Refreshing, Nourishing Homemade Vitamin Water

Are you’re tired of staring down that plain ole glass of water? Fruit-infused water to the rescue! Add loads of flavor and healthy nutrients by adding fresh fruits and herbs to your pitcher. Unlike commercially bottled products, homemade vitamin water contains no added sugar, no artificial sweeteners, and no added weirdness.

With summer winding down (far too quickly to suit me), I find myself feeling a little desperate about the approaching disappearance of summer fruits and vegetables. I’ve been sneaking them into everything, from snacks to desserts to drinks. On a whim, I began adding fruit and cucumbers to my daily ice water.

Nothing particularly new, but so delightful that one day I was inspired to prepare an entire pitcher filled with nutritious, nourishing citrus, Cucurbitaceae (the botanical family that includes watermelon and cucumbers), and herbs, and, voilà, homemade vitamin water!

Regular readers know that I am deeply smitten with green juice, but I enjoy other liquid refreshments, too, including iced green tea, and coldcoldcold fruit infused water with a splash of fizzy water.

So, this pretty vitamin water is a natural extension that can easily morph to accommodate the fruits, vegetables, and herbs of the seasons: melons, cucumbers, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, melons, apples, pears, cranberries, oranges, basil, thyme, verbena.

The fruits and vegetables in this homemade vitamin water are themselves highly nourishing:

• Watermelon: rich in vitamins A and C, plus phytonutrients including anti-oxidants, anti-inflammatories, and cucurbitacins.
• Cucumber: good source of vitamins B5, C and K, plus phytonutrients including anti-oxidants, anti-inflammatories, and cucurbitacins.
• Grapefruit: high in vitamins A and C, lycopene, plus phytonutrients including limonoids.
• Lemon: high in vitamin C, plus phytonutrients including anti-oxidants, and cancer-fighting limonoids. Also provides antibiotic effects.
• Lime: high in vitamin C, plus phytonutrients including anti-oxidants, flavonoids, and cancer-fighting limonoids. Also provides antibiotic effects.
• Mint: has anti-microbial properties and can ease digestive upset.

For a full day’s worth of nutrients and fiber, be sure to accompany lots of whole fruits and vegetables with your daily dose of vitamin water.

As a side note, the pitcher in these photos is packed with fruit — it almost looks like a fruit salad, right? lol — for fast infusion. You can fill your pitcher with cold water, add lots of fruit, and serve immediately, knowing that the goodness will quickly seep into the water through sheer volume alone.

To store the leftovers, simply strain out the fruit and top off with more cold water, leaving a lime slice and mint leaf or two, if that’s your flavor preference (it is mine!).

Enjoy infused water at your next outdoor gathering!

Labor Day is the last big outdoor party weekend of the summer, and as August’s intense heat has made a lingering return this week (it’s been unusually cool this summer — we’ve been spoiled), I know this homemade vitamin water will get hit hard. I’ll be making plenty to have on hand to serve when the late day’s heat really kicks in.

Oh, the cocktails will be flowing freely, too, but tall, refreshing glasses of homemade vitamin water over ice are a must to keep the body properly hydrated. Keep an elegant, oversized pitcher filled with ice, fruit, and filtered water, to encourage guests to enjoy the healthy infused water alternative.

And for your own daily enjoyment of homemade vitamin water, I highly recommend an infused water pitcher that stores neatly in the fridge with a removable insert that lets you effortlessly switch out the fruit from one day to the next. Slim and easy to clean, you’ll want to keep icy-cold, super-flavorful water on hand at all times! It’s the model that I have, and I use it all year round.

To serve, fill your glass halfway with ice (ice chips are nice, for crunching), and pour in the fruit infused water, stopping 2″ from the top. Spoon out a few pieces of fruit — make sure it includes a cube of the season’s sweet, sweet watermelon — and add to the glass. If desired, top off with a splash of seltzer.

Kick back — a hammock would awesome — and enjoy the sunshine.

Enjoy this beautiful alternative to plain bottled water all summer long and beyond — it’s great for work out recovery, too!

Karen xo

Print Recipe

4.86 from 7 votes

Refreshing, Nourishing Vitamin Water

Healthy and hydrating, this fruit-infused water is best prepared the day before.

Prep Time15 mins

Total Time15 mins

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: American

Servings: 8

Calories: 22kcal

Author: Karen Gibson

Ingredients

• 2 cups watermelon , sliced into 1" cubes
• 1 lime , sliced
• 1 lemon , sliced
• 1/2 red grapefruit , sliced and quartered
• 1 medium cucumber , sliced
• 12 mint leaves
• 2 quarts water
• ice
• sparkling water (optional)

Instructions

• Combine the fruit, cucumber, mint leaves and water in a large pitcher.
• Place in the fridge and let infuse overnight.
• To serve, pour infused water into glasses filled halfway with ice. Spoon in a piece or two of fruit for show, and top with a splash of sparkling water (optional).
• The vitamin water will stay fresh for a day or three.

Nutrition

Calories: 22kcal

Nutritional information, if shown, is provided as a courtesy only, and is not to be taken as medical information or advice. The nutritional values of your preparation of this recipe are impacted by several factors, including, but not limited to, the ingredient brands you use, any substitutions or measurement changes you make, and measuring accuracy.

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