How To Freeze Watermelon: The Coolest Summer Treat

You can freeze watermelon in a couple of different, and easy, ways. Watermelon can be frozen in slices, chunks, cubed, or pureed. It works great as a cold snack and has the texture and consistency of a popsicle so you don't even need to thaw it unless you want to. Pureed frozen watermelon is great for making smoothies or flavoring your water.

What else can you use frozen watermelon for and how do you freeze it in the first place? Read on to find out!

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How to freeze watermelon?

Well, even if we, you and I, are the only people who do this we now have a perfect solution for making watermelon last longer. So, you may ask, how do you preserve watermelon?

As you can probably tell from the title above, we freeze it. But, it isn't just as simple as that (but don't worry, it still easy). You just need to be a bit specific with your freezing method. If you don't know what you're doing, you are going to just throw it in the freezer and pull out a mushy mess.

We'll cover our two favorite ways on how to freeze watermelon which should cover any situation you may need watermelon for in the future.

Our two preferred methods to use when freezing watermelon are in chunks or pureed. If you remember our topic on freezing Cantaloupe (or blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, or raspberries), you may remember it is very similar.

What do you need?

You are going to need the following supplies:

• watermelon
• knife or melon baller
• cookie sheet (for freezing whole)
• blender or food processor (for puree)
• ice cube trays (for puree)
• freezer bags
• sharpie or marker

Freezing slices or cubes

Now, when we say you can freeze chunks of watermelon, we really mean pieces that are smaller than wedges. So you can freeze slices, cubes, balls, any shape you like. You just want to keep them small enough that they can freeze through relatively quickly. We prefer cube chunks because they are the easiest.

Need to get all your food preserved easily? Check out the Ultimate Guide To Freezing Food so that you can fill your freezer without in minimal time.

Step One

Decide on your desired shape and cut your watermelon into that shape. You will then want to take out a a cookie sheet and cover it with aluminum foil or parchment paper.

Step Two

Line the pan with all of your cut pieces of watermelon. Keep them in a single layer and put them in the freezer for a few hours.

Step Three

When you go back to check, make sure they are pretty solid, but they don't have to be completely frozen yet. Pull them off of the pan and place them in a large freezer safe ziploc bag.

Step Four

Write the contents and date on the outside of the bag and put them back into the freezer. That's all there is to it!

Watermelon puree

While researching for this method we say a lot of people asking whether you can puree watermelon and freeze it. Truth is, you can. In fact, out of the two techniques we are discussing today, this is our favorite.

Step One

You are going to need to cut your watermelon into smaller pieces. They don't have to be pretty though, just small enough to not gum up the blender or food processor.

Step Two

Place all of the watermelon chunks into the blender and fire it up. Let it run until it is completely pulverized. You do not want any solid pieces left at all.

Step Three

Pull out an ice cube tray and pour the pureed watermelon from the blender into the trays. Once they are all full, put the ice cube tray into the freezer for a few hours or over night.

Step Four

Once enough time has passed, take the tray out of the freezer and simply pop the frozen watermelon puree cubes out. Put them in a labeled (content and date) ziplock freezer bag and stick them back in the freezer.

What to do with frozen watermelon

So, watermelon is not featured in a wide variety of recipes. hat's probably because it is so good on its own. What we like to do with our frozen watermelon is treat it as a healthy snack. Grab a handful of these on the way to the couch to watch TV and you can avoid the handful of chips or candy.

You can also use the chunks instead of ice cubes in your drink. They will give a glass of water a fruit juice infused flavor without spending grocery store prices on "fruit-infused" drinks that cost a fortune and are packed with sugar and preservatives.

But our favorite is using watermelon pureed ice cubes and using them to make smoothies. The consistency of pureed watermelon is already like a smoothie and it blends so seamlessly with a wide variety of other smoothie fruits, veggies, and even some protein powders.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are a few common questions about freezing watermelon.

Is it OK to put watermelon in the fridge? How long is watermelon good in fridge? Can you chill a watermelon in the freezer?

It is okay to put watermelon in the fridge. The fridge is a great place to protect your watermelon from pests and/or to avoid ending up with ants or some other creepy crawlies on your counter. However, be warned, low temperatures actually cause melons to go bad faster; usually within 3 to 4 days!

That is for cut watermelon; chunks, slices, wedges, you get the idea. An uncut watermelon will last, at the absolute maximum, for maybe 3 weeks. Buuuuuut, uncut melons can harbour bacteria inside which is no bueno.

Now, watermelon put in the freezer, whether chunks, slices, or puree, will last up to a year (8-12 months) and runs a much, much, MUUUCH, lower risk of any nasty bacterias growing on it.

If you are planning on eating it very soon and you just want to get it cold before hand, you can chill a watermelon in the fridge or freezer with no risk of it rotting or making you sick (unless you eat the entire watermelon yourself…which is probably not a bacterial sickness…nevermind).

Of course, if you are unsure about anything food related, you can always follow FDA.org guidelines to be safe.

How do you defrost frozen watermelon?

You can usually just eat the watermelon straight from the freezer; especially if it's pureed. Watermelon is so easy to break apart already that, even when frozen, it is not very difficult to chew. But, if you want to thaw it first anyway, stick it in the fridge over night or run it under some cool water for a minute or so.