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Indulge in the perfect summer treat with this Strawberry Horchata. This creamy and refreshing drink blends the classic horchata flavors with the sweet and tangy taste of fresh strawberries.
Beautiful Pink Strawberry Horchata
This pink horchata is a popular Mexican beverage prepared using water, rice, cinnamon, and fresh strawberries. The taste is smooth and creamy, with a hint of cinnamon and a refreshing fruity flavor.
In Mexico, people refer to this thirst-quenching drink as horchata de fresa or agua de horchata con fresa. Fresa, in Spanish, translates to strawberry. And horchata refers to an agua fresca (or fresh water) made using rice or almonds to create a creamy drink.
This Strawberry Horchata is similar to Agua de Fresas con Crema, which is an agua fresca made with strawberries, and instead of rice, milk is added to create a creaminess.
Ingredients in Strawberry Horchata
- Rice: long grain white rice is soaked to make the rice milk base of the horchata drink.
- Cinnamon Sticks & Cloves: add a warm spiced flavoring distinct to agua de horchata.
- Strawberries: Adding fresh berries to the cold and sweet horchata creates a refreshing summer flavor.
- Sweetened Condensed Milk: Adjust sweetness to your preference by adding more or less of the sweetened milk. Other sweetener alternatives include honey, maple syrup, or sugar.
- Evaporated Milk: makes a super creamy drink. Substitute both milks with other milk or dairy free alternatives of your choice.
Soaking the Rice
- Rinse the rice: this removes excess starch from the rice and any other impurities that might be on there.
- Soak: combine the rice, cinnamon sticks, and whole cloves then add clean water, stir, and cover. Set this aside to let it all soak at least 6 hours or overnight. This will soften all of the ingredients making it easier to blend.
Best Way To Strain Horchata
- Blend & Strain: after the rice and spices have soaked, then it’s time to blend the rice with the water. Discard any large chunks of cinnamon, leaving the small bits for blending. Work in batches until all of the rice is blended. Then pour through a fine mesh strainer. For a finer texture, strain the rice milk twice.
Straining Tip
For best results, use a nut milk bag to strain the horchata! This will reduce the amount of fine, silt or gritty texture that gets into your final drink.
Adding the Strawberries
- Add Strawberries: remove the tops of the strawberries and leaves. Adding 2 cups of strawberries into a blender with a little bit of water, pulse or blend until smooth. Pour this into the rice milk mixture.
- Add Milks: to make this drink extra creamy, we are adding evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk. The sweetened condensed milk is also used as the sweetener for the drink. Add this ingredient last so that you can taste and adjust for desired sweetness.
- Serving: strawberry horchata is best served cold over ice. It also looks lovely when you slice up extra strawberries and add them to the glasses.
Storage
Enjoy this horchata within three days.
Avoid leaving it at room temperature for over 30 minutes, and store it in the refrigerator.
More Mexican Drink Recipes
Strawberry Horchata
Ingredients
- 1 cup white rice
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 cloves
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups strawberries stems and leaves removed
- 1 cup water filtered (for blending strawberries)
- ¾ cup sweetened condensed milk or to taste
- 1 12 ounce can evaporated milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract optional
- 5 cups cold water filtered
Instructions
- Rinse the rice in a fine mesh strainer for 2 minutes or until the water runs clear, no white residue.
- Add the rice, cinnamon stick, and cloves into a large pitcher.
- Pour the 2 cups of water over the top into the the pitcher. Stir to combine.
- Cover and place on the counter at room temperature to let this soak for at least 6 hours or overnight.
- After soaking, remove large chunks of the cinnamon stick, leave any smaller pieces that have broken off.
- Working in batches if needed, blend the rice (cinnamon and cloves) with the water.
- Pour this mixture through a fine mesh sieve lined with cheese cloth (best results come with using a nut milk bag!). For smoother horchata do this step twice if needed.
- Add the strained mixture into a clean large pitcher.
- Clean the blender and blend 2 cups of strawberries with 1 cup of water. Blend until smooth.
- Add the strawberry mixture to the pitcher with the strained rice milk.
- Pour in 5 additional cups of cold, filtered water, the evaporated milk, and sweetened condensed milk. Stir to combine. Taste and adjust as needed by adding more sweetened condensed milk.
- Add vanilla extract if desired. Stir to combine.
- Serve over ice. Store in the refrigerator.
Equipment
Notes
- We advise enjoying this horchata within three days of preparation.
- Avoid leaving it at room temperature for over 30 minutes, and store it in the refrigerator.
- Rice: long grain white rice. Can use a jasmine rice also.
- Sweetened Condensed Milk: Adjust sweetness to your preference by adding more or less of the sweetened milk. Other sweetener alternatives include honey, maple syrup, or sugar.
- Evaporated Milk: Substitute both milks with other milk or dairy free alternatives of your choice.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Photography by KJandCompany.co
