Name: Watermelon Water
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Cuisine: Water
Ingredients: 4 cups cubed seedless watermelon; 1 to 2 tablespoons sugar (to taste, or maple syrup or honey); 1/2 tablespoon lime juice; 2 cups ice

Watermelon water is seriously refreshing, with a taste of pure melon! Similar to an agua fresca, it’s a simple blend of water and fruit.

Here’s a drink that’s so refreshing, it immediately jumped to the top of our summer drinks list. Try this Watermelon Water! It’s similar to a Mexican agua fresca: fruit blended with water and a hint of sweetness. The moment you take an icy sip, you’ll be amazed! (At least, I was when Alex handed me a frosty glass of the stuff.) The beautiful nuanced sweetness of watermelon, lime juice and water makes absolute magic. This one’s on repeat over here.

Ingredients in watermelon water

This watermelon water requires just a few ingredients and takes under 5 minutes to blend up. The consistency is thicker than water and a little frothy, adding to the refreshing charm. It’s not an infused water, because like strawberry water it’s tricky to infuse enough flavor with fruits other than citrus. It’s more like a cross between a watermelon aqua fresca and watermelon juice: slightly more watered down than juice and lightly sweetened. Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this tasty drink:

Ripe watermelon
Sugar
Lime juice
Ice

All you have to do is blend them all together! No straining required.

Adjust the sweetness as desired

The watermelon water is lightly sweetened to perfection (we think!). In fact, it’s sweet enough that you could even cut the sugar in half and it still tastes delicious. Here are a few notes on sweetener:

Use 1 tablespoon sugar, then taste and increase to 2 if desired. This will vary based on the ripeness of your watermelon. We liked it with both variations: they almost taste like different drinks.
Want a natural sweetener? Try it with maple syrup, honey or agave syrup. You won’t notice any maple flavor with the syrup: it sweetens drinks well (we even use it for cocktails in place of simple syrup).

Use only the ripest watermelon

This may go without saying, but please only make this watermelon water when this fruit is in season! Ever tasted an unripe melon? (We have.) It’s tart and tasteless: and you definitely don’t’ want to use it in drinks! Here’s what to look for at the store:

Shop in watermelon season. We haven’t found great melon out of season. It’s just not worth it!
Look for the field spot. Look for a lighter spot where the watermelon rested in the field: it’s called a field spot. If the field spot is white, it’s unripe: if the spot is yellow, it’s ripe.

Why drink watermelon water?

Well, you get all the benefits of this tasty melon! Of course, this watermelon water is sweetened a bit, so you are consuming a bit of sugar at the same time. But here are a few of the benefits of chowing down on watermelon:

High in lycopene, an antioxidant, which studies show could help curb your risk of cancer and diabetes as part of a healthy lifestyle. Watermelon has more lycopene than any other fruit or veggie!
High in vitamin A, vitamin C and potassium.
Full of water, so it’s very hydrating.
A very low calorie food, and naturally sweet.

(Source WebMD: Health Benefits of Watermelon)

More watermelon drinks

There are so many tasty ways to blend melon into drinks! In fact, it’s one of the most popular fruits for summer beverages. Here are our top healthy watermelon drinks, both non-alcoholic and cocktails:

Blend up tasty Watermelon Juice or Watermelon Cucumber Juice
Try a delicious Watermelon Smoothie or Strawberry Watermelon Smoothie
Grab tangy Watermelon Lemonade
Try a cocktail: a Watermelon Martini, Watermelon Smash, Watermelon Margarita, or Watermelon Sangria

This watermelon water recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.