Strawberry Cucumber Limeade

This refreshing limeade is made with fresh strawberries, crisp cucumbers, tart limes and aromatic mint. It's the most perfect addition to any picnic, barbecue, or just a delicious drink to enjoy while enjoying the warm weather.

Fruit drinks in the summer are a must! There is nothing more refreshing than a cold glass of this Strawberry Cucumber Limeade. It's a creative twist on lemonade using strawberries, lime, mint and cucumbers - such a great combination of ingredients that complement each other so well. It's sweet, tart, minty and most of all, delicious.

You can adjust the amount of sweetness so that it's exactly how you like it. You can even use honey, agave syrup, stevia or any other sugar substitute of your choice. This limeade can be made in advance, which is very convenient for parties.

Cucumbers in a Drink?

If you've never tried adding cucumber to drinks, you are in for a pleasant surprise. Cucumbers pair really well with citrus and fruit to create a clean, crisp flavor to drinks. It's the ingredient that will have people wondering, Hmmm... what is that?

Of course, cucumbers are really juicy too, so they are perfect to use in beverages.

What Kind of Sweeteners Can Be Used?

If you would rather not use granulated sugar, you can use so many other alternatives, such as coconut sugar, stevia, honey, agave syrup or anything that you like to sweeten your drink. You can also use as much or as little sugar or other sweetener as you like.

Limes in Limeade - How Many Limes? How to Get the Most Juice Out of a Lime.

For the best possible flavor, use freshly squeezed lime juice, not bottled lime juice. In recipes like this one, where you use a significant amount of lime juice and it's such a prevalent ingredient, it will make a big difference in the taste.

To get 1 ½ cups of lime juice, it takes about 8 medium limes. When choosing limes at the store, it's been my experience that the limes that have a thinner skin are usually juicier than the ones with a thick rind. The lime should feel heavy for its size.

To get the most juice from the limes, store them at room temperature. Right before cutting the lime in half to juice it, place it on the counter and pressing firmly on it with your hand, roll it around on the counter, applying force on it with your hand while your are rolling it. This will burst the membranes inside the lime, so that when you cut it open, the juice will come out easier.

I use a citrus juicer to extract as much juice as possible from limes and lemons. It practically squeezes that lime dry, which I can't do as well when I just use my hands.

There is a lot of flavor in the lime peel, so use a vegetable peeler to get as many long strips to be added to the limeade. The peel has a lot of oils in it, which are really aromatic and will give the limeade a significant boost in flavor. Set a few aside to be added to the limeade later.

Making the Limeade

Place the strawberries, lime juice, lime peel, sliced cucumbers, sugar and mint in a large bowl.

Use a potato masher to mash everything together well. Everything should be fairly easy to mash together except the cucumbers, but that;s ok not to mash them up completely. You just want them to release as much flavor and juice as possible.

Mix until the sugar is dissolved.

You can also use a food processor or a blender. All that pressure will cause the sugar to dissolve.

Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve, pushing the fruit solids against the sides of the sieve, to get as much of the liquid out as you can. 

You can also pour in 1-2 cups of water to help the straining process. Discard the solids.

Pour in the rest of the water, mixing to combine. You can add more or less water, depending on how concentrated and/or sweet you want the drink to be.

Storing the Limeade

Keep the Strawberry Cucumber Limeade refrigerated. It will stay fresh for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

Making the Limeade in Advance

One of the thing that I love about making homemade lemonade or limeade is that you can make a big batch and store it in the refrigerator. The longer it stands, the more flavorful it gets. I love the mint, lime and cucumber flavors mixed in with the berries. 

To save room, you can store the strained mixture in a mason jar before adding all of the water and then just add the water when you are serving it.

Place some mint, lime peel and cucumber slices in the strained juice in the mash jar, and they will add more flavor to the drink as they stand in the refrigerator.

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