This post may feature affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
If a refreshing drink is what you’re after, agua de limón con chia (lime water with chia) should be at the top of your list! It’s a tangy, sweet, and invigorating recipe loaded with nutritional benefits.
Table of Contents
📖 About
We can’t get enough of aguas frescas, and being armed with so many different recipes makes summertime drinking a lot more fun. This recipe is made with fresh citrus and heart-healthy chia seeds.
What is it?
If you’ve browsed our other recipes, you’ll notice we’re huge fans of aguas frescas. Not only do they taste delicious, but they’re a great way to up your water intake.
Aguas frescas are a popular type of drink in Mexico that you can find virtually anywhere — street stalls, taquerías, restaurants, you name it!
In English, aguas frescas means “fresh waters,” and they’re made by mixing ingredients like fruits, grains, or flowers with water (and sometimes sweetener).
Agua de limón con chia (or lime water with chia) is so quick and easy to make, and it’s a 10/10 refreshing. Think light, tangy, and sweet flavors, all while being fiber-packed and nutritionally dense.
You can always customize this drink by adding lemon, different sweeteners, or trying it sugar-free. That’s the beauty of aguas frescas!
History
Long ago, when Mexico City was known as Tenochtitlán, this central mecca housed a market for surrounding villages to buy supplies and food.
As travelers made the long journey to this far away city, they would make drinks of water and muddled berries collected on their way. Eventually, aguas frescas evolved into the drinks we now enjoy today.
It’s also thought that chia seeds were one of the four staple foods of the Aztecs. They took advantage of the many health benefits by adding them to drinks and grinding them into flour for other recipes.
There are a million possibilities of the exact way this drink came to fruition, but it’s fun to imagine each one of those ways. Learning about the history of food gives us a snapshot into the way of life so many years ago.
Pretty cool, right?
Serving
Drink your agua de limón chilled on ice in order to cool off from hot summer weather. If you’d like to up the health benefits, add in more chia seeds!
Although not typical, you can add vodka or tequila blanco for a more grown-up version. And to cure a hangover (wink-wink), try coconut water in place of plain water!
We hope you enjoy this quick and easy agua de limón con chia. As usual, it’s vegan, gluten-free, and can easily be made sugar-free!
🍲 Key ingredients
For a complete ingredient list and step-by-step guide, scroll down to our recipe card.
Lime
Taste: it would be hard to make agua de limón without the tart, acidic, and subtly sweet flavors of lime. Their distinct zesty taste makes this drink extremely thirst-quenching.
Health: loaded with antioxidants, these small fruits have a ton of nutritional benefits. In a single lime, there is over 20% of your daily vitamin C needs!
Chia
Taste: chia seeds have a relatively mild, nutty flavor, but we use them in this drink for their unique gelatinous texture and amazing health benefits. They remind us of teeny tiny tapioca pearls served in bubble tea.
Health: in just 28 grams of chia seeds, you’ll receive 11.2 grams of fiber, 5.6 grams of protein, and 8.4 grams of fat. Bonus: 5 of those grams of fat come from omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to benefit heart health.
Sweetener
Taste: we use cane sugar in this recipe to round out the tangy flavors of lime. But, you can use whichever sweetener you have on hand like agave, piloncillo, maple syrup, or a low-calorie option like stevia.
Health: we are huge advocates of enjoying foods that taste great in moderation. Although large amounts of sugar are not optimal for overall health, if this recipe helps you drink less soda, that’s a win for us. Plus, you can always enjoy it sugar-free!
🔪 Instructions
If you have questions about this agua de limón con chia recipe, don’t forget to check out our FAQ section at the bottom of this post.
Step 1: add the water to a large mason jar or pitcher. Squeeze in the lime juice, and add your favorite sweetener. We use cane sugar, but as we said before, you can use piloncillo, agave, stevia, or none at all.
Step 2: while stirring vigorously, add in the chia seeds slowly to avoid clumping. Taste and add more sweetener or chia seeds to your preferences. Stir continuously for another minute or so, then transfer the pitcher to your fridge for a few hours.
Step 3: serve your agua de limón over ice with a garnish of lime wheels or mint sprigs. Happy drinking!
