Strawberry season is here and I am putting my favorite berry to use and making a refreshing Honey-Sweetened Strawberry Basil Limeade. This is a refined-sugar free, non-alcoholic recipe that you can serve to everyone in your family throughout the summer.

If you have never tried the combination of lime, strawberries, and basil, it is time that you start because it is out-of-this-world delicious. Sweetened with honey syrup, this strawberry basil mocktail recipe takes less than 10 minutes of hands on time to make and can be made ahead of time.

A glass of Strawberry basil limeade is garnished with a slice of lime and photographed from the front view.

Ingredients:

You will need fresh limes, strawberries, basil leaves, water, and honey simple syrup (honey and water).

Ingredients to make Non alcoholic basil drink


While you can use store bought lime juice, I highly recommend taking the time to juice your own because the difference between is taste is worlds apart. Freshly squeezed limes deliver a much more refreshing taste.

You might ask, how many limes will I need for 1 cup of lime juice? The answer is that it depends on the size of your limes, but I usually use 10-12 limes.

How To Make Strawberry Basil Limeade?

The recipe for this refined sugar-free limeade recipe has 5 folds:

  1. Make honey simple syrup: Mix together 1 cup of honey with 1 cup of water in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Heat until honey fully dissolves. Set it aside to cool.

Related: Having been sharing only naturally sweetened recipes since 2016, I only use honey syrup to sweeten my alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages. If you want to know more about it, be sure to check my detailed post of how to make honey syrup at home.

  1. Zest & Squeeze lime: In order to up the lime flavors in my strawberry basil limeade, I zest the lime and add it into the honey simple syrup. It is an optional step but it is an easy way to make it even more delicious.
    Squeeze the limes and place in a large jug.
  2. Prep strawberries and basil: Cut up strawberries in chunks and place it in the jug along with torn fresh basil leaves.
  3. Add in water: Pour in 6 cups of water and now cooled honey syrup. Give it a stir, cover it with a lid (or cover it with stretch film),place it in the fridge, and let it rest for 2 hours, preferably overnight.
  4. Serve: When ready to serve, fill glasses with ice, pour in strawberry limeade, and garnish with sliced lime, fresh basil, and chunks of strawberries.
A woman is mixing sugar free limeade flavored with honey, basil and strawberries in a glass jug photographed from the front view.

Make Ahead & Storing Instructions:

  • Make ahead instructions: You can make this basil limeade a day in advance. As a matter of fact, I recommend doing so. The time spent resting in the fridge brings everything together and makes the most delicious summer drink. Simply follow the recipe as written and give it a good shake before serving.
  • Storage: If you are planning to serve it on the next day I recommend placing it in a bottle (I like 1 liter Weck bottles (affiliate link)) with a lid so that it will stay fresh. This way, it should stay fresh up to 3 days.
A glass filled with strawberry basil drink is garnished with strawberries, basil and lime photographed from the front view.

Variations:

With just a few quick swaps or addition, you can change up this easy strawberry and basil drink recipe.

  • Use fresh mint instead of basil: I have made this strawberry basil drink many times by switching mint with basil. It is an easy 1 to 1 swap and just as refreshing and delicious.
  • Muddle Strawberries with basil: I like to leave the strawberries in chunks but you can also muddle them with fresh basil leaves before putting them in the liquid mixture.
  • Strawberry Basil Lemonade: Don’t have limes on hand? Use lemons and turn it into a lemonade.
  • Honey Basil Simple Syrup: If you want more of a pronounced basil honey flavor, simply place a few fresh basil leaves in the honey syrup and let them steep for 10-15 minutes before adding it into the drink.
  • Strawberry Basil Cocktail: If you want to turn this strawberry basil drink into a refreshing summer cocktail, you can add in a shot of (2 oz. per serving) tequila, vodka or gin. I honestly cannot imagine a better happy hour cocktail.

