Watermelon sorbet is the perfect treat to cool off on a hot summer day! Made with just a few simple ingredients, you can’t beat the taste of fresh watermelon!
My dad grew up in Green River, Utah. Otherwise known as the “Watermelon Capitol of the World.” At least according to him.
He would always get irritated if my mom brought home a non-Green River watermelon. (Which was highly likely, since we lived in Seattle).
Many techniques have been developed for picking out the best-tasting watermelons.
You can knock on it and see if it has a hollow sound.
You can look for a big yellow spot on the underside.
You can look for “bee stings” on the skin.
But for my Dad, none of that was necessary.
“When I was a kid, you didn’t have to knock, kick, or punch a watermelon to see if it was good. You just went out into the field and picked one. EVERY one was good.”
And I kind of think he might have been right.
So in honor of the melon harvest in my father’s home town of Green River, Utah, (held every September and celebrated with “Melon Days”) I bring you this Watermelon Sorbet Recipe. Made with a Green River watermelon, of course.
(We recently went on a trip to Utah and stopped by a roadside stand in Green River to get a watermelon. My daughter picked out a HUGE one! It must have weighed 30 pounds! And yes–it was delicious).
Ingredients for Watermelon Sorbet
- fresh watermelon
- granulated sugar
- kosher sea salt
- lime juice
How to Make Watermelon Sorbet
First, cut your watermelon into chunks and remove any seeds. You’ll need about six cups of chunks.
Add the chunks to your blender.
Blend until nice and smooth. You’ll need 3 cups of juice (not including froth). If you have more than three cups, pour the extra in a cup and drink it!
Now you’ll pour 1/2 cup of the juice into a small saucepan and add 1/2 cup of sugar.
You’re going to heat the juice and sugar over low heat for just a couple minutes until the sugar dissolves. You don’t need to heat it up so that it’s really hot.
Oh–add a pinch of kosher salt here as well. Why salt? It helps bring out the flavor of the watermelon. (Lots of people add salt to their watermelon when they eat it).
Once the sugar has dissolved, pour the mixture from the pan back into the rest of the watermelon juice and put it in the refrigerator for at least an hour to chill. (I just poured it back into the blender with the rest of the juice and stuck it in the fridge).
After the juice has chilled, pour it into your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s directions.
I found that mine froze up and stopped flowing through the dasher (the part that aerates the ice cream in the ice cream maker) earlier than expected. It still looked a little watery to me, so I stuck a small spatula through the lid of the ice cream maker and pushed the watermelon mixture through the dasher so it would keep churning.
Once the mixture no longer looks watery, you can transfer it to an airtight container and freeze it. In these pictures, I’ve put the sorbet into glasses directly from the ice cream maker, which is why it looks slushy.
Once frozen, it will be much harder. You will probably want to let it thaw for ten minutes or so before trying to scoop it!
But whether you eat it soft-serve, or hard as a rock, it will be delicious!
Adapted from Watermelon Sorbetto from The Perfect Scoop by David Leibovitz. (Affiliate link).
Watermelon Sorbet
Watermelon sorbet using fresh, sweet watermelon! Perfect way to beat the heat during summer!
Ingredients
- 6 cups fresh watermelon chunks, de-seeded
- 1/2 cup sugar
- pinch of kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
Instructions
- Puree the watermelon chunks in a blender. You want three cups of puree. (Measure just the juice--not the foam).
- Pour 1/2 cup of the puree into a small saucepan. Add 1/2 cup of sugar and pinch of kosher salt.
- Place pan on the stove over low heat. Stir occasionally until the sugar has melted. Remove from the heat. (This does not need to get very hot).
- Pour the sugar/salt/watermelon puree mixture back into the rest of the watermelon puree. Refrigerate for at least one hour.
- When ready to churn, add to your ice cream machine and follow the manufacturer's instructions. (If the mixture stops moving through the machine, use a small spoon or spatula through the hole in the lid of your ice cream maker to help push the mixture through and keep it moving).
- When soft-serve consistency and no longer watery, transfer to an airtight container and freeze for four hours or overnight. Alternately, you can eat this right away, but it will have a more slushy consistency.
- When ready to serve after freezing, allow to sit out on the counter for at least ten minutes to make scooping easier. Alternately, you can scrape the top of the sorbet with a fork, effectively creating a granita rather than a sorbet.
Notes
For fun, you can add mini shococlate chips to the sorbet during the last couple minutes of churning. This will make it look like your watermelon sorbet has seeds!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 83Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 11mgCarbohydrates: 21gFiber: 0gSugar: 20gProtein: 1g
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Claire Glassford says
This sorbet looks really refreshing and delicious! I love that it’s made with watermelon because that’s one of my favorite fruits. I’m definitely going to have to try making this myself.