Slice strawberries and add them to a medium sized pot. Add 1 tbsp of lemon juice and sugar to strawberries. Mix well and cook over medium heat, covered, for about 15 minutes. Make sure to leave a little opening with the lid so that the steam can escape and stir the strawberries from time to time. (Watch out for over-boiling.) Take off heat and set aside.
PRO TIP: leave lemons on the counter to warm up to room temperature before juicing. Lemons give out more juice when they are at room temperature than cold.
Juice lemons and limes (if using). Strain the freshly squeezed juice through a fine mesh strainer.
Add cold water to a large drink container/pitcher/dispenser and add lemon juice.
Add strawberry mixture, all of it, juice and berries. Mix everything well.
It's best to refrigerate the lemonade for 3-4 hours before serving.
Notes
Make it sweeter: This recipe creates a lemonade that is mildly sweet. If you want to make your lemonade sweeter, you can simply add 1/2 to 1 extra cup of sugar.
Choosing lemons: Pick out lemons that are tender to the touch but not too soft, or they will be too ripe. Tender lemons that have some give when you squeeze them are the best ones to use for lemonade. Hard lemons are unripe and will not give you much juice at all, so avoid those entirely.
Storing – Make sure to store homemade strawberry lemonade in an airtight container (like a pitcher with the lid on) in the refrigerator. It’s always best to pour some out when you need to rather than scoop some out with a ladle. Properly stored, it should last for up to 10 days.
Freezing – you can make the lemonade concentrate by combining the strawberry sauce and the lemon juice together and freeze that. Freeze the concentrate in an air-tight freezer friendly container. Thaw slowly in the refrigerator and then mix it with cold water.