Brazilian Lemonade is my most favorite drink, ever. I fell it love with it while living in Brazil where at most restaurants and homes, fresh squeezed tropical beverages are the norm. It’s tart, but sweet, made with fresh limes and a secret ingredient (spoiler alert: sweetened condensed milk) that makes it mildly creamy. It looks a little strange but is refreshingly delicious and unlike any other beverage!
The first question that people generally ask about Brazilian Lemonade is why it’s called lemonade when it’s actually made with limes?? In Brazil, lemons are not common. Their word for lemonade, “Limonada” actually refers to limes. And in Brazil, they actually call this beverage Swiss Lemonade. This is because the signature ingredient there, Nestle brand sweetened condensed milk, shows a Swiss milkmaid on the label. So. We’ve got Brazilian lemonade, which they call Swiss Lemonade, which is actually limeade. Got it? All you need to know is that it’s DELICIOUS.
Make a Simple Syrup and Mix Limes
The first thing you’ll do is make a simple syrup, and it’s not cooked or anything. You’ll simply stir sugar into water and stir until it’s dissolved. You’ll place part of that in a blender and add fresh limes, peel and all (no substitutes for fresh here).
Pulse Mixture in Blender
Strain the Brazilian Lemonade
Add Sweetened Condensed Milk
Then the secret ingredient: sweetened condensed milk. You can often buy mini cans in the latin section of the grocery store. This recipes needs about 1 1/2 little cans. Since you’ll probably want to double this recipe, that’s 3 cans. They also sell a squeeze bottle in the Latin foods section which is also helpful. Or just open a regular sized can and make some chocolate sauce with the leftovers!
The sweetened condensed milk makes the drink itself look like milk, which is sometimes confusing to guests! It’s unique and so crazy good that I love serving this to people who have never had it before.
Chill and Pour
You’ll want to avoid adding ice to your actual pitcher because it will water it down. Instead, add ice to the glasses before you pour.
Brazilian Lemonade
- Yield: 4 servings
Description
Citrus and sweetened condensed milk may sound like a strange combination, but trust me on this amazing Brazilian beverage that’s cool, creamy, sweet-tart and refreshing!
Ingredients
- 4 juicy limes (try and find ones with thin, smooth skins; they’re the juiciest and the thin skin cuts down on the chance of your drink being bitter)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 6 cups cold water
- 6 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
Instructions
- Mix cold water and sugar very well and chill until ready to use. This step can be done ahead of time.
- Wash limes thoroughly with soap (hand-dishwashing soap or regular hand soap works great). Cut the ends off the limes and then cut each lime into 8ths.
- Place 1/2 of the limes in your blender.
- Add 1/2 of the sugar water, place the lid on your blender, and pulse about 5 times. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a pitcher (the one you’ll serve the lemonade in) and pour the blended mixture through the strainer and into the pitcher. Use a spoon to press the rest of the liquid into the pitcher. Dump the pulp and stuff in the strainer into the trash. Repeat with remaining limes and sugar water.
- Add sweetened condensed milk and stir. You may want to taste test it at this point; Sometimes if you use bitter limes, it will need more sugar and maybe a little more milk. *In Brazil, they will actually place the lime liquid back into the blender to blend the sweetened condensed milk in- this creates kind of a frothy consistency that’s super good! Feel free to do this, or simply stir the milk in as directed in this recipe.
- Serve immediately over lots of ice. This does not keep well, so don’t make this in advance (although you can cut the limes, mix the sugar water, and measure the sweetened condensed milk in advance).
Notes
Serving Note
- Serves 4, technically, although I can pretty much guarantee you that people will want more. You can double, triple, etc. the recipe. Just make in batches that will fit in your blender.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4
*Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.
Thank you for the great recipe! It tastes amazing! I made it with my mom (I’m only ten) for the first time tonight! We will be making it again, soon!
Just a question, why is your brazilian lemonade called, “Lemonade” if you use limes and no lemons? Shouldn’t it be called “limeade”?
I am new to your blog and this drink was the first thing that I tried…it was Awesome!! Thanks for sharing all of these yummy recipes…I look forward to trying lots more!
Here in Brazil we call it Swiss Lemonade.. lol
It’s not our everyday lemonade, our Brazilian Lemonade takes lime juice, sugar and sugar..
