Runners, cyclists, and other endurance athletes know that smart hydration and fueling are key for performance—and for avoiding that dreaded bonk, crash, or “hit the wall” feeling.
That said, relying on pre-made electrolyte drinks for every long run or ride can get expensive fast. Many of the best sports drinks cost a lot per serving, especially if you’re training regularly.
So what if you made your own?
Even mild dehydration—around 2% of body weight—can noticeably hurt performance. As blood volume drops, heart rate rises, and your body becomes less efficient at regulating temperature, delivering oxygen to working muscles, and clearing waste products.
That’s why taking in enough fluids (and the right electrolytes) before and during endurance workouts is so important for keeping your body running smoothly.
We share easy, thirst-quenching homemade electrolyte drink recipes that work for athletes and non-athletes alike, whether you’re fueling a long run, bouncing back after a sweaty workout, or just trying to feel better during a cold or flu.
Best of all, they’re simple to make with mostly all-natural ingredients, and you can keep them gluten-free with zero artificial flavors or preservatives.
What Are Electrolytes?
Electrolytes are essential minerals that carry an electrical charge. Your body relies on them to regulate fluid balance, support key chemical reactions, and keep your muscles and nervous system working properly.
The main electrolytes include sodium, potassium, chloride, magnesium, calcium, phosphate, and bicarbonate.
You lose electrolytes any time you lose fluids, most notably through sweat. That’s why electrolyte needs increase during exercise, especially in hot or humid conditions, or anytime you’re sweating heavily.
If electrolyte losses aren’t replaced, you can end up with an imbalance that may cause symptoms like muscle weakness or cramping, headaches, nausea, confusion, irregular heartbeat, and changes in blood pressure.1Weishaupt, J. (2021, November 5). What Is an Electrolyte Imbalance? WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/what-is-electrolyte-imbalance
That’s where electrolyte drinks come in: they can be a simple, effective way to support rehydration and help prevent electrolyte imbalance—especially during long workouts, hot-weather training, or heavy sweat sessions.
How To Make A Homemade Electrolyte Drink
At its simplest, you can make a DIY electrolyte drink by adding a small amount of salt to water. Since sodium is the primary electrolyte lost in sweat, salt water can help replace some of what you lose during long runs, hot-weather training, or heavy sweating.
That said, plain salt water isn’t as effective, or as pleasant to drink, as a more complete electrolyte drink, which includes sodium and other electrolytes (and sometimes a small amount of carbohydrate for absorption and energy).
Start with your base.
You can use plain water, but many people like coconut water as a starting point because it naturally contains electrolytes, especially potassium, and tends to taste better than salted tap water.
Add sodium carefully.
You only need a small amount. For context, sports drinks are relatively low in sodium compared to table salt. One common benchmark: Gatorade has about 160 mg of sodium per 12 oz (roughly 430 mg per liter).
A teaspoon of salt contains about 2,300 mg of sodium, so to land in a similar range, you’d add roughly 1/5 to 1/4 teaspoon of salt per liter of homemade electrolyte drink. You can use table salt, sea salt, or Himalayan salt—whatever you prefer.
If you want to be more precise and more closely mimic store-bought sports drinks, consider using individual electrolyte powders (e.g., potassium, magnesium, and calcium).
Sodium is easy to add via salt (sodium chloride), but the other electrolytes are much harder to add accurately without powders or tablets. A simple kitchen scale can also help ensure consistent, repeatable results.
A quick note on baking soda: some people add it for “electrolytes,” but the benefits aren’t well established for casual hydration, and regular use can come with risks—especially in higher doses or over time.2Drinking baking soda: Dangers, benefits, and more. (2021, March 30). Www.medicalnewstoday.com. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/dangers-of-drinking-baking-soda#benefits
Finally, if you’re making electrolyte drinks while fasting (or trying to avoid breaking ketosis), keep the recipe low-calorie by skipping ingredients like sugar or honey.
You can still include water, salt, and calorie-free flavoring (like lemon/lime juice in small amounts, depending on how strict you are), and rely on electrolytes without adding meaningful carbs.
5 Homemade Electrolyte Drink Recipes
#1: Coconut Water Electrolyte Refresher
Coconut water makes an excellent base for homemade electrolyte drinks because it naturally contains key minerals, especially potassium and a small amount of sodium, making it a refreshing option for hydration.
To create an electrolyte-replacement drink, you can use coconut water on its own and simply add a few extra ingredients, or dilute it with plain water depending on your taste preferences and calorie needs.
On average, coconut water provides about 6 grams of sugar per cup (240 mL), along with roughly 252 mg of sodium and 600 mg of potassium.
Because it’s relatively low in sodium compared to most sports drinks, it’s helpful to add an extra pinch of salt per liter (about four cups) if you’re using it undiluted—especially after sweaty workouts.
If your goal is to replicate the carbohydrate concentration of an isotonic sports drink (typically 6–8% carbs), you would need to add around 40 grams of sugar per liter.
However, many runners prefer lower-sugar coconut water-based drinks that simply boost electrolytes, making them ideal for shorter workouts (under an hour) or everyday hydration.
If you want a higher-carb homemade sports drink for longer runs or intense sessions, try a tropical, race-friendly option: mix 3 cups of coconut water, 1 cup of pineapple juice, and ¼ teaspoon of salt for a refreshing piña colada-style electrolyte drink that provides both fluids and electrolytes, plus quick energy.
