Dehydrated Watermelon

Dehydrated Watermelon is one of the best dried fruits. It is sweet and a little chewy, with the texture of watermelon jerky and the taste of watermelon candy.

Dried watermelon is a great snack because it tastes like jolly rancher candy but is still fruit! It is an easy snack to bring hiking, camping, fishing, or to send in a school lunch. I love to make a mix of broken pieces of dried watermelon and dried strawberries to serve along with homemade granola or to toss into a side salad with dried cherry tomatoes.

This dried watermelon is a little thicker than the watermelon jerky that you can get at Trader Joe’s, but the taste is the same because it is just watermelon – it has no added sugars!

Watermelon is one of our favorite fruits, but in the summer months, we sometimes grow too many of them and have excess fruits. We hate food waste, so I love to dehydrate some slices to save for snacking. We love to have watermelon taffy for trips, and small watermelon chips are a great addition to homemade trail mix.

❓ What Does Watermelon Jerky Taste Like?

Dehydrated watermelon is a very polarizing treat. Some people love it, and some people hate it. To me, it tastes like a Jolly Rancher candy. Just talking about it makes my taste buds pucker up in anticipation. It is very sweet and a little chewy, like taffy. If you like it, you will love it, and dehydrated watermelon jerky is an addicting snack.

🍊 Is Watermelon Jerky Healthy?

Yes! Watermelon jerky tastes just like a healthy candy – but it is still fruit. A single serving of dehydrated watermelon has almost a full day’s worth of Vitamin A and Vitamin C.

🥘 Ingredients Needed

Here you go – watermelon jerky is made from one ingredient only – fresh watermelon. Seedless watermelon is easier to use as you don’t have to pick out the black seeds 😉

🍉 How to Pick a Watermelon

Try to choose a perfectly ripe watermelon with a yellow or light brown circle on the end – that is a sign that it was allowed to ripen on the vine and should be nice and sweet. It should also feel heavy for its size.

🍽 Equipment Needed

• A Food Dehydrator – I like to use my big Excalibur Dehydrator or my smaller, cheaper dehydrator. (You can also make this in the oven.)
• A Cutting Board and a Sharp Knife.

🥣 How to Dehydrate Watermelon

Dehydrating a perfect summer watermelon and making it into sweet, yummy dehydrated watermelon slices is so easy.

You can cut the watermelon up however you find to be the easiest – I like to cut it in half and then from there into quarters. (I like to put a layer of dish towels under my cutting board because watermelon juice makes a huge, sticky mess.) (Picture 1 – 2)

After slicing the watermelon into quarters, slice the skin and rind off in chunks, trying to get as much of it as possible. (Picture 3) I like to then save the rind to make candied watermelon rind, watermelon rind preserves, pickled watermelon rind, or fermented watermelon rind pickles. Remove any watermelon seeds.

Now, slice the watermelon into half-inch slices, then in half again. (Pictures 4 – 5)

I then like to cut the quarter-inch slices in half across the middle so that the pieces are not too big – about 2-inch slices. (Picture 6)

Now, line the trays of your dehydrator with the watermelon chunks. (Picture 7) Cover the dehydrator and then let it do all the work. It has a lot of water in it (water-melon…), so it will take time to dry out. (Pictures 9 – 10)

On a dehydrator without a temperature setting, it will take 8-12 hours.

If you can set the temperature of your dehydrator, set it to 135°F for 18 – 24 hours. It will take longer, but the watermelon tastes sweeter and has a better flavor if it dries slower.

If you check on the watermelon throughout the dehydration process, there will be three main stages: still normal watermelon, dried out and a little puffy, and then ready to eat – chewy but snaps if you bend it. Flip the watermelon slices over halfway through the dehydrating process to prevent sticking to the dehydrator trays.

♨️ How to Dehydrate Watermelon in the Oven

First, slice the watermelon as directed above.

Next, place the slices on a cooling rack lined with parchment paper wire over a cookie sheet with edges. For easier cleanup, you can line the cookie sheet with aluminum foil. The wire rack helps with airflow under the fruit and keeps the watermelon from cooking on the bottom instead of drying out.

Dry/bake the watermelon at 170° (or the lowest temperature your oven has) for 4-6 hrs, checking every hour or so as needed to make sure they don’t burn. Keep an eye out to make sure the watermelon doesn’t burn.

Flip the slices over halfway through the drying process to keep them from sticking.

🛍️ Condition the Dried Watermelon Slices

Before putting the dehydrated watermelon in long-term storage, condition it for 5-7 days. This means transferring it to an airtight container and observing it, then checking it for moisture every day. If there are signs of moisture, all of the watermelon slices should go back into the dehydrator.

Once it is fully dried out, the watermelon jerky can be stored.

🙋‍♀️ Frequently Asked Questions

🍲 Serving Size

You can eat a lot of dried watermelon really easily and not realize it and end up with a pretty upset stomach – so just be cautious!

🫙 How to Store Dried Watermelon

Store the thin slices of dried watermelon in a glass mason jar or airtight container, ideally with a desiccant packet. The packet will absorb extra moisture so that the watermelon jerky stays perfectly fresh.

⏲️ How Long Does Dried Watermelon Last?

Dried watermelon lasts a pretty long time. It will last at least 6 months, but you will probably finish it a lot sooner.

✏️ Helpful Tips

• Watermelon jerky is also really good with a sprinkle of Tajin Seasoning on top (Chili Lime Watermelon Jerky, similar to what you can get from Trader Joe’s!) Add the Tajin after a few hours of cooking so that it stays near the outside of the watermelon as it dries, and you can really taste it.
• Add a little lime juice to the watermelon slices before drying them.
• I recommend storing dried fruit in glass containers as opposed to plastic so that it does not absorb the taste of the plastic.
• Watermelon is pretty sticky – you can cover your dehydrator trays with parchment paper if desired. Cut a few slits in the paper to allow air to circulate through it.

Other Fresh Garden Recipes

• Shrimp, Corn, and Okra Succotash
• 5 Minute Easy Homemade Salsa
• Homemade Peach Lemonade
• Instant Pot Collard Greens and Southern Style Collard Greens with Bacon
• Instant Pot Southern Style Green Beans and Crock Pot Green Beans