Best regards!
ops, sorry… lime juice + water + sugar
I will have to say this would be perfect with a little coconut rum (or a lot who am i kidding) and pineapple blended in as well
This recipe is amazing…unlike “traditional” lemonade..this drink has the qualities of being tart & sweet at the same time! Definitely a “keeper”, will be making this all thru the summer
I made this for Fathers Day along with the all the fix-in’s for a mexi-feast. It was yummy. I had to improvise because the store was out of limes ( weird huh?) so I used key limes and adjusted the sugar and key limes until it tasted good. I’ll try again with limes sometime to compare. Either way I bet is delicious.
I don’t drink cows milk so wouldn’t use the sweetened condensed milk, when someone comes out with an alternative I will give this a try, it does sound delicious.
I made this from your cookbook-which I love- and my son could not get enough! So good and easier than I thought! YUM!
Has anyone tried putting any liquor in their lemonades? If so what kind? I was thinking coconut rum, I’m having a big BBQ this weekend and was trying to make a nice refreshing adult drink.
Thanks!
We made this to go with a Father’s Day BBQ. The lemonade was delicious.
OH MY HEAVENLY GOODNESS!!!!! I made this tonight and boy was I pleasantly surprised!!! My husband is lactose intolerant so I made one batch with no sweetened condensed milk. It still tasted GREAT! of course I made one batch following the recipe and I loved it even better!!!
hey girls, I’m making a double batch of this today for Father’s Day. Can I use a Cuisinart or should I borrow my friend’s blender?
Hey, girl! It’s probably too late (sorry!! Catching up here!), but yeah, you definitely want to use a blender–the Cuisinart will leak. Hope that helps!
I made this the other night and it was delicious. We didn’t drink it all, I had probably over half or half of it left so I added 1 more TBS of the sweetened condensed milk and froze it. It made a very yummy icy dessert. You can evne let it thaw a bit for a nice slushy treat. YUM!
This is definitely one of the best of life’s enjoyments.
I made this a couple of nights ago, and we added a few tablespoons of your strawberry sauce to our drinks. It’s really good!!
Well that is really nice and wonderful drink that is and I think the lemons could be best in the summer time. I am Brazilian and love recipes from my country. I am a new follower from the Homemaker on a Dime.
OH MY GOSH!!! thats so funny, I lived in Brazil for 2 months last year on a mission trip!! huh, small world. I love Brazilian lemonade! Over there they called it sumo de leite, milk juice! Lol This is great. I will definatley make this soon.
I made this recipe with Splenda and Fat Free Condensed Milk, froze it and mixed it with tequila and triple sec to make margaritas! Delicious!
Made this for Memorial Day (my daughter-in-law finished making it for me).It was a big hit. Will definately be making this again.I love your cookbook.
Hey! Im brazilian too and I must say we dont usually do that here that much…it is like Limonada Suiça (Swiss Lemonade) but with condensed milk. This kind of drink is usually done with alcohol, like Cachaça or Vodka.
Just made this tonight and it was delicious — thanks for sharing!
This taste great and is so easy to make, thanks Kate! My 8 year old asked if I would make it for her everyday, I’m going to have to go buy my own strainer instead of borrowing 🙂
This looks fabulous!! My in-laws live in Uruguay South America and are coming to stay with us for the summer….I see this in my very near future!! Has anyone tried to make this a cocktail? I was thinking Pineapple or Coconut rum? Anyone try it yet?
I don’t drink milk so I’m considering trying this with coconut milk…
Ali, did you try it with the coconut milk? What did you think? I was curious about the use of sweetened coconut milk in lieu of sweetened condense milk for people who are vegan.
Yay! People enjoying Brazilian lemonade!!! I’m Brazilian, and yeah, we call it Limonada Suiça, haha.
But glad you all like it 🙂
I thought this tasted great! Pretty close to, if not as good as, Tacanos’ Brazilian Lemonade. Try throwing in some pinapple juice for a touch of awesome.
This is addictingly good! Wow! Going to make it for Bunco this week! This is for sure a keeper!
sounds wonderful crazy
This was awesome. Thanks for the recipe. Took it to a party last night and had to make a grocery run for more ingredients!