How to Make Watermelon Jelly with Four Simple Ingredients
Sparkling Pink Watermelon Jelly
Watermelon Jelly: Summer in a Jar
Growing watermelon in your own garden is a fun and rewarding project. Often, there is more watermelon than you can eat fresh or give away to family and friends. There are many watermelon recipes that will allow you to enjoy the watermelon year-round. This is one type of jelly you won’t be able to find at the grocery store: this delicious jelly makes a wonderful homemade gift. Watermelon jelly is also very easy to make, and is a wonderful first canning recipe.
Making watermelon jelly and canning it allows you to save summer in a jar. The flavor of watermelon jelly (or watermelon jam, as the recipe uses crushed fruit) is bright and sweet. Even those who don’t prefer the flavor of raw watermelon will like watermelon jelly!
The watermelon jelly recipe below will produce 4-5 eight ounce jelly jars of jam. Try using different varieties of watermelon to achieve different colors and flavors in the jam. The watermelon jam pictured below was made with a Sugar Baby watermelon.
Watermelon Jelly Ingredients
- 4 cups of chopped watermelon (or 2 cups of watermelon puree)
- 3 ½ cups sugar
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 package of no-sugar pectin
Watermelon Jelly Equipment
- Blender
- Pots and pans
- Boiling water bath
- 8 oz. jelly jars for canning
- Canning lids and rings
Prevent No-Sugar Pectin from Clumping
Watermelon Jelly Recipe
Set the jelly jars and rims out to prepare to can the watermelon jelly. Simmer lids according to the manufacturer’s directions and have the boiling water bath (canner) ready with boiling water.
Cut open and deseed a ripe watermelon. Roughly chop the watermelon fruit into squares, discarding the rind and seeds (the rind can be saved to make watermelon rind pickles, if desired). Place four cups of chopped watermelon into a blender and process into a puree.
Four cups of chopped watermelon should yield about 2 cups of watermelon puree. Pour 2 cups of watermelon puree into a large sauce-pot.
Add the lemon juice to the watermelon puree, along with the pectin/sugar mixture. Stir vigorously to dissolve any lumps in the mixture. Turn on the heat and bring the mixture to a boil.
Once the mixture has reached a rolling boil (a boil that won’t be stirred away), add the remaining 3 ¼ cups sugar. Stir vigorously until the sugar has dissolved into the jelly. Once the watermelon jelly reaches a rolling boil again, set a timer for 2 minutes. Boil the jelly for 2 minutes, then decant into the jelly jars.
Leave ¼ inch headspace, and apply the sterilized lids and rings. Place the jelly jars in the boiling water bath canner and process for 10 minutes. Place on the kitchen counter to cool overnight, and test lid seals to verify each jar has sealed well (the lids should not flex up and down). Canned jelly will store in a pantry for 1 year. Place any sealing failures into the refrigerator and use the jelly within 2 weeks.
Meanwhile, mix ¼ cup sugar with the package of pectin for sugar-free recipes. By mixing the sugar with the pectin, you will prevent the pectin from clumping when it is added to the watermelon puree.
Uses for Watermelon Jelly
Watermelon jelly can be used on toast or on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but it also has several other uses. Make cupcakes or a sheet cake, and add a layer of watermelon jelly to the middle to create a unique and wonderful watermelon-flavored cake. This jelly is a wonderful addition to scones at a tea party, or it can be used as the filling for thumb-print cookies/sandwich cookies.
Comments
Excellent hub! I plan to try this recipe very soon. Thanks for sharing it.
Watermelon jelly sounds like something I would probably love, I'm filing this recipe under my favorites. Thanks for sharing.
- Author
It tastes really great! I grew Sugar Baby watermelons and Orange Tendersweet melons in our garden this year, and I have watermelons everywhere! I made some jelly out of some of the watermelons and it is really good. It even looks "sparkly" in the jars! You can make this without canning it, too - but you'll have to place it in the refrigerator and eat it within 2 weeks.
Yum. My mouth is watering now. Next summer I will make some of this jelly. You have great recipe Hubs.
I have all of the stuff ready to can the candy apple jelly and now you add this to the mix! I guess I'm going to have to get some more jars. :) I have never had watermelon jelly but it sounds delicious. My in-laws have a farm so there is no shortage of watermelon around here. Thanks for another great recipe.
- Author
This was a recipe out of necessity - we have 2 Orange Tendersweet watermelons left (I think we had about 20 to start with, out of our tiny 4x4 bed) and I used the last Sugar Baby to make this batch of jelly. Even the neighbors are getting tired of receiving watermelons! I am going to make another batch tomorrow to get rid of the other two melons (it will be less colorful since the Orange Tendersweets are a pale orange color).
Hi Leah,I like this recipe and I'm sure gonna try it.Thanks for the tips on watermelon rind pickles too. I wish I was your next door neighbor!
- Author
I wish you were our neighbor, too, olgakhumlo: I'd give you a watermelon! :D
I hope it helps - I had watermelon jelly on toast the other day and it was a nice snack. I haven't ever tried the watermelon rind pickles before, so I have to look into making some and trying some... not sure if I'll like them, but it's always worth a try!
Wow! Thank you.I'm looking forward for the recipe on pickles.
- Author
I'll post it when I make it! I did just post one on watermelon fruit leather (that was yesterday's project)! All of our watermelon (save one melon) is gone now. I love watermelon, but I have to say I am glad to see the last melon get used up!
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