Watermelon season is short, a good melon is enormous, and by day three you are staring at half of it in the fridge wondering what else it can possibly do. My daughter’s favorite food on this earth is watermelon, so our house goes through a lot of it, and that is exactly how this list of watermelon recipes happened. There are 25 ideas here plus two of our own, and they go well past a bowl of cubes: chilled soups and gazpacho, feta and goat cheese salads, watermelon you actually put on the grill, popsicles and sorbet, a brunch benedict with watermelon standing in for the English muffin, and a watermelon cake held together with whipped topping. Perfect for a cookout, a pool party, a potluck, a hot weeknight dinner or that half melon you need to use by Thursday!
1. Watermelon Poke Bowls
A poke bowl with no fish in it at all, because cubed watermelon has the exact cool, dense bite raw tuna brings. Six cups of watermelon go in with scallions, thin cucumber, avocado, pickled ginger, peanuts and sprouts, then the dressing does the heavy lifting: soy or tamari, rice vinegar, peanut and sesame oil, minced ginger, lime and a teaspoon of sriracha. Twenty minutes, four bowls, no stove. If you are feeding somebody who says they do not like watermelon, this is the one that changes their mind.
Get the full tutorial at PureWow.
2. Chilled Watermelon Soup With Coconut Cream
Six things go in the blender and nothing goes on the stove: three cups of watermelon, a quarter cup of coconut cream, fifteen mint leaves, half a cup of ice cubes and three tablespoons of water, finished with a drizzle of lime infused olive oil. It comes out somewhere between a slush and a silky cold soup, and it happens to be gluten free, dairy free and vegan without trying. The ice is doing real work here, so blend and serve rather than blending and parking it in the fridge.
Get the full tutorial at Fearless Dining.
3. Watermelon Canapés
Four ingredients, and one of them is a garnish. Cut watermelon into neat cubes, run a vegetable peeler down a Persian cucumber to get long ribbons, wrap a ribbon around each cube, then tuck in a mint sprig and crown it with a blueberry. That is the whole recipe. They look like something a caterer charged for and they take one glass of wine to assemble, which is the correct ratio for a party appetizer. Use a firm melon, since a soft one will not hold its corners.
Get the full tutorial at Preppy Kitchen.
4. Watermelon Feta Blueberry Salad
Half a seedless watermelon, cubed, which is eight to ten cups, then a cup of blueberries, a quarter cup of crumbled feta and two tablespoons of chopped mint. Combine, toss with the juice of two limes and serve immediately. That last word is the instruction people skip and then wonder why their salad is soup an hour later. If you need to get ahead, cube the melon and chop the mint in the morning and keep them in separate containers, then dress it at the table.
Get the full tutorial at Running in a Skirt.
5. Grilled Watermelon-Feta Skewers
About forty one inch watermelon cubes and twenty cubes of feta, threaded onto skewers and taken out to the grill before anything else happens. The char is the point: it firms the melon up and gives the sweetness somewhere to hide. They come off the heat onto arugula with olive oil, three tablespoons of balsamic and a good handful of chopped basil. Plan on thirty five minutes start to finish and soak wooden skewers first, or you will be picking scorched splinters off the grate.
Get the full tutorial at PureWow.
6. Easy Watermelon Cake
A cake with no baking in it whatsoever. You trim the top and sides off a watermelon until you have a clean round, pat it bone dry with paper towels, then frost the whole thing with whipped topping exactly as you would a layer cake. Blueberries ring the base, sliced strawberries go around the top and a whole one lands in the middle. The drying step is the part people rush and then wonder why the frosting slides off. Serve it cold and cut it with a long knife.
Get the full tutorial at DIY Joy.
7. 3-Ingredient Watermelon Sorbet
Watermelon, half a lemon and two teaspoons of honey. That is the list, and there is no ice cream machine involved. Because there is no dairy in it you taste the actual fruit instead of cream, which is why sorbet beats ice cream on a genuinely hot day. Cut the melon into cubes and leave out the pale flesh near the rind, since that part is bland and will dull the color. Swap in sugar if there is no honey in the cupboard. A good use for a melon that came home a little too ripe.
Get the full tutorial at DIY Joy.
8. Watermelon Fruit Leather
Homemade fruit roll ups, in watermelon. Pureed melon goes onto a lined sheet in a thin even layer and dries low and slow until it peels away in one piece, then gets cut into strips and rolled. The photo tells you the texture is right: the rolls hold their spiral and the strip lies flat instead of cracking. These are the lunchbox snack that costs almost nothing and uses up the melon nobody finished. Spread it thinner at the edges than you think, because edges always dry first.
Get the full tutorial at Domestically Blissful.
