Name: Agua Fresca De Pepino
Ingredients: 3 quarts water; 3 cucumbers, peeled and chopped; 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice; 1/4 cup sugar; Crushed ice (optional); Slice of lime for garnish (optional)

Why it works: Cucumber and lime match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 649 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓

Agua Fresca De Pepino

Ingredients

Directions

Blend

Pour 1/2 cup of water and 1 cup of cucumbers into a blender, then blend until the cucumbers are pureed.
Add more cucumbers and water until all cucumbers are pureed.

Strain and finish

Using a fine-mesh sieve, strain the cucumbers into a pitcher to remove seeds and pulp.
Stir in the remaining water, lime juice and sugar.
Chill before serving over crushed ice garnished with a slice of lime.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

76Calories

1 gProtein

0 gFat

20 gCarbs

Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 3 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Lime	juice of 1 lime (44ml)	11
Water	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Cucumber + limetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together649 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Cucumber + sugartop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,112 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Lime + sugartop 29% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,332 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Cucumbers: Provide the main flavor and most of the body of the drink once pureed.
Lime juice: Adds acidity that brightens the cucumber flavor and balances the sugar.
Sugar: Adds sweetness that softens the sharpness of the lime juice.

The step that matters

Straining through a fine-mesh sieve. Cucumber seeds and pulp left in the liquid make the drink gritty and cloudy. Pressing the puree through a fine mesh removes the solids, leaving a smooth, clear-looking drink with a cleaner texture.

Swap the lime

The recipe marks lime as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cucumber, sugar):

Avocadofits better
Vanillafits better
Cherryfits better
Limethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cucumber, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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Agua Fresca De Pepino