Freshly squeezed lemonade topped with kale for a soft touch of green.

Get those green superfoods in where you can! In all seriousness you wouldn’t even know the green part came from kale. It completely blends right in and its bitterness is entirely masked by the acidity of the lemons and added sweetener. Overall your left with this fun vibrant green lemonade.

This recipe calls for 1 cup of kale blended with a bit of water to break it down into a liquid form. In comparison to the amount of lemonade in a large pitcher it isn’t that great of an amount. You could opt for more kale for a stronger taste. It really is all about personal preference.

Kale is an incredible source of iron, fibre, antioxidants, and contains vitamins among other things but sometimes that green smoothie just doesn’t go down the way you want it too. If you find yourself forcing greens down and not enjoying it, well there are other ways.

Instead of having to deal with a bitter, earthy green drink you don’t enjoy try our homemade lemonade for a refreshing twist. You’ll be hooked we can almost guarantee it.

Ever since we made this batch we can’t stop thinking about it and craving a big glass. If only it was permanently stocked in the fridge. We can see ourselves making big batches during the summer months for backyard parties and BBQs, or even special occasion events as a non alcoholic refresher.

Let’s switch the topic to the kale chip garnish. Just for fun we decided to make use of all the kale we had and wanted a cool unique garnish for our fun beverage. So we thought kale chips would be perfect. It was our first attempt at making kale chips and we cannot emphasize how easy they are to make and most of all how addictive they are.

Now we know what to do with all the kale that comes in a bunch. You may think buying pre-packed already de-stemmed kale is the way to go and that is true for a salad and even for smoothies and drinks but when making chips you want the nice big beautiful leaves. The quantity reduces quite a bit when cooked in the oven so you could be left with really small chips.

Big is best here. Fill a large baking sheet with kale and serve the extra chips on the side as a little snack. You’ll be left with a beautiful crispy kale chip garnish and a healthy delicious snack.

We hope you enjoy this recipe. Don’t forget to tag us @thecommunalfeast and #thecommunalfeast we would love to hear from you.

Print Recipe

kale lemonade

Freshly squeezed lemonade blended with the addition of kale to give it a beautiful bright green colour

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Total Time25 minutes mins

Course: Drinks

Servings: 6

Author: the communal feast

Ingredients

• Simple syrup
• 1/2 cup refined sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• Lemonade
• 1 cup kale packed
• 1 cup lemon juice about 8 large lemons
• 1 1/2 cups water
• Kale chips
• Kale stems removed (larger pieces work best)
• 2 TBS olive oil
• salt and pepper

Instructions

• Begin by making the simple syrup: in a small pan over medium heat add the sugar with the water and bring to a slow boil, reduce to a simmer and cook 6 minutes stirring occasionally. Transfer into a measuring cup and let stand to thicken. About 10 minutes.
• To make the kale chips: preheat oven to 275 degrees F. Use as much kale as desired, note that the amount reduces once cooked. On a baking sheet add the kale and massage each leaf with the olive oil using your hands. Spread on the baking sheet and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 20 minutes. If the chips still appear to be slightly wet and not completely crisp, return to the oven and cook an additional 5 minutes. Chips should be dark in colour and crunchy.
• To make the lemonade: in a pitcher, add the lemon juice, 1/4 cup simple syrup and 1 cup of water. Stir with a large bar spoon or wooden spoon. Taste and adjust to your licking if needed by adding more sugar, water or lemon juice. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
• In a blender combine the 1 cup of kale and 1/2 cup of water. Blend for 30 seconds until the mixture turns to liquid and becomes green. Strain into a glass a few times to ensure there aren’t any little pieces of kale.
• When Ready to serve you can pour out the lemonade into glasses and top with kale mixture. Give it a little stir to make sure it’s combine or simply add the kale mixture into the pitcher and stir.