9. Honey Drizzled Watermelon and Yogurt Parfait
Icy cold watermelon spooned over thick Greek yogurt with honey running through it, and that is breakfast. The idea came from cold breakfast buffets in Israel, where the summer heat means yogurt, fresh fruit and raw vegetables instead of eggs and potatoes, and it makes a great deal of sense in July here too. Build it in a small jar so it travels. Chill the melon hard first, because the whole appeal is the contrast between the cold fruit and the room temperature yogurt.
Get the full tutorial at Hungry Couple.
10. Cilantro Lime Grilled Watermelon
Two two inch slices of watermelon, quartered into eight pieces, brushed both sides with two tablespoons of olive oil and some of the juice from two limes, then salted with about half a teaspoon total. Onto a hot gas grill for three to five minutes a side until the grill marks set. The part worth copying: hold back at least half the lime juice and add it after, along with half a cup of chopped cilantro. Acid added off the heat tastes bright, acid cooked on the grill tastes flat.
Get the full tutorial at The Stay At Home Chef.
11. Tomato Watermelon Gazpacho with Pistachios and Basil Oil
A pound and a half of ripe tomatoes, peeled and cored, four cups of cubed watermelon, half a small cucumber, a garlic clove, red wine vinegar, lime juice and red pepper flakes, all blended smooth and chilled for at least an hour. That hour is not optional, it is where the flavors stop being separate ingredients. It goes to the table with toasted pistachios, basil infused oil and a few extra melon cubes dropped in. August cooking at its best, because the stove stays off entirely.
Get the full tutorial at Love and Olive Oil.
12. 3-Ingredient Watermelon Raspberry Popsicles
Three and a half cups of cubed watermelon, a cup and a quarter of raspberries fresh or frozen, and two teaspoons of lemon juice, blended completely smooth and poured into molds. Four hours in the freezer until solid. The tip that saves a batch: if you are using bare sticks rather than a lidded mold, wait until the pops are partly frozen before you push them in, or they will lean over and set crooked. Sweetener is optional and honestly depends on how good your melon is.
Get the full tutorial at Life Made Sweeter.
13. Basil Watermelon and Goat Cheese Salad
Three ingredients: a medium watermelon diced into one inch pieces, a cup of crumbled goat cheese and ten to fifteen basil leaves cut into ribbons. Stir gently, chill ten minutes, serve. Worth the click on its own is the ripeness test on the source page, the one about the pale patch where the melon sat on the ground. White means put it back, yellow means take it home, and the darker the yellow the longer it sat in the sun. That single trick will improve every other recipe on this list.
Get the full tutorial at Aberdeen's Kitchen.
14. Easy Watermelon Gazpacho
Seven cups of watermelon, a pint of cherry tomatoes, an English cucumber, half a red onion, the juice of two limes, two tablespoons of olive oil, a third of a cup of basil leaves and half a teaspoon of sea salt. Set aside a quarter of the melon, cucumber, onion and tomatoes for the topping and blend everything else on high. Chopping the reserved vegetables small is what keeps it from looking like a smoothie in a bowl, and it gives every spoonful something to bite on.
Get the full tutorial at Bites of Wellness.
15. Grilled Halibut Tacos with Watermelon Salsa
Halibut is a firm, mild white fish, which is exactly why it survives a grill grate and does not fight the salsa. The watermelon salsa is where the recipe earns its place: diced melon in place of tomato, so you get sweetness and crunch against charred fish and a warm tortilla instead of the usual acid on acid. This one comes from an allergen free kitchen, so the recipe is already built to be worked around if somebody at your table has a list.
Get the full tutorial at Heather Christo.
16. Watermelon Feta Blackberry Skewers
One small seedless watermelon cut into one inch cubes, six ounces of feta cut to match, firm ripe blackberries and short wooden skewers. Thread, plate, refrigerate until you serve. The word doing the work in that ingredient list is firm: a soft blackberry collapses the second a skewer goes through it and you will be standing over the sink annoyed. Red, white and blue without a drop of food coloring, which makes these an easy call for the Fourth of July.
Get the full tutorial at A Healthy Life For Me.
17. 3-Layer Watermelon Gelatin Cubes
Three separate layers set one on top of the other: fresh watermelon juice with castor sugar and lemon juice, then a Greek yogurt and vanilla layer, then condensed milk. Each one needs its gelatin bloomed in cold water for ten minutes and melted over a hot water bath before it joins the pan. They take time, no way around it, but the result looks like a slice of watermelon in cube form and gets picked up by everyone who walks past the tray. Chill each layer until set before you pour the next.
Get the full tutorial at Baking Ginger.
