Limoncello Spritz: A Taste of Italy at Home

Let’s be real. The best way to sip a Limoncello Spritz is in Italy, preferably on the Amalfi Coast where the drink was invented, while lounging underneath a lemon tree.

But what about the other 50 weeks when you (and we) aren’t on vacation?

This is when it’s time to craft and drink Limoncello Spritzes at home. It’s the next best thing to sipping them in Italy.

The Limoncello Spritz is a classic Italian spritz that’s crafted with a 3:2:1 ratio of Prosecco, Limoncello and sparkling water. You’ll recognize this classic spritz ratio if you’ve previously crafted Aperol Spritzes or Hugo Spritzes at home.

Either way, it’s super easy to craft a Limoncello Spritz once you have these three ingredients.

And, while you can technically craft and drink Limoncello Spritzes at any time of year, summertime is the best time for sipping this drink. It’s sweet! It’s light! It’s bubbly! It’s yellow!

Discover our favorite summer cocktails.

Just like its two main ingredients (Limoncello and Prosecco), the Limoncello Spritz has roots in Italy. Southern Italy to be exact – the part of Italy where giant Sorento lemons grow with abandon and locals end meals with Limoncello shots.

This is nothing new. Southern Italians have been sipping Limoncello for more than a century. It only makes sense that one of them would get the brilliant idea of transforming the lemon liqueur into a cocktail. But who?

We like to think that a farmer with too many lemons in his basket was the first to mix Limoncello with Prosecco and fizzy water. Or maybe it was a fisherman who needed a refreshing break after pulling on heavy nets in the hot Italian sun. Then again, it would be cool if it was a nonna who whipped up the sweet tipple while stirring a pot of Genovese sauce in her steamy Napoli kitchen.

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You don’t need a lot of ingredients to craft a Limoncello Spritz at home. In fact, you just need the following five items:

Some Limoncello Spritz recipes include additional garnishes like basil, mint and rosemary. However, we purposefully keep ours herb-free to preserve the lemon flavor and to keep the Limoncello cocktail yellow.

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It’s no stretch to call Limoncello the most important ingredient in a Limoncello Spritz. Not only is it in the drink’s name, but it also provides the drink’s yellow color and sweet citrus flavor.

Over achievers can make Limoncello from scratch with lemon peel, vodka and sugar. The other option is to buy bottled Limoncello at a liquor store which is what we did. The difficult part was narrowing our choice of four different Limoncello bottles. Actually, it wasn’t that difficult.

It was an easy decision to buy a bottle of Luxardo Limoncello since we’re fans off the company’s maraschino cherries and maraschino liqueur. It was a good choice. Produced with Sicilian lemons, Luxardo’s Limoncello has bright flavors and a 27% ABV.

Pro Tip
Store your Limoncello bottle in the refrigerator or freezer so that it’s ready for action when and if you get a sudden Limoncello craving.

Since the Limoncello Spritz is an Italian cocktail, it makes sense to use Prosecco instead of a different sparkling wine like Spain’s Cava or France’s Champagne. We bought a bottle of extra dry Reguta DOC Prosecco from our local market. Produced with glera grapes, it was another good choice.

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We’re not going to pretend that the brand of sparkling water really matters. However, we chose to stay with the Italian theme by purchasing a bottle of Pellegrino sparkling water for this Limoncello Spritz recipe.

We stand by this choice but understand if you’d rather use another sparkling water brand or even club soda instead.

The first step in the Limoncello Spritz recipe is to carefully open a Prosecco bottle. Note that the key word here is carefully.

Pro Tip
Hold the bottle upright and direct the bottle away from your eyes and any lighting fixture before you pop the cork. Use both hands to open the bottle, twisting the cork while gently liberating it from the top.

Next, fill a glass with ice cubes. We like to use a stemless wine glass for this recipe but you can use a regular wine glass instead.

Starting with the Limoncello, measure the the three liquid ingredients with a jigger. As always, we use a Japanese jigger to avoid spillage and ensure accurate measurements.

Buy a Japanese jigger from Amazon if you need a jigger or want an inexpensive upgrade.

Garnish with a lemon wheel.

Pro Tip
Feel free to add herbal garnishes like basil, mint or rosemary if that’s how you roll.

Crafting a Limoncello Spritz may awaken your thirst for more spritzes. If so, we recommend crafting one or more of the following sparkling wine cocktails:

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