8 Infused Fruit Water Ideas

Try one of these fruit water recipes to make your own infused water for a refreshing summer drink option for kids and adults.

This post was originally published in July 2013; it was updated in 2025 with new photos.

I know that you are supposed to drink around eight glasses of water a day. But sometimes water gets boring. It tastes funny. And I think I get a good amount of H2O from coffee, tea, and fresh produce. Still, I know I could be drinking more actual water, so I came up with my own fruit water recipes.

These are beyond easy to make and take all of five minutes. I don’t think there are any special health benefits that you won’t get from just drinking plain water and eating fruit. But if this gets me and my family drinking more water, that’s a win in my book.

Fruit water tips

• A 2-quart pitcher is eight cups of water. If that’s your daily goal, this is a good way to visualize it.
• You can make fruit water with fresh or frozen produce.
• Transfer the fruit to each serving glass or strain it out.
• Be patient! The main thing here is letting the fruit sit in the water for hours to transfer the flavor.
• It may be tempting to reuse the fruit for a second pitcher, but the flavor wont’ be as strong. Additionally, fruit will start to break down and may get gross after several days.

How to make fruit water

Ingredients

• 2 cups fruit, see below for combinations
• 8 cups water

Instructions

1. Wash fruit thoroughly.

Wash the fruit just like you would before eating it. For fruits with a peel/rind, you can leave it on, so clean those too.

2. Slice into pieces.

Slice your fruit of choice into fairly large pieces. Size doesn’t matter a whole lot, but 1-2 inches is practical. The more surface area you create, the faster your fruit will infuse into the water.

3. Combine fruit and water.

Fill a pitcher with water. You can use tap water, filtered water, or even sparkling water. Add the fruit to the pitcher.

4. Chill to infuse.

Keep the pitcher in the refrigerator. Let the water infuse for at least 1-2 hours, up to 12 hours, for the best flavor. The longer it sits, the stronger the flavor will be.

Serve chilled, with ice if you like. Fruit water is best within a few days.

Fruit water combos to try

• summer sunshine – Slice strawberries and oranges.
• citrus – Slice lemons, limes, and oranges into thin circles.
• cherry and lime – Halve the cherries and slice the lime into thin circles.
• basil and watermelon – Use whole, fresh basil leaves and cube watermelon.
• cucumber and mint – Slice cucumber into circles and add whole fresh mint leaves.
• lemon and blueberry – Slice lemon into circles and leave the berries whole.
• strawberry kiwi – Depending on the size of your berries, slice them into 2 or 4; slice kiwi into circles.
• all berries: strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, blackberry – Try leaving them all whole.

What’s next? Try these other fun and creative ideas on One Mama’s Daily Drama:

• Tart Honey Blueberry Lemonade
• 7 Breakfast Smoothie Recipes
• Strawberry Margarita Shake