Aguas frescas are a popular fruit beverage from Mexico. Naturally gluten free and completely refreshing, my children fell hard for this cool drink, taking bottles of it to the ball field yesterday.
You could also serve these for Father’s Day; they’d be a delicious, healthy and hydrating treat for Father’s Day brunch. Most aguas frescas drinks are packed with sugar, however, as you can see below, my recipe is completely au natural. Enjoy!
Watermelon Aguas Frescas
Ingredients
- 2 cups watermelon, sliced into 1-inch cubes, discard rinds
- ¼ cup lime juice, fresh squeezed
- 10 drops stevia
- lots of ice
Instructions
- Place watermelon, lime juice and stevia in a vitamix and puree on highest setting until liquefied
- Fill 2 large glasses to the top with ice
- Pour watermelon mixture over ice
- Serve
Equipment
This was my first time making aguas frescas. Have you ever made them? If so, leave a comment and let us know your favorite aguas frescas recipe or concoction!
If you are in Fort Collins, Colorado this coming Friday, June 25th I will be teaching a gluten free gourmet cooking class at Whole Foods (we’ll be making 10 different recipes) on College Avenue at 6:30pm (MST). The cost is $40 and is limited to 12 students. It’s filling up fast so hurry up if you’re interested! To register call (970) 267-9200 or visit the Whole Foods guest service desk in Fort Collins.
sunny says
I’ve been making these for years.
Original recipe Use organic everything
1 honeydew melon
Juice of 2 fresh lemons or limes
1/4 cup sweetener of choice optional(I don’t add any as melon is sweet)
1/2 cup crushed fresh mint leaves
1.5 cups sparkling water, plain- sugar free, no sodium chilled – lemon lime flavor is an option.
1-2 lemons, thinly sliced or squeeze one and slice the other one
Ice cubes as desired
fresh mint sprigs for garnish
METHOD:
Cut the honeydew melons in half; remove and discard the seeds. Using a metal spoon, scoop out the flesh into a large bowl. Working in batches, puree the honeydew melon in a blender or food processor. As each batch is finished, transfer it to another large bowl. Add the lemon juice, sugar, and mint leaves to the puree and stir to combine until the sugar is dissolved. Cover and set aside at room temperature for at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours to blend the flavors.
When ready to serve, pour the melon mixture through a medium-mesh sieve into a large pitcher or jar. Add the sparkling water, lemon slices, and ice and stir well. Pour or ladle into glasses and garnish with a mint sprig.
Shortcuts
MELON of choice watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe etc.
We juice the whole watermelon after carefully cleaning the rind with Bronner Brothers unscented baby castille soap with a pinch of cayenne pepper to kill any bugs/parasites. Rinse well in regular water and then soak a few minutes in distilled water (negative ion water) to make sure all residue is removed. Then juice the whole thing. The rind and white part and seeds will balance out the sugary sweetness of the red part to protect the pancreas and blood sugar spikes.
Don’t juice the rind of cantaloupe as it is usually contaminated with mold seen or unseen. Scrubbing it well before cutting it will help keep mold from contaminating the fleshy part you eat. Remove these hard seeds. Honeydew is smooth and can be treated like the watermelon but since it does not have the chlorophyl the watermelon rind has, I don’t juice it.
MINT handful of fresh mint most of stems removed OR
Put two mint teabags in the carbonated water and let it sit in the refrigerator for 1-5 days. (We had to leave town and it was still good when we returned)
OR 1-5 drops of pure organic mint extract flavoring to taste
1/2 – 1 fresh lime juiced OR equivalent amount of organic lime juice from the bottle
sweetener of choice optional as melons are very sweet.
put all ingredients except carbonated water in blender and liquify. If water is less bubbly I do put it in the blender and it looked like an orange creamsicle. (didn’t taste like it though grin)
I don’t care for ice cubes if you do use them OR freeze some juiced fruit.
Some recipes say let the juice sit on the counter or two hours to blend the flavors. I only made it that way the first time I made it. Now we serve it immediately. The tea bags have already flavored the water.
We believe you lose the enzymes if fruits or veggies are drunk more than 15 minutes after juicing.
I don’t strain it if I used the teabags or extract. Straining is to get the mint particles out.
Honey Dew and Cantaloupe are really good with the above recipe. my girlfriend desires almond flavoring no mint and raw blue agave to taste in hers.
Use your imagination and enjoy all season long any combo you can dream up.
Blessings,
Sunny
Heidi Kelly says
That looks delicious Elana! I just recently learned about Aguas Frescas and made my first one this past weekend, from Strawberries: http://www.adventuresofaglutenfreemom.com/2010/06/strawberry-agua-frescas-and-a-few-other-things/
I plan on making one from pineapple tomorrow and will follow your lead of using liquid stevia, thanks for sharing!
Bethany F says
We made this tonight with dinner and it was a HIT! Wow! We used baker’s sugar (ultra fine sugar for beverages) since we didn’t have stevia and it still worked great.
Thanks so much for this great summer drink recipe!
Sara says
I’m just waiting for a good organic watermelon to try this recipe. I was thinking this recipe I’m sharing was an agua fresca, but turns out it’s a liquado. But it’s wonderful! This is my original recipe.
GRAPEFRUIT LIQUADO
Juice of 1 large grapefruit (I prefer Rio Star or Honeygold)
1 c sparkling water
1 t raw honey
½ tray of ice
Whiz together about 15-20 seconds in commercial blender until ice is slushy.
Karen says
That looks great! I’ve made a similar mixture and frozen it in popsicle molds-very refreshing!
Katie says
My husband is Mexican and the way his family makes this is just: Watermelon in the Blender. I’ve seen a lot like that, my favorite is a little bit of pineapple, a handful of red grapes, and some water. Bended so its pretty smooth, but you still get little chunks of pineapple or grapeskin.
Anyway, where he’s from there is never any added sweetner. But maybe the fruit is just better and doesn’t need it.
Maya says
You should keep posting these! I can imagine how many yummy combinations you could come up with! And it’s a perfect series for the month of July :-)
Sophia Kristjansson says
Absolutely delicious and perfect for four hot and sweaty boys begging for relief.
Lisa Stafford says
This beverage looks truly delicious and refreshing. We will definitely try it. We have made Cantaloupe Slushies before, and put ice in the Vita Mix with the Cantaloupe and honey or agave. Our friend and cancer survivor, Marilyn Joyce shared the idea with us. It was the only food she could consume when she was weak and almost died from cancer. It helped to heal her body and restore her to vitality. She is now a big proponent of whole food nutrition!!
Julie (Bananas for Bourbon) says
How’s that for coincidence. I was planning to make this very same thing this weekend. Except I was going to use agave syrup and add some tequila and call it a margarita. ;)