There’s not much better than a sweet ripe watermelon on a hot summer day. And it’s that time of the year where watermelon is great! But no matter how big or small of a watermelon we get, my family somehow can’t eat it all. So we started making this yummy watermelon slushie as a way to use up all of that extra watermelon before it goes bad. And now it’s out favorite watermelon drink! It’s super simple to make with just three ingredients, a great way to use fresh watermelon, and delicious. We have this regularly as an after dinner treat, serve it at backyard bbqs (it’s kid-friendly!), and just enjoy it any time on a hot day!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Simple ingredients – with just three ingredients that are easy to find in the grocery store, this icy treat is both easy to make and affordable! Healthy snack – there’s just a small amount of added sugar in this recipe, which makes this a good alternative to something like ice cream or sherbet if you have a sweet tooth. It’s sweetened mostly with the natural sugar of the watermelon instead! The amount of sugar per slushie is less than 1/2 TBS each. Easy – all you need to make this recipe is a high powdered blender, ice cube trays, and a glass to pour the watermelon slush into! And if you don’t have a powerful blender, a food processor can work too.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
Watermelon – I recommend using a seedless watermelon to make this as easy as possible but if you do have a watermelon with seeds, make sure to the step by step instructions below carefully so you don’t end up with seeds in the slushie! Also, make sure to get a good watermelon that’s sweet and ripe! Lime juice – you can use either fresh lime juice or bottled lime juice. If you do use bottled, I recommend a high-quality lime juice compared to the cheap concentrated stuff. Lemonade – you can use any store-bought lemonade you want, just make sure that it’s something that’s actual lemon juice like Simply Lemonade compared to a lemonade like Country Time that’s just a lemonade flavored mix with combined with water, not actual juice.
How to make a watermelon slushie
These homemade slushies super easy to make but it is a little bit of a process because you have to freeze the watermelon ice cubes. One of my favorite things to do is to make the ice cubes and then just have them on hand to make an individual serving of the slushie on any hot day that I’m craving a good frozen treat!
1 – Make the Watermelon Juice
The first part of this is going to be making the watermelon juice itself. Combine the watermelon pieces, lime juice, sugar, and lemonade in a blender. The amount of each ingredient you use will be dependent on how sweet your watermelon is. You want a combination of 2 TBS of liquid per 4 cups of watermelon and then sugar to add some sweetness. See recommendations below:
If the watermelon is average (not super sweet and not unsweet) – use 1 TBS lime juice, 1TBS lemonade, and 2 TBS sugar. If the watermelon is on the sweet side – use 1 ½ TBS lime juice, ½ TBS lemonade, and 1 TBS sugar.If the watermelon is not very sweet, use ½ TBS lime juice, 1 ½ TBS lemonade, and 2 TBS sugar.
Blend until smooth. If you don’t have a blender, a food processor could work as well. Pour the watermelon juice into ice cube trays (I like these silicone ones to make it easier to pop the cubes out) and then freeze for at least six hours, ideally overnight. Once the ice cubes are frozen, you can pop them out of the ice cube tray and keep them for up to six months in a freezer bag or airtight container so you can make this anytime of year. We typically have freezer bags full of frozen watermelon cubes all year long!
2 – Make the Slushie
To make the fresh watermelon slushie, place four of the frozen watermelon ice cubes into a glass and add a splash of lemonade. Allow the cubes and lemonade to slaw slightly, just for a few minutes until it becomes slushy. Stir the lemonade into the slush. Garnish with lime wedges and a straw and serve immediately as the perfect summer treat!
Expert Tips
Store the frozen watermelon ice cubes in a freezer bag for up to six months. When you want to make a watermelon slushie, simply grab four of the ice cubes, add some lemonade, and enjoy! Prep this ahead of time by making the watermelon drink mixture and freezing the ice cubes overnight. Then to serve this for a party, just add the ice cubes to glasses with some lemonade a few minutes before serving. It’ll only take a few minutes to go from cubes to slushie and be the perfect summer drink! Error on the side of the watermelon being average (per the notes above) and use 1 TBS lime juice, 1 TBS lemonade, and 2 TBS sugar if you can’t decide whether your watermelon is sweet or not.
More Easy Summer Drinks
If you like this watermelon slush recipe, make sure to try out these other delicious drink recipes next!
Virgin pina colada recipe – the best non-alcoholic tropical drink recipe ever! Creamy lemonade – a creamy take on a classic favorite, this one was TikTok viral for a reason! Shark punch – these creamy shark floats are a kid-favorite that taste good enough for adults! Strawberry lemonade recipe – this homemade lemonade gets upgraded with simple syrup and strawberry puree!Frozen hot chocolate recipe – a creamy and icy version of a holiday classic, perfect for summer!
