How Much Juice is in One Lemon - Make a Lemonade

When making a lemonade or simple lemon water, many people wonder how much lemon juice is in one lemon.

Well, that depends, but for homegrown lemons, it ranges from one to two, sometimes even more ounces of lemon juice.

Updated: July 9, 2022.

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The amount of juice in a single lemon is very easy to determine - slice a lemon, squeeze it and measure the amount of the juice. To obtain more accurate data, measure amount of the juice using several lemons and then total amount of juice divide with the number of squeezed lemons. It is that simple! :)

In this example, I have used three homegrown lemons, which tend to be a little bit smaller than lemons bought in supermarket.

But they smell better and have fantastic aroma and fragrance, which is quite common when comparing homegrown fruits and vegetables with fruits and vegetables bought in supermarkets and similar shops.

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Procedure is simple - using sharp knife slice lemons in half and then squeeze the juice using manual or automatic juicer. Put the glass or some suitable pot on the scale, null it (scale must show 0g or 0 ounces with the glass on the scale), pour the lemon juice in the glass and check the weight on the scale.

In my example, three lemons provided me with some 118.5 grams of lemon juice, which is roughly 4.2 ounces of lemon juice (1 ounce is around 28.35 grams).

Large lemons bought in supermarkets can provide much more lemon juice, but the taste can't and shouldn't be compared with homegrown lemons.

Lemon Juice Nutritional Value

The nutritional content of raw lemon and lemon juice varies depending on the lemon variety, season, growing conditions and similar, but general values are given in the following table:

Food Lemon Lemon juice
Protein 1g 1g
Carbs 10g 9g
Sugars 2g 2g
Fibers 4g 2g
Fats 0g 0g
Vitamin C ~80 mg ~50 mg

On average, 100g of lemon contains around 80mg of vitamin C, while 100g of lemon juice contains around 50mg of vitamin C. Note that the vitamin C RDA for adult person is ~60mg of vitamin C. Lemons are also decent source of potassium and vitamin B6.

Lemon and lemon juice also contain potassium, copper, B6, phytosterols, and other vitamins, minerals, and beneficial compounds. Note that lemons and lemon juice don't contain cholesterol and that it is very low on sodium.

 It is very reasonable to assume that this ~120g (4 ounces) of lemon juice contains around 60 mg of vitamin C (plus other vitamins and minerals), which is vitamin C RDA from less than 40 kcal. Nice! :)

How to Make a Lemonade

Now that I have lemon juice, I can make lemonade. Often, the simplest way is the best way - just add some water to dilute the lemon juice and drink the lemonade. My preferred ratio of lemon juice and water is 1:1, with no sugar at all.

juice-in-one-lemon-3If you don't like strong lemonade, add more water and if you like, add some sweetener - sugar, brown sugar, honey, stevia or similar.

There are many fruits out there that have more C vitamin than lemon, but a glass of lemonade in the morning boost my energy levels stronger than coffee or any similar beverage, especially when not diluting the lemon juice with much water and, of course, without any sweetener.

For people having issues with blood sugar levels, have in mind that the estimated glycemic load of 100g of lemon juice with no sweeteners is around 1 - and that is very low!

In fact, lemon juice is acidic and it slows down how quickly human body break apart molecules of sugar, causing a steadier rise in blood sugar levels. So, if you want to decrease glycemic load of your meal, sprinkle some freshly squeezed lemon juice on your food or have a lemonade during your meal. Without sugar added, of course! :)