My homemade watermelon ice cream recipe tastes like sweet summer watermelon with a dreamy creamy texture! Let me show you how to make this no-churn treat without an ice cream maker with just four simple ingredients.
And if you enjoy this recipe, you'll love my no-churn hibiscus ice cream, too!
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❤️ Why You'll Love this Recipe
Easy to Make - You only need four ingredients and a quick 15 minutes of active prep time to make this homemade watermelon ice cream recipe--no eggs, no ice cream maker, and no churning.
True Watermelon Flavor - You really have to try it to believe just how much sweet watermelon flavor comes through. And the watermelon juice-to-cream ratio is just right so that the texture comes out smooth and satisfying rather than icy. It's kind of mind-blowing that this combination works, but trust me, it does!
👉🏾 Make ice cream at home all summer long with seasonal fruity flavors like key lime pie ice cream, pineapple coconut nice cream, no-churn strawberry ice cream, and peach cobbler ice cream, too!
What You'll Need for this Recipe
Fresh Watermelon of any variety will do. Seeded or seedless. Pink, orange, or yellow. Use whatever is available to you; just make sure you follow my advice for picking a good watermelon!
Salt to help balance out the flavor profile. Don't worry, it won't taste like salted watermelon. It just prevents an overload of sweetness that you'd get tired of after a couple of spoonfuls. I recommend using fine sea salt.
Check out the recipe card below for full ingredients list, measurements, nutrition facts, and step-by-step instructions!
Substitutions & Variations
Vegan - Want a plant-based version? Use sweetened condensed coconut milk and coconut cream in place of the dairy products in this recipe, and you'll have a dairy-free frozen treat. Just note there will be a coconutty flavor in addition to the watermelon.
Other Fruit Flavors - You can substitute half the watermelon in this recipe with other melons like cantaloupe or honeydew. Or other fruits like strawberries, bananas, mango, pineapple, etc.
How to Make Watermelon Ice Cream at Home
- Step 1: Beat the heavy cream into whipped cream.
- Step 2: Puree the watermelon to your desired texture.
Pro Tip #1
If you want a chunky puree, which will produce lil watermelon bits throughout the ice cream, just pulse the watermelon in the blender a few times to reach your desired texture.
- Step 3: Strain the watermelon (optional).
- Step 4: Combine with sweetened condensed milk and salt.
Pro Tip #2
For a completely smooth watermelon-flavored ice cream, I blend the watermelon into liquified juice and then strain it through a mesh sieve. And since I typically use organic watermelon with seeds, this step also catches any gritty pieces.
- Step 5: Combine with the whipped cream then freeze until solid.
Watch Me Make it on YouTube
Frequently Asked Questions
Store this no-churn ice cream in an airtight, freezer-safe container in the freezer, and it will keep for up to three months, though the texture may start to turn icy after a few weeks.
How to Serve
Watermelon Bowl: How cute do scoops of this ice cream look piled into a watermelon shell as a bowl? For this hack, just thoroughly scrub and rinse the watermelon shells before carving your fruit, and store them in the fridge or freezer until you're ready to use. This works with a personal-sized cut into halves or the ends of a big watermelon.
Straight Up: Beyond that, you can serve this ice cream just as it is in a cup or cone--or I like to add some fresh, tart fruit like raspberries or kiwi for a nice sour contrast to the cold sweet creaminess.
Over the Top: Make watermelon ice cream floats with lemon-lime soda or ginger ale, blend it into milkshakes, or make summery ice cream sundaes with whipped cream, cherries, and syrup. My hibiscus simple syrup and strawberry vanilla syrup are fab options, just sayin.
Summer Celebrations: This ice cream will be gone with a quickness at your summer cookout. And doesn't watermelon ice cream for Juneteenth sound just perfect? Add this one to your Juneteenth celebration menu, ASAP.
More Favorite Watermelon Recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Now that you know how to make ice cream out of watermelon, I hope you'll enjoy soon and very soon. And sharing is caring, so be sure to pin this recipe for later and follow me over on Pinterest. Thanks for reading!
📖 Recipe
No-Churn Watermelon Ice cream
Equipment
- 1 Blender
- 1 stand mixer or hand mixer
- 1 silicone spatula or kitchen spoon
- 1 freezer safe container
Ingredients
- 4 cups fresh watermelon to yield about 2 ½ cups of watermelon puree/juice
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
- Make the Watermelon Puree: Add watermelon to blender or food processor and pulse until your desired consistency is reached (pulsing a couple seconds at a tim for a chunky puree, which will produce little watermelon chunks throughout the ice cream or about 30 seconds for liquified watermelon juice, which will produce a smooth, uniform watermelon-flavored ice cream).4 cups fresh watermelon
- Make the Ice Cream Base: Using stand mixer with whisk attachment fitted or hand mixer, beat heavy cream until thickened and fluffy (about six minutes).2 cups heavy cream
- Meanwhile, use silicone spatula to mix together the sweetened condensed milk, watermelon juice, and salt together in a mixing bowl until uniform.14 ounces sweetened condensed milk, ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- Using stand mixer with paddle attachment fitted or hand mixer, mix the condensed milk mixture into the whipped cream at a low speed, then spread the mixture into freezer-safe container.
- Finish and Freeze: Cover the container and transfer to freezer to set for at least six hours.
Jon says
Will this no churn style recipe work well if using a compressor ice cream machine?
Jazzmine Woodard says
Hi, Jon! I haven't tested this recipe with an ice cream machine, so I can't speak to how it would work.
Sierra says
This looks great. Can’t wait to try it 😋
Jazzmine Woodard says
Thanks, Sierra. I hope you enjoy it!