Brazilian Lemonade, Brazilian Limeade - whatever you want to call it, this is one delicious and refreshing drink that we enjoy year round! This easy 4-ingredient recipe is perfect for cookouts and other celebrations!

We love having something fun to drink when we have friends over! Some of our other favorites are Homemade Hawaiian Punch, Virgin Piña Coladas, Strawberry Lemonade, or Horchata!

Large glass pitcher full of Brazilian Lemonade (sometimes called Brazilian Limemade) with ice cubes and slices of lime floating inside and sliced chunks of lime on a cutting board in front of it.


Table of Contents
  1. Why is it called Brazilian Lemonade and not Brazilian Limeade?
  2. How to Make Brazilian Lemonade
  3. More Refreshing Summer Drink Recipes You'll Love
  4. More Favorites from House of Nash Eats
  5. Brazilian Lemonade Recipe

This is one of our favorite treats that seems to go perfectly with everything. Of course it's a fantastic drink to enjoy during the summer when the days are long and hot, but it's also great in the winter when limes are in season and at their juicy best!

I first tried this Brazilian lemonade recipe after seeing it on Our Best Bites, who posted about it way back in 2010, and we've been making it ever since.

It's sweet-tart, tangy, and ever so slightly creamy thanks to the addition of some sweetened condensed milk.

If you have ever eaten at one of many popular Brazilian steakhouses like Tucanos or Fogo de chao, you may have had a chance to try this wonderfully sweet-tart Brazilian Lemonade.

Serve it with almost anything, but if you are doing a Brazilian-themed meal, it's especially delicious with Brazilian black beans and Brazilian white rice.

Two glasses of Brazilian Lemonade (also known as Swiss Lemonade or Brazilian Limeade), with ice cubes and lime wedges sitting on a cutting board with sliced limes.

Why is it called Brazilian Lemonade and not Brazilian Limeade?

It seems like a strange misnomer to call this beverage "lemonade" when there are no actual lemons in it. But the reason is actually because the word for both lemons and limes in Portuguese is limão.

I've also read that this is sometimes actually called Swiss Lemonade in Brazil, although I don't know why or whether that's actually true. It may also just be a regional name from Brazilian limeade or lemonade, given that Brazil is such a large country!

How to Make Brazilian Lemonade

You are going to want a good blender to make Brazilian lemonade. A Vitamix or a Blendtec are probably the two best known brands, and I love my Vitamix and use it on an almost daily basis. But if you don't have one, I'm including a couple of work arounds in the recipe notes.

But it really is so much easier to just use a blender for this recipe.

First you want to make sure you have nice, juicy limes. Ones with thin, smooth skins are the best since they have less white pith between the outer skin and the flesh of the lime and that's where any bitterness comes from.

Give the limes a good scrub with a little bit of hand or dish soap to get rid of wax and any pesticides, then slice of the ends of each lime and cut them into ⅛ths.

Fresh limes cut into ⅛ths ready to go into Brazilian lemonade with a pitcher of ice and a bowl of limes behind them.

Drop half of the limes into your blender, along with half of the water and sugar called for in the recipe and pulse it about 5 to 7 times. You don't actually want to pulverize the limes or your Brazilian lemonade might turn out bitter.

A vitamix blender with water, sugar and cut up limes, ready to be blended into Brazilian Lemonade.

Pour everything through a fine-mesh strainer into a large pitcher, using the back of a spoon to press the limes to release any extra juice, then toss the pulp and skins away and repeat the process with the remaining half of the limes, water and sugar.

Lime skins and pulp in a strainer after being blended with water and sugar and strained to make Brazilian limeade.

After that, you just stir in some sweetened condensed milk (it makes a huge difference so I definitely wouldn't skip this!) and a bunch of ice and serve!

It doesn't keep very well, which is the one downside to this drink, but it seriously takes 5 minutes or less to make and we never have leftovers, so that's not usually an issue.

I have actually even frozen this in popsicle molds and we've enjoyed it that way too, which is a yummy summer treat!

a glass pitcher filled with brazilian limeade and sliced limes

More Refreshing Summer Drink Recipes You'll Love

More Favorites from House of Nash Eats

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Brazilian Lemonade

4.89 from 204 votes
Amy Nash
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Course Drinks
Cuisine Brazilian
Servings 6 servings
Brazilian Lemonade, Brazilian Limeade - whatever you want to call it, this is one delicious and refreshing drink that we enjoy year round!

Ingredients
  

  • 4 juicy limes, washed and scrubbed clean
  • 6 cups water
  • 1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
  • 6 Tablespoons sweetened condensed milk

Instructions
 

  • Wash limes thoroughly by, scrubbing the skin with hand or dish soap to remove any pesticides or wax.  Slice off the ends of each lime, then cut them into ⅛ths.  
  • In a blender, combine half of the water, half of the sugar, and half of the limes, then pulse 5-7 times.  Pour through a fine-mesh strainer into a pitcher, pressing the lime pulp with a spoon to help release juices, then discarding the remaining skins and pulp.  Repeat with the other half of the water, sugar, and limes.
  • Stir the sweetened condensed milk into the limeade and serve with lots of ice and thin slices of lime for garnish.  If the drink tastes bitter at all, you can add a little extra sweetened condensed milk or sugar as needed.

