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This homemade gatorade has become a viral trend as “nature’s gatorade” – a natural sports drink with electrolytes. This recipe is for 3 fruit flavors – mango, kiwi, and wild blueberry. No fake dyes or artificial ingredients, just a simple mix of fruit and coconut water!
A Quick Look: Nature’s Gatorade
This homemade Gatorade with coconut water is one of my favorite ways to stay hydrated during migraine attack days, or running around with the kids during the heat of summer. And these recipes saved me during the worst stomach bug!
- Natural electrolytes – Coconut water and Redmond’s real salt contain natural electrolytes like magnesium and potassium.
- Real fruit – Kiwi, blueberry and mango give tropical flavors without any artificial flavorings.
- 5 minute recipe – This is one I can actually make when I don’t feel well because it only takes 5 minutes and uses frozen fruits!
If you’re looking for more drinks with natural electrolytes, you may also love my homemade electrolyte drink and electrolyte popsicles.
Disclaimer: This recipe is a homemade version of Gatorade but not affiliated with the brand Gatorade. I am not a doctor and this post is not intended to be health advice. This recipe has been neurologist reviewed for the Mediterranean migraine diet!
Table of Contents
Ingredients
- Fresh or frozen fruit – This provides the color and flavor for each drink. Instead of using store-bought juices, we use frozen fruit which is good year-round. This gives the homemade gatorade a more concentrated fruit flavor. Citrus is used for a refreshing flavor, but can easily be omitted and substituted as needed for those in elimination. Please see the edits below!
- Blueberry flavor – A combination of frozen blueberries and lemon juice. Frozen blueberries offer the best concentration of blueberry flavor. I love wild blueberries for their impact on brain health.
- Mango flavor – More tropical flavor with mango and lime juice. Frozen or fresh mango will work! Mangoes are high in vitamin C and natural electrolytes.
- Kiwi flavor – Frozen or fresh kiwi and lime or lemon can be used!
- Coconut water – I either use Trader Joe’s or Harmless Harvest. Keep in mind some have more of a pink color which can affect the color blend. With one cup you get 470mg of potassium and 30mg of sodium.
- Real salt – Redmond’s is not only a source of sodium, it also contains trace minerals of calcium, magnesium, and potassium. A great natural source of electrolytes compared to kosher or table salt. Sodium helps draw water into cells for hydration during exercise or sweating.
You can use sweetener like honey or maple syrup to taste! For the amounts of ingredients, see the recipe card below.
Substitutions and Variations
- Fruit – Other fruits can be substituted, like frozen strawberries or raspberries. I went with these flavors because I find more tart flavors to be helpful when I have nausea.
- Migraine diet – I have reintroduced lemon and lime with no issues so I love it for this recipe, and those on a Mediterranean diet. If you’re on the HYH diet, you will need to use a substitute. I recommend pairing blueberry and pomegranate juice, mango and peach, and kiwi with mango would be great.
- Coconut water – We tested plain electrolyte water as a substitute, but the flavor was watery and it did not work as well. I have heard birch water can be a good substitute but this was not tested. I recommend trying my watermelon juice recipe instead.
- Salt – Omitting the salt will alter the hydration potential, but it will still be a refreshing drink for those looking for lower sodium!
- Hydration ice cubes – Freeze the mixture into an ice cube mold like these small ice balls or larger cubes. The Souper Cubes trays are my favorite for long term storage, especially if I have leftovers I want to keep on hand.
- Add mint or basil – Blending mint into the mango flavor, or basil with the blueberry elevates the flavors making more grown up versions!
How to Make Homemade Gatorade
Step 1: Add the fruit, juice (citrus or subs), mineral salt, and coconut water to a blender.
Step 2: Blend till smooth and combined.
Step 3: Strain the juice mixture through a fine mesh strainer. Taste and adjust for sweetness, if needed.
Step 4: Pour into a glass with ice and serve!
Recipe Tip
Because we’re using fresh fruit for flavoring, a fine mesh strainer is needed to extract the pulp so the drink is smooth and refreshing. If you don’t mind a little more fiber, feel free to add the pulp to your drink. This works fine with the mango version!
Storage Information
Homemade gatorade can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week in glass containers. I highly recommend these glass bottles for storage!
If you have leftovers and you don’t want to use them immediately, you can freeze these into popsicle molds or ice cubes.
More Electrolyte Drink Recipes
Whenever I’m not feeling well I rely heavily on smoothies like this ginger smoothie or my homemade rotisserie chicken broth. I also love homemade ginger ale!
For more natural electrolyte drinks like this one, you can try my viral electrolyte drink with coconut water, ginger mint drink, or watermelon mint juice.
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 review in the recipe card! Don’t forget to tag me @thedizzycook on Facebook and Instagram, and follow along on Pinterest for more great recipes!
Homemade Gatorade
Equipment
- 1 High speed blender
- 1 Fine mesh strainer
Ingredients
Tropical Mango
- 1 cup fresh or frozen mango
- ⅛ teaspoon Redmond’s real salt or similar/Himalayan salt
- 1 lime, juiced (optional)
- 3 cups coconut water
Kiwi
- 3 kiwis, peeled and chopped
- ⅛ teaspoon Redmond’s real salt or similar/Himalayan salt
- 1 lime, juiced (optional)
- 3 cups coconut water
Blueberry
- 1/2 cup fresh or frozen wild blueberries
- ⅛ teaspoon Redmond’s real salt or similar/Himalayan salt
- 1 lemon, juiced (optional)
- 3 cups coconut water
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend on high speed for 15-20 seconds.
- Strain pulp (for kiwi/blueberry, no need to for mango unless you want to!), enjoy or store in a jar for up to 3-4 days.
Notes
- Hydration ice cubes – Freeze the mixture into an ice cube mold like these small ice balls or larger cubes. The Souper Cubes trays are my favorite for long term storage, especially if I have leftovers I want to keep on hand.
- Citrus substitutes – For those who cannot tolerate citrus or on a migraine diet, you can substitute the following for lemon/lime – pomegranate juice (blueberry), peach nectar (mango), mango juice (kiwi). Substitute 1-2 tablespoons in place of the citrus.
- Blueberry flavor can also be substituted with frozen mixed berries.
- Mineral salt – Added for natural electrolytes, this can be omitted for low sodium.
- Homemade juice will store up to 4 days in the fridge but also is great frozen into popsicles or ice cubes!
- Serving size – 1 flavor makes 3 drinks total! Nutrition calculation is for the blueberry flavor.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
thank u ♡
Just made the mango one without lime juice. I was skeptical because there seems to be a lot of coconut water and not a lot of fruit. I am pleasently surprised in how good this is. I definately prefer it over my unflavored LMNT. Much cheeper too! Thanks so much for your recipes and time.
Thank you so much – that’s really sweet! You can definitely add more fruit if you want to, but then I found it wasn’t as clear as actual gatorade but becomes more of like the “naked juice” texture – which is still amazing. Just depends how fruit forward you want it to be.
Tried the Mango recipe-a little thicker consistency.
Really a great option for headache sufferers
Thank you!! Glad you enjoyed it. I do love that it’s a little thicker!
So great for summer!! I also used these during a stomach bug I picked up on a plane and it was nice to have an alternative from the storebought versions. I made the blueberry and the mango and I think mango was my favorite.