From the roundup: 12 Easy Non Alcoholic Drink Recipes: Mocktails, Smoothies, and Lemonades

This frozen raspberry lemonade slush has saved me on more hot afternoons than I can count. Everything goes into the blender straight from the freezer, no thawing, no cooking, and it is poured and ready in about three minutes flat. The texture lands somewhere between a thick smoothie and a gas-station slushie, which is exactly what my kids want when it is ninety degrees and they are hovering in the kitchen.

The one thing I have learned the hard way: do not add too much water trying to get it moving. I did that once and ended up with bright pink lemonade instead of a slush. Add cold water one tablespoon at a time and give it a quick pulse between additions. That is the only real technique this recipe asks of you.

Fresh lemon juice makes a difference here because the flavor is sharp and clean against the frozen raspberries. You only need two or three lemons, so it is worth squeezing them rather than reaching for the bottle. Measure everything before you hit the button and the whole thing comes together before the ice has a chance to melt.

Why you will love this

Ready in three minutes with zero cooking and no thawing required
Uses frozen raspberries straight from the bag, so there is no fresh fruit to track down
The tartness is adjustable: taste after blending and add more simple syrup if you need it
Thick enough to eat with a spoon, which makes it feel more like a treat than a drink
Scales up easily if you need four servings instead of two, just blend in two batches

Tips for success

Keep the raspberries fully frozen: even five minutes of thawing on the counter will make the slush thinner and less scoopable.
Add ice on top of the liquid ingredients so the blender can pull everything down more easily without stalling at the start.
Check texture at the thirty-second mark before blending longer. Once it looks uniformly slushy with no white ice chunks, stop. Over-blending warms it up.
Use a wide-mouth glass: the slush is thick and a standard pint glass makes it frustrating to pour. A mason jar or a large tumbler works perfectly.

If your slush turns out watery

Too much water added at once is almost always the cause. Next time, add it one tablespoon at a time and pulse briefly between additions.
If it already went watery, pour it into a freezer-safe cup and freeze for fifteen to twenty minutes, then stir and serve as a semi-frozen drink.
A watery batch also works poured over a glass of crushed ice if you do not want to wait for it to firm back up.

Substitutions

Frozen strawberries or a frozen mixed berry blend can replace the raspberries if that is what you have. The color will shift but the method stays the same. For sweetener, honey or agave syrup works in place of simple syrup; start with a little less since both run sweeter. If you are out of fresh lemons, bottled lemon juice will do the job, though the flavor is a bit flatter.

For a creamier version, blend in a small scoop of vanilla frozen yogurt and cut the ice down to one cup. It comes out closer to a sherbet-style drink and is a good option if the straight slush is too tart for younger kids.

Make-ahead and storage

This slush is best served the moment it is blended. It melts and separates quickly at room temperature, so pour it straight into glasses and drink it right away. If you have leftovers, pour them into a freezer-safe cup or container and freeze solid. When you are ready to drink it, let it sit on the counter for three to four minutes, then stir well or re-blend with a small splash of cold water to bring it back to a slushy consistency. It keeps in the freezer for up to one month.

Brittany Stage