Video

Notes

Limes with smooth, thin skin are the juiciest and have less chance of making the drink bitter.
If you don't have a blender, you could just use 1 cup of freshly squeezed lime juice instead and stir it into the water and sugar, along with the sweetened condensed milk.  I find that the skin adds a lot of flavor itself because of the zest that comes off it in the blending process, but this is still a good approach if you don't have a blender.
Recipe from Our Best Bites.

Nutrition

Calories: 204kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 7mg | Sodium: 35mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 44g
Tried this recipe? Show me on Instagram!Mention @HouseOfNashEats or tag #houseofnasheats!

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About the author

Hi, I'm Amy

I enjoy exploring the world through food, culture, and travel and sharing the adventure with mostly from-scratch, family friendly recipes that I think of as modern comfort cooking.

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Reader questions and reviews

  1. 5 stars
    This drink is refreshing and delicious. The combination of all these ingredients hits it out of the park! And my husband who is a very picky person when it comes to drinks, had two glasses 😊

  2. 5 stars
    I really thought this might be gross based on putting limes with skins right in the blender. I was WRONG! The proportions of the ingredients are perfect so the blend of sweet and tart is perfect. This is not overpowering as I thought it might be; it's absolutely refreshing.

  3. 5 stars
    It's delicious! Thank you for this recipe! My family likes it with a little more lime, but I thought the flavor was very close to what we crave from the churrascarias.

    1. No, a food processor would likely result in a bitter tasting drink. Whenever I need to double or triple the batch, I just cut up all the limes and measuring out the sugar then do it in multiple batches in the blender. It really doesn't take long at all to blend each batch.

      1. I just made a half batch in a food processor, I decided not to add any sugar as it seems like a lot, definitely didn't need any as the sweetened condensed milk was enough, wasn't bitter making it in the processor but there was very thin pith on the limes.

        1. Yes! Definitely make it the way you want it! Less, sugar, more sugar, no sugar, everyone has different preferences and I like to hear about different variations people try. I'm glad it all worked out. Thank you for leaving a comment!

  4. 5 stars
    This was relatively easy to make, and so delicious. A huge hit with my cinco de Mayo crowd. Will be making it many more times!

  5. Absolutely delicious…just the perfect taste not too sweet and not sour …for our second glass we added some Malibu Coconut Rum …wow was that awesome too served in a frozen glass!!! Thank you

  6. 5 stars
    This was soooo good! Although it sounded super strange to mix limes with condensed milk, my daughter reminded that it sounds like key lime pie without the crust!

    We served this (with less sugar) at a party and some of the guests added tequila, vodka or rum - it was a great success!! Thank you!

  7. 3 stars
    Great flavour profile but a little too sweet for me. I would start with less sugar and then you can always add more, unfortunately you can’t take away sugar! I’d do 3/4 cup.

  8. 4 stars
    I used key limes, and as little as I pulsed the limes in the processor, it made the drink bitter. So I had a whole pitcher of bitterness because I didn’t want all of the ingredients to go to waste. Next time I won’t use the rind at all, just the pulp of the lime. (And yes, I added just about the entire can of condensed milk- still so bitter like I never added it.) oh well.

  9. Disappointed, it was bitter ☹️.
    I thought it was odd to blend in the skins from the lines and I didn't unstand how it wasn't going to be bitter. But I crossed my fingers and hopped for the best. But again it was bitter even after I added more sweet and condensed milk and sugar!

    1. I'm sorry it turned out bitter! Hmmmm Did you just gently pulse the limes in the blender? If I mix them too much I find that it mixes the bitter skin too much in with the juice. Did you pour it through a fine mesh strainer? Also, if the limes have a thicker skin or are larger than normal, it may be a bit more bitter. Just keep adding sugar or sweetened condensed milk and adjust to your liking! Let me know if you have any more questions!

  10. Is it possible to make it in advance and serve later? I would like to make it in the morning and then serve it to my colleagues at lunch. Will that still be good?

  11. 5 stars
    Love the recipe!!

    Just curious if you could sub the limes with lemons, or if it would create an unpleasant taste blended?

  12. 5 stars
    Came out so good, also would be a good base for cocktails and mocktails. i ended up using less sugar and a bit more condensed milk.

  13. This seems more like a story about making Brazilian Lemonade.

    Maybe I missed it somewhere in the article, but how many limes do I use, how much water, how much milk?

    1. Hi! You will always find the recipe card with the detailed instructions and measurements at the end of the post. To make it easy for you I have a jump to recipe button at the top of the post that will take you straight to the recipe card.

  14. 5 stars
    This is the best recipe I've tried yet. My first two attempts were too bitter. This has the right ratio of lime to sweetener. The only thing I did differently was blend the limes with the water. I did 15 pulses in my vitamix and then strained. I then rinsed out the blender, added the juice back in and blended 1/2 cup of condensed milk and poured over ice. I see no reason why this would not benefit from a shot of tequila, if the leftovers make it until dinner time 🙂

  15. 5 stars
    This is excellent. I tried this with my little yellow limes from my tree. I’m not sure if they are Mexican limes or key limes but my tree produces several hundred each year and I don’t know what to do with them. Simply delicious! Thank you for sharing.