Artificial Food Coloring Free Cucumber-Basil Watermelon Agua Fresca
That vivid pink-green color in your glass? It comes entirely from real watermelon, fresh cucumber, and a handful of basil — no dyes, no artificial anything. That's genuinely hard to find in a store-bought drink, where bright fruit beverages almost always sneak in synthetic colorants to punch up the hue. Here, the watermelon does all the heavy lifting on color and sweetness, while cucumber keeps things cool and refreshing, and fresh lime juice adds just enough brightness to make every sip feel alive. A touch of honey rounds out the flavor without tipping it into cloying territory. Blending everything together and straining it through a fine-mesh sieve gives you a silky, clean liquid that looks stunning poured over ice. It's the kind of drink that feels fancy enough for a summer gathering but is genuinely simple to pull together with ingredients you can grab at any grocery store. Garnish with a sprig of basil or a few cucumber slices and it's almost too pretty to drink — almost.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
- 6 cups seedless watermelon, cut into 1-inch cubes (about ½ small watermelon)
- 1 medium english cucumber, peeled and roughly chopped
- ½ cup fresh basil leaves, loosely packed
- 3 tbsp fresh lime juice (from about 2 limes)
- 1–2 tbsp honey, or to taste
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- 1 cup cold water
For serving
- ice, for serving
- fresh basil sprigs or thin cucumber slices, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Add the watermelon cubes, chopped cucumber, basil leaves, lime juice, honey, salt, and cold water to a blender. Blend on high until completely smooth, about 45–60 seconds.
- 2
Set a fine-mesh strainer over a large pitcher. Pour the blended mixture through the strainer in batches, pressing gently on the solids with a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the solids.
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