Summer has officially begun this week – and we’re making mojitos!
I hope your herb garden is ready because instead of the basic mint mojito, these are made with lemongrass and basil as well. Basically, I like to build cocktails the same way I approach salads – the more fresh herbs and citrus, the better.
To make these “skinny,” I skipped the sugar and sweetened these with Truvia Natural Sweetener instead. It has no calories and it’s sweetness comes from the stevia leaf. Personally, I’d rather splurge on a dessert than on a sugary cocktail so I love that these mojitos are on the lighter side! Since stevia is sweeter than regular sugar, a little goes a long way. 1/2 teaspoon of Truvia is equal to 1 teaspoon of sugar.
For awhile, I was intimidated by preparing lemongrass – but it’s so easy! Just peel off the outer leaves, exposing the softer part of the stalk, like this:
The next step isn’t pictured, but you want to take the back of your chef’s knife and bash that inner stalk so that the flavors of the lemongrass release. After that, dice it finely like this:
Muddle the minced lemongrass with the rest of the ingredients into a cocktail shaker – then shake it up and pour!
Skinny Lemongrass Mojitos
- 2 lemongrass stalks, extra pieces for garnish
- Big handful of mint (about 15 mint leaves), plus 2 sprigs for garnish
- 8 basil leaves, chopped
- 2 teaspoons Truvia Natural Sweetener
- 5 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus 2 slices for garnish
- 6 tablespoons white rum (3 ounces)
- crushed ice
- ½ cup sparkling water, more as needed
- Prepare the lemongrass by cutting off the root end and the tough upper stem of the stalk. Next peel off the tough outer layers, leaving the more tender, pale lower sections. With the back of a chef’s knife, bash the inner leaves to release the lemongrass oils and make it more fragrant and flavorful. Finely chop. This should yield about 3 tablespoons.
- In a cocktail shaker, combine the lemongrass, mint, basil and Truvia. Muddle with a cocktail muddler or the back of a large spoon. Add the lime juice, rum and a handful of ice. Shake well.
- Prepare 2 glasses with more crushed ice. Strain the cocktail mixture into the glasses, adding a small spoonful of the muddled herbs. Top with sparkling water and garnish each glass with a sprig of mint and a 4-inch piece of the lemongrass stalk.
This post was created in partnership with Truvia. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that keep us cooking!
nice cocktail. think I still have some summer to enjoy it with, good sugar substitution too, might even try with less sweetener, don’t like sugar-y cocktails anyway and love the lemongrass tips! Hadn’t known the proper methods for dealing with it before, so thank you for all of this!
YES! I love a good skinny mojito and this one looks so good and refreshing with all those great herbs. Loving the beautiful clean and birght pictures! 🙂
xo
NEED one of these ASAP!
Its a wonderful recipe. It looks so natural. worthy trying
Simply lovely
I wish I could be able to prepare such a recipe
Isn’t Truvia the stevia-product manufacturer causing the digestive problems? I am sorry because I am sure they sponsored this but is there a decent substitute? The recipe looks great!
Yes, Truvia can cause digestive upset, so can all artificial sweetener. I know that the base of Truvia is Stevia which is a plant but the truth is that Truvia is so processed that there really isn’t anything natural about it any longer. That is just my personal opinion. I also greatly dislike the taste of Stevia, to me it tastes like aspartame but if it works for other people! I prefer Xylitol – which is made of birch bark and tastes like sugar, it too of course is very processed, i just like the taste better.
Hi Alex, I haven’t heard that and I haven’t had any issues. I especially like it in my coffee and in cocktails. You can use regular sugar if you like – I get a lot of requests for recipes made with stevia-based sweetener so I loved these as a lower sugar option.
Love this recipe!!! YUM! Lemongrass would be amazing in a mojito – which are my favorite! I love the clean flavor it adds to things! Naming recipes can be so challenging. In the cocktail world “skinny” does seem to be descriptive of a sugarless beverage. So hard to know what will communicate clearly and also work for SEO. I know that term can be hard for some people, but I wanted to say that I love your kind answer to the previous comment.
I love the idea of fresher take on this cocktail. but I hate the retrograde promotion of diet culture by using “skinny” in the name. why promote the idea that skinny is an ideal or even a positive that women should strive for or embrace? how about, light lemongrass mojitos? clean lemongrass mojitos? sugarless lemongrass mojitos? healthy lemongrass mojitos? the freshest lemongrass mojito? a mojito that’s sweet for your body? a better lemongrass mojito? mojito makoever? a lovely lemongrass mojito? there are so many ways to capture the idea a mojiro made with less sugar that don’t rely on the trope that skinny is best. cozying up to diet culture is beneath this blog (which I love!).
Hi Savala, I’m so so sorry if the title offends. You’re right, I do like your title suggestions – things can be so hard to name! (Lovely Lemongrass Mojito is what I should have called it!!) It sounds like you know me very well – I don’t count calories or imply anything diet-ey on this blog beyond the message that fresh food is delicious. I just find that when I’m ordering cocktails that the ones titled “skinny” imply that they are filled with less sugar, so that was the first recipe name that I thought of. I’ll try to be more mindful next time when I’m choosing names. Thank you so much for your feedback – it’s much appreciated.
I use a squirt of liquid Truvia in my morning vanilla latte. Looks like I need to move that habit to cocktail time 🙂
So pretty! They sound so refreshing… I love anything with lemongrass 🙂
Yum! These sound like the most refreshing thing ever <3
Laura // Middle of Adventure