My easy Watermelon Italian Ice recipe is a delicious, sweet and refreshing way to enjoy dessert in the summer. With just a few ingredients it is easy to pull together and everyone loves it! It is perfect for those hot summer days! Save this recipe to Pinterest so you can always find it.
So…this Watermelon Italian Ice recipe was an accident. It was a happy accident but not the outcome I was thinking about. I intended to make sorbet. But you know what? Sorbet is really difficult to make without an ice cream maker and I don’t have an ice cream maker. Frankly, I’m trying really hard not to buy one too because I don’t need another clunky appliance. But I digress…back to my happy accident…
Guilty pleasure
During the summer, I crave snow cones and those icee push pops. I’m an ice lover. Ice on its own and flavored ice are like an extra love language of mine in the summer. (Kevin bought me the nugget ice maker for our anniversary last year because he knows.) Summer icy treats are my guilty pleasure. So while sorbet was my goal, I LOVE that I ended up with an icy, fresh and cold Watermelon Italian Ice recipe.
The Watermelon Italian Ice recipe is so light and fresh. It is just a truly glorious, beautiful summer dessert. It is perfect for kids and adults and would make a fun dessert for summer holidays and barbecues. Unlike ice cream and cake, it is not heavy and will definitely be a treat everyone will look forward to.
What is Italian Ice?
If you’re not familiar with Italian Ice, then you should know it is kind of like a snow cone, kind of like a hard Slurpee and that it is not really Italian. Italian Ice was invented in New Jersey about 100 years ago. It is based off an Italian icy dessert from Sicily called Granita. Granita is made with sugar, water and various flavorings.
The biggest difference between Italian Ice and Sorbet or Ice Cream is that Italian Ice doesn’t use eggs or dairy. It is literally ice, or in the case of my Watermelon Italian Ice, frozen, icy watermelon.
What is in it?
My recipe for Watermelon Italian Ice uses fresh watermelon chunks that I essentially turn into ice. Basically, this recipe only consists of a few ingredients. First, I cut up the watermelon and freeze it. Then I blend the frozen watermelon with water and mix it with a homemade simple syrup and a lemon lime carbonated water. That’s it. The freezer does the rest of the work.
The time it takes
The one thing you should know about this recipe is that it is simple, but it takes some time. This is due to the freezing that is required. I would start making this one 24 hours in advance of when you want to serve it. Once you cut the watermelon up, it needs to be frozen. That takes about 5-6 hours.
Once it is blended and then mixed with the simple syrup and carbonated water, I recommend at least a 10 hour freezing time. In fact, it is just better to let the Watermelon Italian Ice freeze overnight.
A little thaw & serving time
Before serving it, you need to take it out of the freezer and put it in the refrigerator for a few hours in order to dish it out. Now I will say, I do use an ice cream container {HERE} to freeze this in so it helps hold the temperature. Depending on what you use to keep the mix in, it could take less time to begin to thaw. In the photo above, you can see what mine looked like after being in the freezer all night.
Making individual servings
If you want to serve my Watermelon Italian Ice recipe as individual servings, I recommend something like this {HERE}, which I also bought to use. These would be perfect for a party or gathering, but you might only need 30 minutes to an hour of thaw time with these. Or, you might even just be able to serve them straight. The Watermelon Italian Ice will be a little harder but it was good that way too.
Why the simple syrup?
I know some people don’t love using simple syrup. For my Watermelon Italian Ice it really just helps to sweeten it and heighten the watermelon flavor. If you don’t want to use it, you can try it without it. Give it a taste and then add it in if you want. Or, I give a range of amounts below and you can use the lesser amount first. Taste it and decide if you want more. You can use my recipe for simple syrup {HERE} or you can buy it from the store.
Why the carbonated water?
This helps in the freezing process to keep some air in the Watermelon Italian Ice. Homemade sorbet without an ice cream machine requires something similar and it is really about the formation of the ice crystals and the space between them. If you don’t use it, you will end up with more of a watermelon popsicle verses a Watermelon Italian Ice recipe.
Tips for making my Watermelon Italian Ice Recipe
- Make sure to leave yourself enough time. Recheck the times above and the times listed in the recipe so you can plan this out for serving.
- Make sure to use fresh watermelon. Don’t get the cut kind in the grocery store. You will be missing some of the water and natural sugars you get in the full fruit.
- If you have an issue with seeds in the watermelon mix, you can pick them out with a spoon before you mix in the simple syrup and the lemon lime carbonated water.
- Saving this is easy, you can just refreeze it. You can probably use whatever container you used to begin with. This will keep in the freezer for awhile. I just made it so I can’t give you an exact time limit but I would think you shouldbe good with at least a week in the freezer.
Looking for more summer dessert recipes?
If you love a good summer dessert recipe, try these too.
- Strawberry and Cream Cheese Pie {HERE}
- Blueberry Pie Ice Cream {HERE}
- Homemade Angel Food Cake {HERE}
- Triple Berry Trifle {HERE}
- Summer Solstice Sun Cookies {HERE}
- Homemade Cherry Cobbler {HERE}
- Strawberry Shortcake Made From Scratch {HERE}
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Thank you so much for joining me today, friends. I hope that you love my easy Watermelon Sorbet recipe and you come back again to visit at the farmhouse. You can find the full, printable recipe below. Happy eating!
Watermelon Italian Ice
Equipment
- Blender
- Container with lid for freezing
Ingredients
- 8 cups of watermelon cut into pieces and frozen This is about 1 small watermelon.
- 1 cup water
- 1 can lemon lime sparkling water This will be divided in the recipe by 1/3 cup and then the rest of the can.
- 1/2 - 1 cup simple syrup Depending on sweetness preference.
- Fresh mint for serving
Instructions
- Cut the watermelon into about 1-2 inch pieces and add it to a freezer safe pan lined with parchment paper. I used a metal cake pan. Freeze for 5 hours.
- When the watermelon is frozen, add it to a blender with the water, 1/3 cup of the lemon lime carbonated water and blend. Depending on the power in your blender, you might need to do this in parts or shut off the blender periodically and use a spoon to dislodge some frozen spots. Make sure all the watermelon gets blended and you do not have large pieces of it left.
- Add the blended watermelon to a bowl and then mix in the simple syrup and the rest of the lemon lime carbonated water. Pour the mixture into a freezer safe container with a lid. Or pour into freezer safe cups for individual servings. Freeze for 10 hours.
- Remove from the freezer and put it in the refrigerator about 4-6 hours before serving. This will thaw it out enough to scoop and serve. If serving individual cups, take them out about 1 hour before serving and put them in the refrigerator. Serve with fresh mint.
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