Fresh Cherry Limeade

Make sweet limeade with fresh tart cherries and limes.

Have I mentioned before how much I love fresh fruits and veggies?! I love them even more when I get to pick them straight off the vine, tree, bush, wherever. When we went out to my dad’s house for Father’s Day he had a little surprise for us. His cherry trees were in full bloom and ripe for the picking! The boys and I had so much fun picking (and eating a few) cherries we probably spent an hour just on the one tree. After we filled up two buckets I thought we had gotten most of them off the tree. I was wrong; we probably only got a third of what was on there! We split the cherries with him and took home a whopping 15 pounds of cherries!!

What was I going to do with 15 pounds of cherries?! Of course we ate a few, shared with friends, made a few pies and tarts but we still had more left and I didn’t want them to go bad. That’s when I remembered how much I love cherry limeade. Every recipe I had ever seen or tasted always used grenadine for the cherry flavor, never real cherries. Who needs grenadine when you’ve got a bowl full of fresh cherries?! 

That afternoon I got to work pitting the cherries. A cherry pitter definitely comes in handy when you’re pitting that many cherries; it’s so easy to use I let my boys do most of the work. I let them help a good majority of the limeade making process and they had just as much fun making this as they did picking the cherries. 

I love the way this limeade turned out! It’s not as sweet as when you grenadine; well I shouldn’t say it’s not as sweet. It’s still sweet it’s just a different kind of sweet. The first taste is just like biting into a sweet cherry and then you get the tart hint of lime. It’s the perfect combination for a cool drink!

Fresh Cherry Limeade

Print Recipe Rate this Recipe Pin Recipe

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Prep Time 4 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 4 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Servings 0

Ingredients

  

• 4 cups water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups tart cherries pitted
• 1 cup fresh lime juice juice from 5-6 limes

Instructions

 

• Bring water and sugar to boil in a large saucepan over high heat.
• Reduce heat to medium low, add cherries and let simmer for 5 minutes.
• Pour cherry mix into a blender, remove the center cap on lid, place a clean towel on top and blend on low until smooth (about 30 seconds)
• Pour through a fine sieve and save liquid.
• Whisk liquid together with lime juice and let chill in fridge for at least 4 hours; overnight is best.

Tried this recipe?Mention @sydney_tastefullyfrugal or tag #sydney_tastefullyfrugal!

So if you’re at the farmer’s market or grocery store and you see pie cherries (or tart cherries) buy a few and make some fresh cherry limeade. It’s the perfect way to cool down on a hot summer day!