Summer is almost here! I can feel it. I’m downright giddy about the explosion of colorful summertime fruit at the farmers’ markets right now.
It seems serendipitous that the hottest season of the year would produce produce that hardly requires any help. I treat ripe strawberries like dessert; just rinse and eat.
One of my favorite ways to enjoy fresh fruit is in agua fresca form. Agua frescas are refreshing fruit drinks made simply of fruit blended with water, lime juice and a bit of sweetener.
Aguas frescas are popular in Mexico and Central America, although I ordered the most incredible pineapple agua fresca in Austin, Texas, earlier this year.
I’m not much of a juice drinker, but I love agua frescas because they can be served unfiltered. So, unlike regular juice, you’re sipping up all the fiber that is inherent in the fruit rather than filtering it out.
In theory, that means that they won’t cause quite the blood sugar spike that regular juices can. Plus, you can make it in a blender and skip the filtering step.
The Best Fruit for Aguas Frescas
I experimented by making agua frescas with quite a few kinds of fruit. Here are my favorites:
- Pineapple
- Strawberries
- Cucumber, especially with fresh mint
- Cantaloupe
- Honeydew melon
- Watermelon (it’s so juicy that you don’t need to add any water; see my watermelon juice recipe)
I don’t recommend these fruits:
- Cherries turned into a cherry lime-aid, but their color changed pretty quickly.
- Blueberries and blackberries weren’t sweet enough and required filtering through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds.
The key to making perfectly smooth, unfiltered agua frescas is a high-powered blender. Vitamix sent me their Vitamix Professional Series 750 blender, which takes “high powered” to a new level!
This machine is amazing. It has a total of five pre-programmed settings for making smoothies (which is the setting I used to make these drinks), hot soups (no stove required!), frozen desserts and purées. The fifth setting is a cleaning setting to make sure the container is squeaky clean once you’re done. I really like the tamper that comes with the blender, which lets me push down any ice or nuts that need help in super thick mixtures.
It’s totally magical to transform fresh produce into new forms with just the press of a button. My new Vitamix blends up super smooth agua frescas in less than a minute flat! Summertime, coming up.
How to Make Aguas Frescas
- Author:
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: About 2 cups 1x
- Category: Juice
- Method: Blended
- Cuisine: Mexican
These agua frescas are incredibly refreshing, unfiltered fruit juices that are perfect for summertime.
Ingredients
Ingredients per serving, multiply as necessary
- 1 cup roughly chopped fruit (I recommend hulled strawberries, peeled cucumber, cantaloupe or pineapple)
- 1 cup water
- ½ medium lime, juiced
- 1 teaspoon pure cane sugar or agave nectar or sweetener of choice (if your fruit is perfectly ripe and sweet, you may not need any sweetener at all)
- Optional: 2 large mint leaves (perfect with cucumber)
Instructions
- In your blender container, combine the fruit, water, lime juice, sweetener and optional mint leaves. Purée until smooth using the smoothie feature. Taste and, if necessary, add more lime and/or sweetener, then blend briefly again.
- Serve immediately, over ice.
▸ Nutrition Information
This post was sponsored by Vitamix and I received compensation for my participation. Opinions are my own, always. Thank you for supporting the sponsors who support C+K!.
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
Emma
My mouth is watering and I’m dreaming of Mexico – great post!
kristin | W [H] A T C H
i love agua fresca. whenever we cut up a watermelon, i always make them. i love adding a bit of mint from the garden as well!
taylor @ greens & chocolate
I love, love, love agua fresca! I’ll definitely be putting my Vitamix to good use this summer, whipping up these recipes!
Kate
Thanks, Taylor! P.s. Just saw that your baby boy will be here soon, so exciting!!!!
Alexa [fooduzzi.com]
Woah, this looks like such a simple, but beautiful recipe! I can’t wait to try it out this summer!
Heather
These look super refreshing! And I love that you can make them in a big batch — They’d be perfect for a barbecue!
Sydney | Modern Granola
This sounds so good! What a fun way to hydrate. This would be a great non-alcoholic beverage for a party, too. Although I’m sure you could spike it with something and end up very happy.
That Vitamix sounds like a dream! Hot soup and a cleaning setting?! I think the future is officially here!
Great recipe!
xxSydney
★★★★★
Kate
Yes, absolutely! I wouldn’t mind one of these with some run added. :) Thanks, Sydney!
Sherrie
Okay yeah summer is definitely here. Missouri is crazy hot right now!! Those past few days in the 90s was very unexpected for me. Let’s drink these together, xo!!
★★★★★
Kate
Oh yeah, is this your first summer in the midwest?! Yikes. Would love to clink these with you!
Cecilia
Those drinks are beautiful and will be perfect for summer and entertaining! Great idea!
★★★★★
Cecilia
I also want to say that I’ve had my Vitamix for 4 years now and never had a problem with it. Couldn’t live without it, I am using it almost every single day.
Kate
Yay! That’s so great to hear. I think they are definitely worthy investments. Thanks, Cecilia!