🌡️ Storage
When we’re getting low, this agua de limón con chia is always at the top of our aguas frescas list to make again. Follow these tips to keep it fresh for longer.
Fridge
We like to keep our aguas frescas in mason jars because we find it preserves the best flavors. Either way, your agua de limón should last about 2-3 days in the fridge.
Freezer
If you choose to freeze your chia fresca, it will keep for up to 12 months. Just don’t forget to use freezer-safe containers. To serve again, let it thaw overnight in the fridge and serve as usual.
💭 Pro tips
Time to share our tips and tricks we learned while creating this agua chia recipe for you:
- Add more citrus. This drink is also great with lemon, or both lemon and lime. Try mixing it up to see which one is your favorite!
- Soak the chia seeds. To achieve the right texture, make sure you vigorously stir the chia seeds and give them time to soak up the water to prevent clumping.
- Make it sugar-free. If you want a low calorie drink, simply omit the sugar or use a low-calorie sweetener like stevia!
- Use room temperature water. To allow the sugar to dissolve, make sure you use room temperature water.
- Switch up the water. For an electrolyte-rich agua chia, try coconut water in place of plain water.
🍴 Tasting notes
We have this agua de limón on tap all summer long, and we have a feeling you soon will too. It’s:
- Fresh
- Tangy
- Sweet
- Healthy
If you try this agua chia, please rate it and leave us a comment below! Want to stay up-to-date with new recipes? Subscribe to our newsletter or connect with Broke Bank Vegan on social media. Happy eating!
Agua de Limón con Chia
Equipment
- Mason jar or pitcher
- Citrus juicer
Ingredients
- 6 cups room temperature water ($0.01)
- 4 limes, juiced ($0.90)
- 5 tbsp sweetener (cane sugar, piloncillo, agave, etc.) ($0.02)
- 1-2 tbsp chia seeds ($0.13)
For serving optional
- Ice
- Lime or lemon wheels
- Mint sprigs
Instructions
- First, add the water to a large mason jar or pitcher. Squeeze in the lime juice, and add sweetener of choice (cane sugar, agave, piloncillo, etc).
- While stirring vigorously, add in the chia seeds slowly to avoid clumping. Taste and add more sweetener or chia seeds to your preferences. Stir constantly for another minute or so, then transfer the jar to your fridge for a few hours.
- Serve over ice with more lime wheels or mint garnishes. Happy drinking!
Video
Notes
- Make sure to give the pitcher a stir again after 10 minutes or so to prevent the chia seeds from clumping.
- Optional ingredients are not reflected in the price or calories of our recipes.
- We calculate nutritional information for our recipes with Cronometer.
- Recipe cost calculations are based on ingredients local to us and may vary from recipe-to-recipe.
- All prices are in USD.
Nutrition
♻️ Similar recipes
For more thirst-quenching aguas frescas, check out our:
- Agua de guayaba for a tropical, fresh, and floral tasting drink that pairs well with a hot day.
- Agua de piña if you love the juicy, sweet, and delicious flavors of pineapples in agua fresca form.
- Agua de sandia for a refreshing flavored water made with ripe and juicy watermelons (hello summer).
- Agua de Jamaica to switch things up a bit with this tart and tangy drink that has powerful health benefits!
- Pink rose lemonade for a refreshing infusion of delicate rose and zesty lemons.
💬 FAQ
If your chia seeds clump, give your drink a vigorous stir. If that doesn’t work, try straining it to get rid of the clumped chia seeds.
If you don’t like chia seeds, you can definitely make this drink without them!
If the sugar isn’t dissolving, try using a liquid sweetener like agave or maple syrup instead.
A non-vegan here.
I just discovered agua fresca and made my first batch last weekend. I made a kitbashed version with mango, cucumber, strawberries, and chia seeds. So VERY refreshing!
This is a nice looking recipe.
I think, however, I’ll take a page from the cocktail world and substitute rich simple syrup instead of sugar. Rich simple syrup is affordable and simple to make.
A question: Can Lemon juice be subbed in for the lime juice?
Thank you!
Hi Wayne,
Thanks for the flavor and sweetener suggestions! They all sound great. Yes, you can definitely use lemon instead of lime for this recipe. Hope you enjoy!