Brazilian Lemonade
Brazilian Lemonade {or in other words 2-minute blender limeade} is freakishly delicious and super refreshing.
Confused by the title? You should be since
a) lemons are nowhere in the picture (think: limes, baby) and
b) when I consulted Brian who lived in Brazil for several years, he said he had never tasted anything like this. Now, granted, the country of Brazil is crazy humongous so there’s a really high likelihood he was stuck in the southern part of the country and missed out on this kind of goodness, but there’s also a really high likelihood that it’s just a fancy name for blender limeade.
No matter. The stuff is freakishly delicious. As in, I think it’s my favorite drink in the history of ever.
I mean, picture it: an icy cold, creamy, bold lime drink toned down with the gentle sweetness of condensed milk. Perfection? Perfection.
I made this for the 4th of July last week (seriously mere hours after Ashleigh, a reader, sent it to me) and my kids are still talking about it and I’m still dreaming about it.
I took sip after sip, closing my eyes and picturing myself on a remote beach in some tropically perfect location (jarred out of my reverie by the rowdies asking for me to please pass the pasta salad) and realized this drink may just be the happiness cement I need for the rest of summer in an insanely hot house packed with insanely energetic (but loveable) children.
I’ll even consider doubling the batch so I don’t feel too badly about sharing. You know, because I’m nice like that.
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Brazilian Lemonade
Ingredients
- 2 large limes, thin skinned (see note)
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup cold water
- ½ cup sugar
- 4 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
- Ice
Instructions
- Cut the limes in half and squeeze out the juice. You should have approximately 1/2 cup juice. Keep the rinds and set the juice aside.
- In a blender, combine the juiced rinds with 2 cups of water. Blend for one minute until the mixture is coarsely mixed and frothy (if you make this start to finish and feel the mixture is too bitter, try only blending this part for 30 seconds or 10-12 pulses). Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer set over a liquid measuring cup or bowl, pressing on the solids to extract all the juice. You should have about 3/4 cup liquid, more or less. Stir in the reserved lime juice. (You can go ahead and discard the pulp in the strainer.)
- To the blender, add the cold water, sugar, lime juice mixture, and sweetened condensed milk. Blend for 10-20 seconds. Add ice as desired: I added probably about 2-3 cups of ice – enough to make it cool and frosty but not thick like a smoothie. Blend until smooth. Add more sweetened condensed milk or sugar to taste, if needed. Serve immediately.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: sent to me by a reader, Ashleigh – I tried it the same day she sent it (thanks, Ashleigh!)
We are ADDICTED to this drink! It is so good and refreshing. I pretty much always have limes and sweetened condensed milk on hand because of our random cravings of this stuff. I really want to try it with sweetened condensed coconut milk one day, but when you find something amazing, why change it up and risk disappointment. Thank you for sharing! I can’t wait to buy your cookbook!!
Thanks so much, Angie! And thanks for taking the time to leave a comment on this recipe!
Just adding in some directions for how I made it ahead of time.
I blended the leftover lime rinds with the water and strained. I then blended only the juice of the limes with the sugar, additional water, and the condensed milk. (so leave out the ice in this blending) Then I stirred that mixture into the strained lime water. Store in refrigerator, mine was held for 7 hours.
You can then EITHER fill cups with crushed ice and pour mixture over ice. (this lends itself to long sipping or drinking, as the ice melts the drinks get better and less tart)
OR
Pour about half the mixture into a blender with your ice and blend away. (this is a bit more slushy and easier to drink quickly for maximum flavor)
It isn’t as “frothy” as the original recipe but still hella good. I want to try blending 2 cups fruit(strawberry/watermelon) with 1/2 cup of water, sieving that liquid and then using this as mine “water” when I blend with the lime juice, sugar and condensed milk. I think it will add a nice flavor to it.
Made this for my family who wanted to try something new! Absolutely love it!
And In Brazil we call this a Swiss lemonade it is pretty yummy. We also have Swiss lemonade popsicles!
Looks Perfect!
this is a huge hit in our family!! I can make any amounts of it and you can be sure it always gone and people are still asking for more… thanks for posting this awesome recipe..
Use the juice of 3 limes and only put 1 whole lime which has been squeezed in the blender
Use 3 cups water and 6 tbsp sweetened condensed milk and 1 cup of sugar and this will be perfect
Needed to add more sugar and condensed milk…way tooo sour
I’d advise using juice of 3 limes, 1 cup sugar and 5 tbsp of sweetened condensed milk and only 2 of the lime rinds with thin skin to 2 cups of water…otherwise it’s just too sour.
Hi Mel,
I am excited to make this recipe but I have a questions. I need to make this for a large family gathering. I don’t want to be mixing it in the blender for the entire party so I would like to make a large batch ahead of time. Any suggestions for me? Can I do it like one of those slush drinks where you freeze part and mix with the rest. Do you think the sweetened condensed milk will be ok if it was frozen or should I put that in at the end? Any suggestions?
I haven’t made it in advance for the same logistical reasons, but I’m sure you could try! I like the idea of freezing part of it and mixing it with the rest. I’d probably go that route. I think the sweetened condensed milk should do just fine.
I made this for my kids when they got home from school today,and it was a big hit! It’s quick and delicious! Two things I love 🙂 This reminded me of a frozen coconut limeade drink from The Smitten Kitchen. Which is also delicious,but my kids don’t like it. So ,I’ll be sticking to this recipe.
I’m a bit late to the party, but HOLY COW! This drink is so delicious I had to comment!! My limes were about a week old…can’t wait to make this again with super fresh ones. Mmmm!
Hi! I’m from Brazil and “Swiss lemonade” aka this recipe here is very used around the country. You only have to know it exists and order when you go to a restaurant. The juices usually are not listed on the menu so if you want this drink, just ask if they serve “limonada suiça”… big chances they do.
Also, someone mentioned about the “lemonade” therm. “Lemons” in Brazil is Lime here (big confusion for me when I first moved to the US 🙂 – it’s not easy to find the yellow ones, your lemons here, and when we do, it is very expensive. It’s called Sicilian lemons!
I’ve tried this with coconut milk (the thick kind in the mixed drink section). Soo delicious!!!!
Hi Mel- I just ran into your wonderful blog yesterday and have been reading my way through it- thanks for all the great ideas. This looks delish & I happen to have a smidge of condensed milk leftover from a big batch of ice coffee… Yay! I tried a similar recipe on Smitten Kitchen earlier thus summer using coconut milk- it’s worth a sip. Thanks again
Ermmm… I’m Brazilian, and the only lemonade I had here was a basic lime juice+water+sugar+ice…