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Earlier this spring, I shared the following picture of our kid’s eating watermelon on my Facebook page with the caption: “watermelon is apparently “better” when eaten in a wedge versus cut up in a bowl”.
A couple people responded that instead of cutting it into wedges (which are fairly awkward to store and eat) I should cut it into “sticks”. One reader even shared a picture of how she cut her watermelon into sticks… and instantly, the lightbulb went on inside my brain.
This idea is genius!
It’s SO quick and simple to slice up a full watermelon, it’s SO much easier for kids to hold and bite, and it wastes significantly less watermelon too!
I’m certainly not the original person to dream up this idea, BUT I knew I had to share it on the blog because the last 2 times I’ve sliced a watermelon this way, the people we were with were awed by the idea — so I know I’m not the only one who’s never tried this before!
Go out a buy yourself a watermelon and give this trick a try!!
How to Slice a Watermelon…
STEP 1: Cut watermelon in half, lengthwise (this method works best with oval watermelons as opposed to circular ones).
STEP 2: Lay the cut surface down on a cutting board.
STEP 3: Cut 1″ to 2″-wide slices, top-to-bottom, and then again side-to-side.
STEP 4: Remove outer rind pieces, cutting off any good fruit into a separate container.
STEP 5: Place inner pieces on a rimmed platter or in a large food storage container (so the juice doesn’t spill out).
I use the largest container in this set (pictured above) for watermelon!
STEP 6: Eat and enjoy!
It’s even better when served with a pan of my Monster Cookie bars!
SO simple… right!
I honestly can’t believe I’ve lived 34 years now (eating countless watermelons over those years) without ever thinking of cutting a watermelon this way.
It only took me a minute or 2 to slice up a full watermelon — and yes, the kids thought it was super cool to eat this way!
The PERFECT summertime treat!
Tell me I’m not the only one who has never cut a watermelon this way before!?!?
Do you have any other tricks for quickly and easily slicing various fruits or veggies?
Amy Hays says
Andrea! Could you tell us about your cutting boards sometime? I hate the idea of little bits of plastic ending up in our food, so we have bamboo boards, but I do feel like all I do is hand wash our cutting boards 3 or 4 times a day. Are those boards dishwasher safe and made of wood? I feel like you’d have an opinion on cutting boards! Maybe you could share your thoughts on cutting boards in a future favorites things post? — Thanks! Amy
Andrea says
I’m way ahead of you Amy 🙂
I wrote that post 3 years ago already (read it here) — and yes, I’m still using the same cutting boards many times every day!
JoDi says
How have I never seen or heard of this in 49 years until now? It’s so obvious once you see it that I can’t believe everyone doesn’t know about this already. Next time we go to a summer gathering I’m volunteering to bring watermelon just so I can blow everyone’s minds!
Andrea says
haha — I know. Pretty cool!
Debbie says
I’ll have to try this!
Kim says
So glad I saw this today – I have a giant watermelon I need to cut – I will try this!
Andrea says
oh good — glad to help. Hopefully it worked well for you!!
Nicola says
That is how we cut it too! My kids also like it as watermelon popsicles. I just cut rectangle shapes from the watermelon, then push a popsicle stick in one end and freeze on trays, before transferring to ziplock bags. Such a tasty treat!
Andrea says
watermelon popsicles… why didn’t I think of that! Thanks!
Jennifer Phillips says
I love your way to cut the watermelon. I like watermelon cut up in small squares. To do this, I remove the rind – like you do with a pineapple. I’m left with a big, red, juicy globe! It makes it so easy to cut up.
Andrea says
one question — do you get juice EVERYWHERE cutting it this way?
If I don’t cut watermelon into “sticks” like the pictures in this post, I use a melon baller and simply scoop balls out of the inside. However, I’m left with an inch of pure juice in the bottom of the rind — I need to continually dump out the juice so I can keep scooping. I picture insane amounts of sticky juice all over the counters if I cut the melon the way you are describing… yes??
jen says
Believe it or not, our 22 yo son, shared this with friends over the weekend. I had never heard of it! I’m not a watermelon fan so we don’t eat it very often (gasp!). They were amazed by his knowledge–as was I. He told us he was trying to cut up a watermelon one day at college and googled it and found this method on youtube! LOL!
Andrea says
wow — good for him! YouTube has the answers for everything 🙂
Amy says
Thank you for sharing!! I noticed in a few photos and have to try it. We are camping in two weeks and this will be much easier to cut and store!
Andrea says
have fun camping! And enjoy that watermelon!
Ann says
Our son-in-love cut up a watermelon this way & its wonderful for all ages, but especially those *little hands*!
It makes me think of French fries for some odd reason!
Andrea says
haha — really BIG french fries! but yes, great for little hands!
Kathy says
OMG! I am so glad that you posted this! I saw your pic of the watermelon in another post and I was fascinated by it, lol! I am so glad that you thought to share, this is definitely a game changer.
Thanks Andrea!
Andrea says
oh good — glad to give you some inspiration! Who would have thought it could be so simple!
Chris says
Just wanted to share. The last watermelon I bought wasn’t sweet so I cut it in chunks and froze it. We love watermelon slushies or fruit drinks made with different things added, such as lime juice and sugar, especially when it’s still partially frozen. Yum!
Andrea says
good tip — thanks Chris! My kids love “slushies” so this would be a huge hit for them!
Stel says
WHAAAAAT???
You’re changing my life here!
Now I must wait 5 more months until December to test this!
Can’t wait.
Andrea says
haha — that’s a long time to wait for watermelon!