Yield: 12 butterfly pea powder lemonade drinks // Total Time: 30 min. // Disclaimer: This post may include affiliate links.
It’s always a good time for a fun drink, and this drink might be one of the most fun! Take your lemonade from normal and delicious to fun and delicious using one simple ingredient: butterfly pea powder. This magical ingredient interacts with the acid from the lemons to turn your drink from blue to purple with one swirl of the spoon. All you’ll need is 5 simple ingredients.
Butterfly pea powder lemonade
This butterfly pea powder lemonade is super delicious and it’s all thanks to the base, where we start off super strong with an easy and refreshing homemade lemonade. For homemade lemonade, all you need is some fresh lemons, water, and granulated sugar. We’ll make a homemade simple syrup with the sugar and some water so that the drink is cohesive and without any granulated sugar bits floating around. The magic happens with the butterfly pea powder. We’ll add some club soda to the lemonade to make it fun and fizzy (although you can definitely leave this out if desired). Then, top it with a mixture of butterfly pea powder and hot water. Stir the drink and watch it turn from dark blue to a bright purple!
What the heck is butterfly pea powder?!
Butterfly pea powder is made from the butterfly pea plant which has beautiful blue flowers on it. It’s most often used to make herbal teas and fun colored drinks and is believed to be super good for you thanks to the anthocyanins in the plant. The best part about butterfly pea powder is that it can easily change colors! If you add something acidic such as lemon juice to a drink with butterfly pea powder, the color will turn from a deep blue to a rich purple. You can also add hibiscus flower petals to the drink to turn it into a vibrant pink. Overall butterfly pea powder is a great way to get vibrant, naturally-dyed colors in your bakes and drinks! I will warn that it has a very strong smell that might seem a little off-putting, but I promise you all you taste here is delicious lemonade! This is the butterfly pea powder I use.
Ingredients and substitutions
Lemons: you can’t make a good lemonade without some lemons!
Granulated sugar: to sweeten up the tart lemonade. We will make a simple syrup with the granulated sugar and water to avoid having a gritty drink.
Water: lessens the sharp tartness of pure lemon juice.
Club soda: to make the lemonade into a sparkling lemonade. If you are not a fan of soda or fizzy drinks, feel free to leave out the club soda and replace it in the drink with more lemonade.
Butterfly pea powder: the magical ingredient in this magic lemonade.
How to make butterfly pea powder lemonade (magic lemonade):
Butterfly Pea Powder Lemonade (Magic Lemonade) Q & A
Can I double this recipe?
Of course you can double this recipe! You can double this recipe, triple it, or even quadruple it as needed! Note that the homemade lemonade recipe makes enough for 12 glasses of magic lemonade.
Where can I find butterfly pea powder?
You might be able to find butterfly pea powder at the store, but I have only ever seen it online. This is the butterfly pea powder I use.
What else can I do with butterfly pea powder?
You can make a variety of different drinks with butterfly pea powder. While I love this magic lemonade, my favorite way to use butterfly pea powder would have to be in this butterfly pea powder marbled bundt.
Tools and ingredients
Citrus reamer: I seriously love this thing. It makes juicing without a juicer super easy!
Butterfly pea powder: the magic star of the show! This is the butterfly pea powder I use.
For a full list of tools and ingredients I use and love, you can check out this page here.
Did you make this magic lemonade?
If you made this butterfly pea powder lemonade I would love to see it and know your thoughts! Please leave a comment and review down below, and tag me on Instagram @freshbeanbakery. If you have any questions about the recipe I will gladly do my best to answer them in the comments below!
Butterfly Pea Powder Lemonade (Magic Lemonade)
Ingredients
Homemade Lemonade
- 1 ¼ c. lemon juice, freshly squeezed (~ 2 lb. lemons, 300 mL)
- 250 g sugar (2 ¼ c.)
- 4 ½ c. water divided (1,050 mL)
Magic Lemonade (Amount per cup)
- ½ c. homemade lemonade (120 mL)
- ¼ c. club soda (60 mL)
- ¼ tsp. butterfly pea powder
- 1 oz. hot water (30 mL)
Instructions
Homemade Lemonade
- Make a simple syrup. In a small saucepan set over medium heat, stir together the sugar and 1 c. (240 mL) water until all of the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Wash the lemons off in warm water, then cut each in half.
- Use a juicer or citrus reamer to juice all of the lemons, then pass the juice through a fine mesh sieve to remove the pulp and seeds.
- Pour the lemon juice into a large pitcher along with some of the halved and juice lemons if desired.
- Add in the simple syrup and remaining water and stir. Set in the fridge until you're ready to serve magic lemonade (or stop and enjoy here!)
Magic Lemonade
- Fill a 12 oz. glass to the top with ice. Add in the lemonade and club soda.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the butterfly pea powder and hot water until the powder has dissolved.
- When ready to serve, top off the lemonade with the butterfly pea powder mixture.
- Stir and watch your lemonade go from blue to bright purple. Enjoy!