Agua Fresca: A Cinco de Mayo Recipe

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Agua Frescas are simple fruit drinks made with fruit blended with water, lime juice and sugar. They are simple, refreshing drinks perfect for summer entertaining!

What is Agua Fresca?

If you can reach back into the archives of high school Spanish you’ll know that Agua Fresca translates to “fresh water” but this amazing drink is so much more than that!

Agua Fresca can be made with just about any fruit you can think of, combined with water, ice, and sugar or other sweetener.

Agua frescas are popular in Mexico and Central America as a healthy non-alcoholic drink

Flavor Variations

While I’m only sharing three recipes below, remember that you can make these delicious fruit drinks with many different types of fruits like strawberries, pineapple, honeydew, and mango.

Watermelon Agua Fresca is another very popular option, for that variation just omit the extra water as the fruit itself has plenty!

I don’t recommend making this recipe with blueberries or blackberries, however. These fruits are too chunky when pureed and require straining the mixture through a fine mesh sieve and usually aren’t sweet enough as well.

Also, while pitted cherries taste delicious, the color turns muddy pretty quickly which makes the drink less appealing.

Base Agua Fresca Recipe

For each recipe below combine all of the ingredients in a blender (affiliate link) and puree until smooth and slushy and sugar is dissolved! The basic recipe is:

• 4 cups water
• 2 cups fresh fruit
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons lime juice
• 2 cups ice
• lime wedges & mint for garnish (optional)

You can serve agua frescas to a crowd and pour from a pitcher or you can serve individually garnished with mint springs and sliced fruit for an extra special presentation.

If you like agua fresca, you might also like to try my Strawberry Iced Tea, Peach Iced Tea, or Strawberry Lemonade recipes!

Agua Fresca Variations:

Cucumber Agua Fresca

• 2 cups thinly sliced seeded peeled cucumbers
• 4 cups cold water
• 2 cups crushed ice
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons lime juice

Cantaloupe Agua Fresca

• 1 (3-pound) ripe cantaloupe or other small melon, diced
• 4 cups cold water
• 2 teaspoons lime juice
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 cups crushed ice

Strawberry Agua Fresca

• 4 cups ripe strawberries, hulled and sliced
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 4 cups water
• 2 cups crushed ice
• 2 teaspoons lime juice

I hope you give these recipes a try this weekend-or anytime this summer! They are so refreshing, my favorite is actually the cucumber, it reminds me of something they would serve at a spa!

If you try this recipe, please comment and rate it below!

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This post was originally posted May 1, 2013, but has been updated April 2019 with better photography and answers to reader questions.