Other refreshing sugar-free drinks you might like

Other strawberry drinks you might like

Strawberry Basil Limeade Recipe

5 from 12 votes
Yields6 servings
Prep Time10 minutes
Resting Time2 hours
Total Time2 hours 10 minutes
This Honey-Sweetened Strawberry Basil Limeade is a great drink that you can make during the hot days of summer. It is refreshing and refined sugar-free made with flavoring freshly squeezed limes with chunky strawberries and basil.

Ingredients 

To Make the Honey-Sweetened Simple Syrup:

  • 1 cup honey
  • 1 cup water

For the Limeade:

  • 10-12 medium size fresh limes plus 1 more as garnish, you need 1 cup of lime juice
  • 1 cup strawberries, sliced – plus more as garnish
  • 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped – plus more as garnish
  • ice
  • 6 cups water

Instructions 

To make the honey-sweetened simple syrup:

  • Place honey and water in a small saucepan. Cook until honey is completely dissolved. Set aside and let it cool.
  • Zest 3 limes and place the zest in the saucepan with the dissolved honey.

To make the limeade:

  • Squeeze the juices of the limes. You should have at least one cup of lime juice.
  • Place the honey mixture and lime juice in a pitcher. Add in sliced strawberries and chopped basil.
  • Add in 6 cups of cold water and give it a good stir. Place it in the fridge to cool for at least 2 hours.
  • When ready to serve, pour limeade into glasses filled with ice and garnish with chunks of strawberries fresh basil leaves, and a slice of a lime.

Notes

  • Make ahead instructions: You can make this basil limeade a day in advance. As a matter of fact, I recommend doing so. The time spent resting in the fridge brings everything together and makes the most delicious summer drink. Simply follow the recipe as written and give it a good shake before serving.
  • Storage: If you are planning to serve it on the next day I recommend placing it in a bottle with a lid so that it will stay fresh. This way, it should stay fresh up to 3 days.
  • Got any questions about the honey syrup? Be sure to check out my Homemade Honey Simple Syrup recipe to get all your questions answered.

Nutrition

Calories: 213kcal | Carbohydrates: 60g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 18mg | Potassium: 180mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 49g | Vitamin A: 109IU | Vitamin C: 47mg | Calcium: 54mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Non Alcoholic Drink
Cuisine: American
Tried this recipe?Mention @foolproofliving or tag #foolproofeats!

This recipe was originally published in May 2016. It has been updated with a few new photos and additional helpful information in April 2021. No changes have been made to the recipe.

About Aysegul Sanford

Hello Friend! I'm Aysegul but you can call me โ€œIce." Iโ€™m the cook/recipe-tester/photographer behind this site.

If youโ€™re looking for approachable, yet creative recipes made with everyday ingredients, youโ€™ve come to the right place. Here, weโ€™re all about recipes thatโ€™s been meticulously tested to provide you with a truly foolproof cooking experience regardless of your level of cooking.

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5 from 12 votes (3 ratings without comment)

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Recipe Rating




37 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    So glad you reminded me of this refreshing summer sipper, Ayse! So much flavor and, so refreshing. I looove all the helpful tips too!

    1. Oh this makes me so happy to hear Traci. Strawberries and basil are such a fun and delicious combination, no? ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. 5 stars
    I love this! Using honey as a sweetener gives it a different taste, but one that totally works! So refreshing!

  3. 5 stars
    Your photos are beautiful, and this limeade is delicious! I love the strawberry and basil, such a great combination of flavors!

  4. 5 stars
    I like limeade even better than lemonade! Adding strawberries and basil made for a fabulous, refreshing drink!!

    1. Me too! This drink is perfect with all the fresh strawberries that are currently in abundance. Cheers Liz!

  5. Iโ€™m not a huge fan of basil so Iโ€™m scared to take the risk. Would mint be just as good?? Or do I need to give the basil combo a try?

    Thanks!

    1. Absolutely. As a matter of fact, I have been growing mint since the beginning of the summer and I have so much of it so yesterday (4th of July) I made this with mint and it was so good.
      Hope this helps.