18. Grilled Shrimp and Watermelon Chopped Salad
Eight cups of chopped romaine, four cups of diced watermelon, about twenty four large grilled shrimp and four ounces of soft goat cheese, dressed with a golden balsamic vinaigrette built on shallots and olive oil. Golden balsamic is the quiet choice that matters, because dark balsamic would stain the melon muddy brown. Soak wooden skewers for at least thirty minutes before the shrimp go near the grill. A full dinner salad rather than a side, and it holds up under a real appetite.
Get the full tutorial at Skinnytaste.
19. Watermelon Chia Seed Muffins
Straight from the Watermelon Board, which is about as close to the source as a watermelon recipe gets. Three quarters of a cup of liquefied watermelon juice goes into the batter with three quarters of a cup of chia seeds, Greek yogurt, lemon zest and dried tart cherries, baked at 375 degrees for a pan of twelve. They are built as a make ahead breakfast, so bake on Sunday and you have the week handled. The cherries are what keep it from tasting worthy instead of good.
Get the full tutorial at Watermelon Board.
20. Watermelon Bruschetta
Two and a half cups of chopped watermelon on toasted baguette with whipped feta underneath, basil and chives over the top and a balsamic drizzle to finish. The drizzle is homemade: a cup of balsamic simmered with two tablespoons of honey for fifteen to twenty minutes until it reduces by half and thickens. It will look too thin in the pan and set up as it cools, so pull it on time rather than on looks. Whipping the feta with a little ricotta is what makes it spreadable.
Get the full tutorial at Host The Toast.
21. Honey Grilled Watermelon Caprese Salad
Two big round slices of watermelon cut into four triangles each, brushed with olive oil, seasoned all over with salt and pepper, drizzled with honey and grilled about two minutes a side. Then it is built like a caprese: quartered grape tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, a pile of basil and balsamic glaze. The honey is not sweetness for its own sake, it is sugar that caramelizes on contact and gives you those dark grill marks in half the time bare melon would take.
Get the full tutorial at How Sweet Eats.
22. Watermelon Feta Orzo Salad with Lemon and Basil
A cup and a half of dry orzo, five cups of watermelon cubed to between half and three quarters of an inch, six ounces of crumbled feta and a quarter cup of chopped basil, with a dressing of lemon zest and juice, olive oil and two teaspoons of honey. The method has two instructions people ignore and should not: do not rinse the drained pasta, and toss half the dressing through it while it is still warm so the orzo drinks it in. Cool it, then add the melon.
Get the full tutorial at Cooking Classy.
23. Mexican Watermelon Salad
Two cups of watermelon in half inch cubes over five ounces of arugula, with crumbled queso fresco, thin red onion, cilantro and half a cup of pepitas toasted in a teaspoon of oil with a pinch of salt. The dressing is white wine vinegar, lime juice, olive oil and a teaspoon of honey. Toast the pepitas first and let them cool completely before they go anywhere near the greens, because warm seeds wilt arugula on contact and the crunch is the entire reason they are here.
Get the full tutorial at Our Happy Mess.
24. Watermelon Benedict
Four circles of seedless watermelon, three inches across and three quarters of an inch thick, standing in for the English muffin. On top goes a cup and a half of granola stirred through with a third of a cup of honey, then a slice of peeled kiwi and a spoonful of yogurt, with grapes, sliced plums and mint if you are feeling it. Drizzle the honey over the granola as you stir rather than dumping it in, which is how you get every cluster coated instead of one sticky lump.
Get the full tutorial at Watermelon Board.
25. Watermelon Pizza
Slice the watermelon into three quarter inch rounds, spread each one with two tablespoons of thick Greek yogurt, then cover with strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, kiwi and orange, add coconut flakes and finish with a drizzle of honey. Serve immediately, which is the recipe’s own instruction and a sensible one, since yogurt on a wet melon will slide within the hour. Kids will build their own if you put the toppings in bowls, and it is the rare party food nobody has to feel funny about.
Get the full tutorial at A Side of Sweet.
26. Watermelon Steak
Thick slabs of watermelon, seared and glazed until the surface goes dark and the edges tighten, served and sliced exactly like a steak. The source pairs it with seared ahi tuna, which tells you what it is really for: the sweet, almost savory counterweight on a plate of fish. Cut the slabs generously thick, because thin ones give up all their water and collapse. It is the recipe on this list most likely to make somebody at the table ask what they are eating.
Get the full tutorial at The Ravenous Couple.
27. Watermelon Jam
Watermelon is mostly water, which is why almost nobody makes jam out of it and why this one is worth a look. It cooks down a long way before it sets, and what you end up with is a jar of clear bright pink that tastes like the middle of August in February. It is the best answer on this list to the question of what to do with a melon that is bigger than your family. Make it while they are cheap and in season, and label the jars, because it does not look like anything else in the cupboard.
Get the full tutorial at Blondie's Cakes.
