Brazilian Lemonade

This Brazilian lemonade—the latest viral drink on the internet—lives up to the hype! To clear things up, this lemonade is not made from lemons but from limes.

The reason why Brazilian lemonade is called a lemonade and not a limeade is due to the translation. In Portuguese, limão is the term for lime, so everyone calls it limonada. In Bulgaria we also call any type of citrus drink limonada; limonada generally serves as a broad term for any lime or lemon juice, hence the confusion in English.

This drink is creamy, citrusy, and refreshing. It’s only 3 simple ingredients: ice, limes, and sweetened condensed milk. Traditionally, Brazilian lemonade uses whole limes — pith, peel, and all. The whole limes are blended with water and ice to create the base of this drink, but I decided to remove the lime peels prior to blending, as the limes in Canada have really thick skin and can be extremely bitter.

Brazilian Lemonade

The Modern Nonna

This drink is creamy, citrusy, and refreshing. It's only 3 simple ingredients: ice, limes, and sweetened condensed milk.

4.50 from 4 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Servings 4

Equipment

• blender

Ingredients

• zest of 2 limes
• 4 limes, peels removed and pith (the white coating between the lime flesh and peel) removed
• 4 cups cold filtered water
• ice
• One 14-ounce (300-ml) can sweetened condensed milk

Instructions

 

• Add the peeled limes to a blender with the cold water. Blend for 20 to 30 seconds. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a bowl and pour the blended liquid through the strainer. You should be left with a little bit of pulp which you can use for other recipes or compost.
• Pour the strained liquid back into the blender with ice, lime zest and the sweetened condensed milk. Blend until frothy.
• Enjoy with extra ice and if you're in the mood, you can absolutely add a splash of your favorite alcohol too.

Video

Notes

If you are not a fan of (or cannot tolerate) sweetened condensed milk, I would definitely try this drink with a can of coconut milk and some sweetener instead.

You don’t have to remove the lime peels but I prefer to, as it can be really bitter. If you want to add the limes in whole, do NOT blend for more than 20 seconds before straining. 

Feel free to add a splash of any alcohol of choice, if you’re in the mood. 

You can absolutely use lemons instead of limes. I do have a delicious recipe up from last year that uses lemons as well. 

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