2-Ingredient Frosted Lemonade

This 2-ingredient frosted lemonade is the kind of simple, crowd-pleasing treat that disappears faster than you can set the pitcher down. It’s just lemonade and vanilla ice cream blended together into a frosty, sippable dessert — feels a little special, takes almost no effort.

Why You’ll Love It

Only 2 ingredients — lemonade and vanilla ice cream, nothing else required
Ready in under 5 minutes — blend, pour, done
Looks impressive without the effort — that thick, creamy, pale yellow color does all the work
Totally customizable — thicker, lighter, tangier, sweeter — easy to adjust for whoever you’re serving
Kids and adults love it equally — no separate drinks needed

About the Ingredients

The lemonade — store-bought is completely fine. I usually grab whatever’s on sale, and I’ve used everything from the squeeze-bottle concentrate mixed with water to the fancy refrigerated kind from the organic section, and honestly the difference is smaller than you’d think when it’s all blended up with ice cream. If you’re making it for a crowd, premade works great. If you’re making it for yourself on a Tuesday afternoon because you need a win, same answer.
The ice cream should be good vanilla. Not cheap vanilla with that synthetic aftertaste — something that tastes like actual cream. I usually use Breyers or Turkey Hill, whatever the grocery store has that week. Let it sit out for five or ten minutes before you use it, or it’ll fight your blender.

Ingredients

4 cups cold lemonade (homemade or store-bought )
4 cups vanilla ice cream, slightly softened — maybe a little more if you like it thick

How to Make It

First thing I do is put my pitcher in the freezer. Just for ten or fifteen minutes while I’m getting everything else ready. A cold pitcher keeps the drink colder longer, and there’s nothing worse than a frosted lemonade that goes warm and watery before you’ve had a second glass.
Pour the lemonade into the blender first. Then add the ice cream. I usually let it sit in there for a minute or two if it’s very firm, because if you try to blend rock-hard ice cream you’ll hear your blender making a sound it really shouldn’t be making, and that’s a bad way to start a party.
Blend it on medium-high for about twenty or thirty seconds. You’re looking for smooth and pale and thick — it should look like someone added cream to lemonade, which is essentially what you’ve done. Stop and stir once if you need to, then blend again. Don’t overdo it. You’re not making soup.
Taste it. Adjust. If you want it thicker, add ice cream. If you want it lighter, add a splash of lemonade. This is the part I always eyeball. There’s no wrong answer as long as it tastes good to you.
Pour it into your chilled pitcher and serve immediately. If you’re having people over and you need to make it a little ahead of time — say, fifteen or twenty minutes — keep the pitcher in the Refrigerator. Give it one good stir before you pour. It softens a little, but it’s still great.

Variations

Pink lemonade is a very good idea if you have kids coming. That blush color is a hit, and they don’t care why it’s pink — they just know it’s fun.
You can also use a lighter ice cream if that’s what you prefer. The texture won’t be quite as thick, but it still works. I’ve done it when I was trying to make things a little lighter in January, and then ate approximately four servings, so I’m not sure the math worked out, but — the drink itself was fine.
If your family likes things sweeter, go with a sweeter lemonade to start. If they want more tang, squeeze in an extra tablespoon of fresh lemon juice before blending.
For a stronger vanilla note — and I do like this in the summer when I’m feeling a little extra — add half a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract. Just a little. It deepens the whole thing.

Storage

Leftovers go in the refrigerator, covered. They’ll keep for a day, maybe a day and a half, though the texture will soften and it’ll be more drinkable than spoonable by then. A quick stir or a brief re-blend fixes it mostly. It’s not quite as good the next day — but it’s still good enough to drink over the sink at ten in the morning, which I have done, and I’m not apologizing for.
Don’t leave it sitting out in the heat. Two hours max on a hot day. After that it’s just lemonade soup, which is not what anyone came here for.

I’ve been making this for a long time now, and it still surprises me that something this simple lands the way it does. Set it on a table next to something elaborate and the pitcher will be empty first. Every time.
Use a clear pitcher if you have one. The color is half the appeal — that pale creamy yellow with the frost on the glass. Add a paper straw if you’ve got them, or don’t, it doesn’t matter. A lemon slice on the rim looks nice and takes about four seconds. Serve it next to something simple — burgers, sandwiches, whatever you’ve got — and let people refill their own glasses.
That’s it. That’s really it.