Strawberry horchata (horchata de fresa) is a delicious and refreshing Mexican drink made from rice, milk, sugar, and fresh strawberries. It is a popular summertime drink that is perfect for hot days.
The combination of sweet fresh strawberries and creamy horchata makes it a favorite among many throughout Mexico, Latin America and the U.S. Although it is a creamy drink, it is amazingly refreshing!
How to Make Strawberry Horchata
Let's make a batch of this delicious strawberry horchata drink! Follow along here for step-by-step directions, complete with pictures or hop down to the printable recipe card.
The recipe makes 6 cups of Horchata.
Equipment: blender or food processor, mixing bowl, fine-mesh strainer
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Idle Time: 2 hours
Ingredients:
Here is everything you need to make your own homemade horchata with strawberries.
- 1 cup white rice, rinsed
- 5 cups water, 2 cups hot water
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 pound strawberries
- 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Directions:
In a bowl that has a lid, combine the rice, 2 cups of hot water and cinnamon sticks. Cover and let sit for at least 2 hours or overnight if you prefer.
After it has soaked for a while, pour the rice water mixture including the cinnamon sticks into a blender. Add 2 more cups of water and blend on medium until everything is broken down.
Strain out the rice and ground cinnamon bits from the mixture.
Make sure the strawberries have the stems cut off and set aside about 10 strawberries from the full pound.
Place the rest of the strawberries in a blender and add the sweetened condensed milk, whole milk and vanilla extract.
Blend together and strain the strawberry puree mixture into the rest of the rice water mixture.
Mix the strawberry milk mixture and rice water until fully combined, adding one last cup of water to the mix.
Slice the rest of the strawberries into thin slices.
Add ice and the sliced strawberries to a serving pitcher and pour the finished strawberry horchata into the pitcher.
Serving
Enjoy the homemade strawberry horchata cold with plenty of ice! Serve with strawberries or a cinnamon stick as garnish if you like.
The sweet creamy drink provides respite when eating spicy foods and is also wonderful with pastries and other desserts. Try it with my Glazed Donuts or Strawberry Icebox Cake.
Adjusting Sweetness of the Recipe
- If this drink is too sweet for your taste or you want to extend the batch, add an extra cup of water
- If not sweet enough, add an extra ½ cup of white sugar.
The best rice to use for horchata is long grain white rice. This rice has a neutral flavor and light texture. It blends well with the other ingredients and creates a creamy consistency when blended.
Yes, cinnamon powder is perfectly fine to use. 1-2 teaspoons should do the trick.
Yes, while fresh will present better, frozen is a great option, especially outside strawberry season.
Strawberry Horchata
Equipment
- Blender or food processer
- fine mesh strainer
- mixing bowl with lid
Ingredients
- 1 cup white long grain rice rinsed
- 5 cups water 2 cups hot water
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 pound strawberries
- 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a bowl that has a lid, combine the rice, 2 cups of hot water and cinnamon sticks. Cover and let sit for at least 2 hours or overnight if you prefer.
- After it has soaked for a while, pour the rice water mixture including the cinnamon sticks into a blender. Add 2 more cups of water and blend on medium until everything is broken down.
- Strain out the rice and cinnamon bits from the mixture.
- Make sure the strawberries have the stems cut off and set aside about 10 strawberries from the full pound.
- Place the rest of the strawberries in a blender and add the sweetened condensed milk, whole milk and vanilla extract.
- Blender together and strain into the rest of the rice water mixture.
- Mix the strawberry milk mixture and rice water until fully combined, adding one last cup of water to the mix.
- Slice the rest of the strawberries into thin slices.
- Add ice and the sliced strawberries to a serving pitcher and pour the finished strawberry horchata into the pitcher.
- Serve cold with strawberries or a cinnamon stick as garnish if you like.
Notes
-
- If you find the drink too sweet or just want to stretch it, add an extra cup of cold water.
-
- If not sweet enough, add an extra ½ cup of granulated sugar.
James Graham says
This mexican strawberry horchata was the perfect pink drink for our late Valentine's Day celebration. My wife loved it.