forget about, but I love how the ginger flavor burns your nose a little. Going to have to try this out!
This is such a cool and delicious idea! (as always)
I love the story behind this, and, as a kid GingerAle was always my moms antidote to the stomach flu, or any kind of sickness 🙂 I don’t buy soda either, BUT my 1 occasional exception is Ginger Beer, which is delicious on it’s own, but more often to be poured in to a Moscow Mule-the best. Would love to try making this soon!
Yum! Ready to make a moscow mule with this! 😉
Has anyone actually tried making this? I love ginger ale (canada dry used to make a green tea ginger ale I loved but can’t find it!) but as everyone says I do not like the added sugar and I do not care to drink anything carbonated any more so I might also leave out the bubbles but add my green tea!! Thanks for posting and hope to try soon! Also….I have ground ginger in a jar…shortcut you think should be fine shouldn’t it? Thanks!!
that sounds like it would be great!