#2: Sugar-Free Electrolyte Drink Recipe
Creating a sugar-free electrolyte drink recipe is challenging if you want to add some sweetness. This is because sweetness is often needed to offset the high sodium content required to provide the proper amount of sodium to replace that lost in sweat.
You don’t have to make a sweetened electrolyte drink, but it will definitely taste very salty if you don’t.
There are a variety of ways to add noncaloric, sugar-free sweeteners or flavorings to homemade sugar-free electrolyte sports drinks. For unflavored sugar-free sweeteners, you can add stevia or monk fruit sweetener as natural, non-caloric, plain sweeteners.
If you want to sweeten the flavor of your sugar-free electrolyte drink, you can also add Stur water flavoring drops, unsweetened Kool-Aid powder, True Lemon plus a calorie-free sweetener, Water Drops botanical drink tablets, Crystal Light Drink Mix, or sugar-free flavored syrups.
Teas such as black tea, green tea, or herbal tea are alternative noncaloric flavoring options for sugar-free electrolyte drinks.
Teabags do not add sweetness and may make your drink slightly bitter, so you will likely want to offset the flavor with stevia, monk fruit extract, or another artificial sweetener.
Most fruity herbal teas, such as cranberry, apple cinnamon, lemon ginger, blood orange, and wildberry, make delicious flavor enhancers.
Here is a basic recipe for a homemade sugar-free electrolyte-replacement drink:
- 4 cups (32 ounces) plain water
- 1/2 cup lemon juice (you can add a small amount of sugar, or you can omit it if you add a flavoring that offsets the saltiness of your electrolyte drink). Or, skip this step if you’d prefer a drink without citrus.
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- Optional flavoring and/or sweetener to taste as described above
#3: Pickle Juice Electrolyte Booster
It may sound odd, but pickle juice is a surprisingly popular alternative for people who prefer to keep artificial colors and dyes out of their bodies but still want an electrolyte boost during exercise.
In fact, due to its electrolyte and high potassium content, pickle juice is a popular hangover cure in Eastern Europe.3. (2020, December 22). Nine hangover cures from around the world. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel/2020/12/hangover-cures-around-the-world
Drinking pickle juice while running, cycling, or working out isn’t necessarily a taste that everyone will naturally gravitate towards, but many people ultimately find it to be a great solution for hydrating during exercise, especially if they want an unsweetened drink.
To make your own electrolyte drink with pickle juice, drink straight pickle juice for a sugar-free electrolyte drink, or add 1 tablespoon (20 grams) of honey for every cup (230 mL) (or 1.5 teaspoons maple syrup). This will make approximately an 8% solution.
#4: Mint Ginger Green Tea Energy Drink
Although adding herbal tea is a great way to enhance flavor without adding calories, you can create a homemade energy drink using the same principles by adding caffeinated tea bags, such as green or black tea.
Because caffeine is a stimulant, it can increase energy and focus. Numerous studies have suggested that caffeine is an effective ergogenic aid, particularly for endurance exercise, increasing stamina and time to fatigue, and improving overall performance.4An, S. M., Park, J. S., & Kim, S. H. (2014). Effect of energy drink dose on exercise capacity, heart rate recovery and heart rate variability after high-intensity exercise. Journal of Exercise Nutrition and Biochemistry, 18(1), 31–39. https://doi.org/10.5717/jenb.2014.18.1.31
You can make a refreshing ginger-mint green tea energy drink with electrolytes by adding 3 to 4 green tea bags to 3 cups of cold water. Then add 4 slices of fresh lemon, 3 sprigs of fresh mint, 3-4 tablespoons of raw honey (or 2-3 tablespoons of maple syrup), and a 1-inch piece of ginger, and let the mixture steep overnight.
The more teabags you use, the higher the caffeine content.
To turn it into an electrolyte drink by adding 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
This energy drink recipe is surprisingly refreshing and zingy, with a more distinctive flavor profile than most homemade electrolyte drinks.
#5: Banana Peel Electrolyte Water
When you are looking into how to make electrolyte water, most recipes will include coconut water, but if you don’t want to use coconut or you have an allergy, there are a few alternatives.
It may sound odd, but you can make homemade electrolyte water by steeping whole bananas, discarding the banana, and then cooling the resulting tea.
You can also drink the tea hot, but for workouts, you will likely want to chill it in the refrigerator before drinking.
Banana peel and fruit contain essential electrolytes such as magnesium and potassium, along with nutrients including vitamin B6, vitamin C, manganese, and copper.5FoodData Central. (2019). Usda.gov.
Here’s how to make it:
- Rinse 2 bananas, trim off both ends, and add them to a pot of 4-5 cups of boiling water (about 1000 mL).
- Reduce the heat and simmer the bananas for 20 minutes.
- Add cinnamon, lemon or lime juice, and honey if desired.
- Allow the mixture to cool fully. Then remove the bananas. You can add salt to increase the sodium content of your electrolyte water.
Making your own electrolyte drinks can be convenient when you find yourself dehydrated after an illness, and can support your workouts and training without needing to buy expensive store-bought drinks with all sorts of added fillers, artificial flavors, and dyes that you want to keep out of your body.
For more information on electrolytes and hydration, check out our guide:
