Name: Strawberry Agua Fresca with Chili
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: 2 ½ cup + for garnish fresh strawberries (hulled and halved or quartered); 1 ½ cup ice cold water; ½ of whole red chili pepper with seeds (sliced in circles); 2-3 tbsp of granulated sugar or muscovado sugar; 2 ½ tbsp fresh lime juice; Pinch of Himalayan (ground salt )

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5 ingredients + water and 5 minutes is all you need to make this cold, thirst-quenching summer beverage. Strawberry-flavored ice water with lime and hint of fresh chili is definitely the world's easiest drink to make during hot summer days.

A perfect way to use up bulk or ripe strawberries - make strawberry agua frescas! The strawberry season is officially here and during my favorite time of the year, we eat a lot of strawberries and try to make as much as possible delicious recipes with them.

This aqua fresca is a wonderful and refreshing drink to have on hand. If you have a blender or an immersion blender this drink will be done in seconds!

What is agua fresca?

It may sound like an exotic cocktail but it is actually a non-alcoholic cold beverage mostly popular in Mexico and Central America.

It can be made not only with strawberries but with all sorts of fruits and berries. Make it even more special by adding few spices or fresh chili which will elevate the flavors even more.

Ingredients

2 ½ cup + for garnish fresh strawberries, hulled and halved or quartered
1 ½ cup ice cold water
½ of whole red chili pepper with seeds, sliced in circles (if not sure, leave the peppers out!)
2-3 tablespoon of granulated sugar or muscovado sugar
2 ½ tablespoon fresh lime juice
Pinch of Himalayan (pink salt) salt flakes

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How to make Agua Fresca

Add all ingredients to the blender and process until strawberries and chilis are smooth.

Need a different visual? This recipe is also available as as story!

Pour mixture into a jar, pitcher, or individual cups filled with ice, garnish with fresh chili, strawberries, mint or basil leaves (optional).

Makes about 3 smaller (water) glasses.

How long is strawberry agua fresca good for?

For better results, when making an agua fresca recipe, it should be consumed on the day when it is made. The flavor will change a lot and not be so refreshing on the second day, unfortunately.

Tips and Variations

There are tons of variations for this agua fresca recipe, you can add your favorite combinations and play with the flavors. These are a few of my favorite suggestions for you.

Watermelon, strawberry, and lime Agua Fresca - add few cups of chopped watermelon and reduce the water quantity to taste.

Simple Watermelon Agua Fresca Recipe - swap strawberries to watermelon only

Cucumber Agua Fresca - for extra fresh flavor add long thin slices of cucumber to your iced water. Add a little chili and sugar too 🙂 OR make a Cucumber Mint Agua Fresca

Add mint - add handful of fresh mint leaves and process in blender with the rest of the ingredients.

Spritzer - add some bubbles to the drink by topping with soda, sparkling water, ginger ale or sprite.

Make it an adult’s drink! - add some booze like Cointreau, Vodka, Tequila, Rum to this water + a dash of soda, sparkling water, or lemonade like 7up or sprite.

If you don't want to mess with hot peppers, simply add a dash or two of my Jalapeno Simple Syrup into blender (instead of sugar and hot peppers).

DIFFERENT WAYS TO USE STRAWBERRY TOPS

Always save strawberry tops - don’t throw them away! Here's what you can make with them:

Make strawberry-infused water.

Don’t have a plan to use those tops right now? Place them in an airtight container and keep them in the fridge for up to a few days, or in the freezer for a few months, then pull them out when you’re ready to use them.

Another great way to use them is to infuse your favorite spirit with them (i usually keep them in my rum for few days).

Add the tops to your favorite smoothies to get a little pink hue and hint of strawberries.

I hope you enjoy this easy and refreshing Strawberry Agua Frescas with Chili and please let me know what do you think below in the comments!

Have you made any Agua Fresca recipes yet? What are your favorite combinations?

Thank you for reading!

Julia

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