Nothing says summer like a bite of watermelon. Not only is watermelon delicious when freshly cut, but it also is an excellent addition to various recipes, including smoothies, sorbet, and more! But what if you donāt want to use the entire watermelon?
Can You Freeze Watermelon?
Yes, you can freeze watermelon for up to 12 months. You can freeze it in cubes, wedges, chunks or balls. You can also freeze watermelon juice.
Do Does Watermelon freeze well? Sometimes
Can you refreeze Watermelon? No
How To Freeze Watermelon
Preparing watermelon chunks for the freezer is an easy process and will take no time at all. These chunks are perfect for when you need just a few pieces at a time for your favourite drinks.
1) Pick a Ripe Watermelon: Ensure you have a fresh, ripe watermelon that sounds hollow when gently knocked on and doesn’t have any browning. You only want to freeze the best watermelon as it won’t improve or ripen in the freezer.
2) Cut Watermelon Up: Cut the watermelon into bite-sized pieces – you can scoop out balls or cut them into chunks. Just think about how you would normally prepare a watermelon.
3) Place Onto a Baking Tray: Place some parchment or baking paper on a baking sheet – this prevents your watermelon from sticking to the sheet. Place each bite-sized piece of watermelon on the pan, so they are not touching.
4) Freeze Watermelon Chunks: If you are freezing lemons whole then Place the tray into the freezer and freeze for a few hours or until the watermelon is firm.
5) Bag Chunks Up: Once the chunks have frozen solid, remove the tray and tip the chunks into freezer bags. Seal the bags up and try to remove as much air from them as possible.
6) Final Freeze: Label the bag with the contents and the date then return the bag to the freezer. You will now be able to grab a handful of watermelon chunks whenever you fancy some.
This is the basic way to freeze watermelon. But don’t limit yourself to cubes. You can cut them into any size, and the method above is the same.
Yes, watermelon can be cut into many shapes and sizes and frozen. The best size is how you usually use watermelon. If you often cut it into chunks then freeze it in chunks.
How to Freeze Watermelon Juice
Watermelon juice can also be frozen. First, you need to consider what size portion you would need at a time. If you only want to add a small cube or two to a smoothie or cocktail, consider freezing it in an ice cube tray.
If you prefer to drink a full glass of watermelon juice, then find a suitably sized Tupperware container.
All that’s left to do is pour the juice into the relevant container and let it freeze.
3 Tips for Freezing Watermelon
Now you know how to freeze it, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing watermelon to have the best results:
Pick Ripe Watermelon
If you try to freeze over-ripened watermelon, you won’t improve it. You’ll find the texture degrades rapidly, leaving you with a dry, flavourless watermelon sitting in the freezer.
Leave Room for Expansion
When freezing anything with liquid (such as watermelon juice), you’ll need to leave some room for it to expand. Liquids expand when frozen.
Freeze in Syrup
Admittedly, this is not healthy. However, it’s a great topping for ice cream. Cut your cubes up, then mix in a bowl with sugar, sugar syrup or even sweetened fruit juice and then freeze as above. It’ll retain more texture and will be super sweet.
How Long Can You Freeze Watermelon?
The best part about freezing watermelon is that it can last a whopping 8 to 12 months. This is perfect for enjoying watermelon during the colder months of the year and lasts until the watermelon season returns.
Uncut, whole watermelon will last for between 2 and 3 weeks in the fridge. This time drastically decreases once it has been cut. It will only last for 3 days or so.
How Do You Defrost Watermelon?
Watermelon is one of those juicy fruits that donāt need to be fully defrosted before consumption.
This is especially true if you have frozen your watermelon bites along with sugar, syrup, or a favourite juice that you intend to use for making ice creams or other cold drinks.
For both freezing methods, you can defrost your watermelon in the refrigerator until they are soft.
Can You Refreeze Watermelon?
When you freeze anything, you draw some moisture out. The moisture in watermelon is full of flavour. Refreezing watermelon will draw more of the moisture out and, with that, more of the flavour.
This is why we would recommend not refreezing watermelon.
Does Watermelon Freeze Well?
Watermelon is perhaps one of the easiest fruits to freeze. Unfortunately, once defrosted, the texture of the watermelon becomes softer, and it loses some of its flavours.
They are still able to be eaten once defrosted. However, we recommend using your frozen watermelon as a liquid ingredient in your favourite recipes.
Related FAQs
If you’ve still got questions about freezing watermelon or watermelon in general, then these may help:
Unfortunately, although watermelon will retain its flavour when frozen, it will lose some texture which is why we would advise against freezing watermelon slices for eating.
We would use an ice cube tray for this. Make your puree, then pour it into the slots of an ice cube tray. Freeze the cubes. Once solid, you can pop the cubes out and store them in a freezer bag, so they don’t take up as much room.