Erin @ The Almond Eater
I’ve never had aguas frescas, but judging by the look and sound I’m pretty certain I would LOVE them–especially the strawberry one.
Kate
Oh, I have no doubt you would! :)
erin {yummy supper}
Kathryne, I love agua frescas any which way! And your rainbow of options look awesome.
I hope you’re well, my friend,
xoxo
E
Kate
Thank you, Erin! Always such a treat to hear from you. xo!
Lauren
These sound so so delicious! I’ve always wanted a vitamin and I’m always making smoothies/juices in the summer and soup in the winter!
Cassie Tran
I love the colors! I am literally so happy that it’s summer!
Leisha
I love aguas frescas! My favourite taco stand when we were living in mexico served strawberry hibiscus, pineapple and basil, or cucumber and lime. They’re even better if you add a tablespoon of chia!
Kate
Ohhh, strawberry hibiscus! Love the sound of that!
Megan G
I love aguas frescos. They remind me of my childhood on the U.S./Mexico border. Pineapple/basil is a great combination!
Kate
Pineapple just might be my favorite. Now I can’t wait to try pineapple basil! Thank you, Megan!
Bobbi
How would mango do in this recipe ? Or peaches?
Emily
After my old blender broke, I debated back and forth over and over on whether I should get a Vitamix. So glad I did- it’s awesome. Love the simplicity of these juices! Perfect summer refreshment.
Kate
They are impressive machines, aren’t they?! Really enjoying mine.
Notes on Tea
Perfect for humid days. I’m dreaming of cucumber and lime.
Impressed with the self-cleaning feature of the Vitamix.
Tori@Gringalicious.com
Wow, now I’m super thirsty and dying to taste each one of these!
Katie (Veggie and the Beast)
My Vitamix came in the mail YESTERDAY (thanks, credit card rewards), so this is a very timely post. I made my first green smoothie this morning, but I have a cucumber in my fridge that’s just begging to be blended up for Aguas Frescas. These look so refreshing!
Kate
Exciting!!! Congrats, Katie!
Lynn Richards
No Vitamix here, but would a nutribullet be useful for these? They sound amazing!
Kate
Yep, I think that will work!
Marilyn
thanks!
Mathil Lakhia
Tried and loved this recipe. Did add a few things to make it more tangy (Being of Indian origin I can’t help it :) ) Black salt, chart masala, ginger powder.
Thanks for sharing a great summer cooler recipe.
Kate
Thank you, Mathil! Your version sounds fantastic.
Amy O'
I absolutely love my Vitamix (5200, having serious 750 envy and thinking about how I can trade it in!) I I bought some extra beautiful strawberries from a CSA guy yesterday and I wasn’t sure quite what to do with them (other than hull & freeze since they will go so fast), but this will be perfect!
Kate
Glad to hear you love your Vitamix! One thing to consider about the 7500 is that the base of the blender bowl is wider, so you might have a harder time making small batches in there. If you don’t make small batches of things, then I think it’s perfect!
Laura (Tutti Dolci)
Those colors! I want to sip these all afternoon by the pool!
Evie @ Smoothie Blender
Yummy! This aguas frescas Smoothie Recipe looks is really awesome! This recipe gives me an excuse to trying it! Thanks for share…
★★★★★
Maggie Unzueta
It looks delicious.
Lisa Wells
Can you use frozen bagged fruit?
Kate
Hi Lisa, I haven’t tried, but I believe that would work if the fruit is of good quality!
Jody
My boyfriend is from mexico and loves agua fresca but its usually too sweet for me when we are out but I thought I’d give it a try at home where I can control the amount of sugar. Your recipe is so simple, I just went to the fridge, grabbed some strawberries and lime, then in 2 minutes we were drinking agua fresca! I am so excited! It will be a great non-alcoholic alternative to my poolside margaritas during the summers here in Arizona…and a good option for spiked agua frescas when the occasion calls for it. Thanks!
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Jody! Thanks for sharing.
Carol Gelles
thanks for the recipe, worked just fine using an immersion blender
★★★★★
Kate
I’m happy to hear that, Carol!
Jackie
Thank you
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Jackie!
Kalina Georgieva
Hello. Should I remove the seeds from the cucumber?
★★★★★
Kate
Just peeled should be fine.
Mat
Where in Austin did you get that agua fresca?
★★★★★
Laura
Crazy about aqua fresca! I made this the other day and it was so delicious. Everyone loved it even the texture-sensitive husband.
Instead of lime juice, I suggest pulsing a diced whole lime and a cup or two of water first though, then straining through a sieve and using this with the rest of the recipe. The skin gives it just the right little bit of bitter.
★★★★★
Colleen A Hanes
How long will it stay/be good in the fridge after preparation?
Kate
Hi Colleen, I feel these are best served right away. Juice like this tends to breakdown quickly.
Sarah
I did a mango one. So good! Also did stevia as the sweetener!
Rui Santos
I replaced the mint with lemon balm, lemony flavor and refreshing.