Nightshade Free Cucumber-Basil Watermelon Agua Fresca
This blended drink is the kind of thing you make once and immediately want to keep in your fridge all summer long. Watermelon and cucumber are blended together with fresh basil, a squeeze of lime, and just enough honey to round out the sweetness — the result is cooling, lightly herbal, and genuinely refreshing in a way that store-bought drinks rarely manage. Every single ingredient here is naturally free of nightshades, so there's no label-reading required and no substitutions needed to make it work. The straining step is what sets this apart from a basic smoothie — it gives you a silky, clean-tasting drink rather than a thick puree, and it only takes a few minutes. A little taste-and-adjust at the end means you can dial in the sweet-tart balance exactly to your liking. Serve it over a big glass of ice with a sprig of basil on top and it looks 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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