Nothing beats a fresh, juicy watermelon on a hot summer day. But if you’ve had a bumper crop in your garden, you might find yourself with more red fruit than you can eat at once. The good news? You can totally freeze watermelon to enjoy later! Just keep in mind that frozen melon works a little differently than fresh.
Harvesting at Peak Ripeness
The secret to great watermelon is picking it at the perfect moment. However, once they’re off the vine, watermelons don’t have a very long shelf life. They can start to ferment or spoil relatively quickly, and once you cut into one, you’ve really only got a day or two to eat it before it loses its luster in the fridge.
Freezing is a fantastic way to save your harvest for sweet treats down the road. Just make sure your melons are fully ripe before they hit the freezer—this ensures they keep that intense, sugary aroma even after they’ve been chilled.
How to Freeze the Fruit
When you’re prepping for the freezer, you only want that gorgeous, juicy red flesh. Start by slicing the melon open, scooping out the seeds, and trimming away the green rind.
I recommend cutting the fruit into cubes or strips so they pack into freezer bags easily without taking up too much space. Another pro-tip: try pureeing the fruit first! If you pour watermelon puree into ice cube trays, you’ll have flavorful melon cubes ready to pop into a summer punch or a glass of sparkling water.
Since fully ripe watermelons are naturally sweet, they make an incredible sorbet base. You can freeze the puree as-is without adding any extra sugar, making it a healthy, cooling snack that kids absolutely love during the summer heat.
Using Your Frozen Watermelon
Here’s the thing to remember: watermelons are over 90% water. Because of that high water content, the texture changes once they thaw—they become pretty soft and mushy. Even though we usually treat it like a fruit, watermelon actually belongs to the vegetable family, and it’s quite versatile in the kitchen.
If you take those frozen chunks and blend them while they’re still icy, you’ve got an instant sorbet. If you aren’t sure what you want to make yet, freezing them in cubes or strips is your best bet because it keeps your options open. Later on, you can turn those frozen pieces into homemade jam or delicious fruit sauces.
Just a heads-up: you won’t want to eat thawed watermelon slices straight-up like you would fresh ones. The texture just isn’t the same, so it’s definitely best used in recipes where it can be blended or cooked!