Even though the calendar says it’s the first day of fall, it is still summer where I live. Hot enough to need the fan blowing and craving a cool down with a refreshing sip of easy watermelon agua fresca.
This fruit drink comes from Mexico and Central America, in fact, the Agua Fresca is Spanish for “cool waters”. Since the drink is primarily pureed fruit (with water), some sort of sweetener, and lime juice it is particularly tasty and great to cool you down on a hot day.
You need a heavy-duty blender to make this drink, but they are quick and easy to make. Customize to your favorite summer fruit—melons, strawberries, pineapple, even cucumber make great agua frescas. You can even choose to not strain the juice if you like it pulpy and that will give you an even healthy version of an already healthy beverage.
Easy Watermelon Agua Fresca Amounts
Watermelons can be behemoths at 20 pounds plus. These are the old fashioned seeded varieties. The increasingly more common seedless varieties found in the grocery stores range from 4-10 pounds and the cute personal mini watermelons weigh in at 3-6 pounds and are about 6 inches in diameter.
Regardless of the variety of watermelon, a pound of melon = 1-1/2 cups diced fruit or 3 (3/4”) slices of watermelon.
Since watermelons come in at 92% water, they are perfect for this drink. Early in the summer when the fruit is less sweet, you will probably want all the sugar. But late-season melons are naturally sweeter, so start with half of the sugar and add the more if needed.
Check out this post for how to pick a good watermelon.
Agua frescas are simple to make and oh so refreshing to enjoy anytime of year and with any food. Try some and let me know what you think.
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Easy Watermelon Agua Fresca
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: beverage
- Method: fresh
- Cuisine: American, Tex Mex
Description
Watermelon agua fresca is a refreshing fruit drink that has just four ingredients and is simple to make.
Ingredients
- 6 cups diced watermelon chunks
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 lime, zested and juiced (about 1/4 cup juice and 2 teaspoons lime zest)
- 1 cup of water
Instructions
- Place half of the watermelon, sugar, lime juice and zest and water in a heavy-duty blender and puree on high for 15 seconds, or until all the melon is blended.
- Strain puree through a fine-mesh strainer if desired to remove the pulp. Pour the fruit juice in a pitcher and set aside.
- Add the remaining half of the watermelon, lime juice, lime zest, and water. Repeat to blend this batch. Reserve the sugar.
- Strain the second half of the puree and add the fruit juice to the pitcher. Stir to combine and taste. Add the reserved sugar as desired and stir well to completely dissolve.
- Refrigerate for 30 minutes to cool, you will need to stir the drink before serving since the fruit and water will separate. Or serve immediately over ice cubes.
- Garnish with a wedge of watermelon.
Notes
Store extra agua fresca in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. Stir well before serving.
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