Naturally vibrant and incredibly refreshing, this Summertime Watermelon Sorbet is perfect for cooling off after dinner, serving at a backyard gathering, or sneaking straight from the freezer when no one’s looking. With just a handful of ingredients, this sorbet lets summer’s juiciest fruit truly shine.
When I was a kid, I really didn’t like watermelon. I have no idea why, because it’s the most refreshing fruit, so light and delicious in the heat of the summer. Now I just love it! Maybe it was the seeds. Back in the day, it seemed that every watermelon had big black seeds, and you had to spend a lot of time spitting them out. For annual summer company picnics, watermelon seed spitting contests were a big deal. In fact, I just read that the record for this curious activity is 75 feet 2 inches! If you want to read more about how to be a successful watermelon seed spitter, see the link below for the Texas Monthly June 2009 article “How to Spit Watermelon Seeds”, by Andrea Valdez. There seems to be some technique involved! Nowadays, most watermelons are “seedless” which means they only have those little white seeds.
The other day, I was perusing ideas for using watermelon in recipes and discovered two that really intrigued me — watermelon sorbet and watermelon gazpacho. Sorbet and gazpacho are two of my favorite summer cravings, so this sounded great to me!
Cool, crisp, and bursting with summer sweetness, this watermelon sorbet is the ultimate warm-weather treat. Made with fresh puréed watermelon, a touch of lime juice, and just enough agave to let the fruit really shine, it’s incredibly refreshing and naturally vibrant in color. The rich pink color is gorgeous! Each spoonful melts on your tongue like a frosty slice of watermelon — light, juicy and thirst-quenching. It’s the perfect dessert for backyard barbecues, poolside lounging, or anytime you need a cool-down in a bowl.
If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can simply freeze the mixture in a shallow dish. You will want to stir it every so often. Then follow the same process of letting it sit at room temp for a few minutes before trying to scoop it.
Summertime Watermelon Sorbet
Equipment
- 1 Ice cream maker
Ingredients
- 8 cups seedless watermelon, cubed into bite-size pieces
- 1/2 cup light agave syrup
- 3 tbsp. fresh-squeezed lime juice
Instructions
- DIRECTIONS Prepare your ice cream maker by freezing the bowl, or if you have an instant ice cream maker, just have it clean, dry and ready on the counter.
- Cut the watermelon into bite-sized pieces. Measure out about 8 cups of these pieces. Place the watermelon into a food processor or blender, and puree until smooth.
- Strain watermelon puree through a fine sieve to remove any pulp or seeds. I like to push the puree through the sieve with a spatula and then scrape the bottom of the sieve to collect any that sticks to the bottom of the sieve. At this point, you will have 5 cups of an absolutely delicious watermelon juice. (If you want to make more than 5 cups worth, you can drink it plain over ice, or use it in a fun, fancy summer cocktail with gin and lime juice and maybe a little bit of Aperol.)
- Blend the 5 cups of watermelon juice with the lime juice and agave syrup. Refrigerate for about 2 hours or overnight.
- Pour this mixture into the bowl of your ice cream maker and churn until firm. Place in the freezer in an airtight container and freeze until solid. When ready to serve, allow it to sit out for about 5-10 minutes before scooping. Serve with a sprig of mint or a wedge of lime.
