Watermelon Rind Syrup

Watermelon Rind Syrup is officially my favorite way to use leftover watermelon rinds! If you've been throwing yours out, try this easy recipe for a syrup that has so much watermelon flavor and is perfect for summer cocktails. You'll never want to throw them out again!

Watermelon is the perfect flavor for refreshing summer cocktails. This syrup has a little bit of a different taste than just using the red part of the watermelon, and in my opinion it brings a fresh flavor that works even better in drinks.

Of course, I use this syrup in my Frozen Watermelon Margarita recipe, but it would also work so well in tons of cocktails! Try adding some to an Empress Gin & Tonic, a French 75 gin cocktail or even a Spicy Paloma.

Ingredients

You'll just need two ingredients here! Watermelon rinds, and granulated sugar.

Be sure to wash the skin of the watermelon before cutting up the rinds.

Don't worry about leaving some of the red part of the watermelon on the rinds -- the more you have on there, the darker the pink color of the syrup will be.

Substitutions

You can use a different type of sugar to make the syrup if you want a slightly different flavor. It works well using brown sugar, or any kind of natural sugar like demerara or turbinado.

It will also work using honey or maple syrup.

If you want to make this into more of a shrub, like my Ginger Lemon shrub, try adding in some Champagne vinegar for a little added acidic note.

Variations

You can make this syrup a few different ways to change things up:

• Keto Friendly - it's easy to make this a keto-friendly syrup! Just use allulose sweetener instead of sugar. It works the same way to draw out the water from the rinds to make a syrup.
• Half rind/half melon - You can make this a darker red color and more watermelon-y flavored by adding some chunks of the red part of the melon into the mix. You can also just use the red part if you don't want to use the rinds.
• Mint - try adding a few sprigs of mint along with the rinds while the syrup mix chills. The watermelon mint syrup will be so good on a hot day!

Equipment

You'll just need a few things to make this syrup! First, a knife and cutting board will help when you want to cut up the chunks of melon rind.

You'll also need a resealable container to make the syrup in. You can use anything from a large mason jar to a zip top bag.

After the syrup is ready, grab a fine mesh strainer to strain out the solid pieces of melon. You'll also need a clean bottle or jar to store the syrup -- grab a funnel to pour through if the mouth of the bottle is small.

Instructions

Add your watermelon rind chunks to a sealable container, and then add the sugar on top.

Shake everything up to make sure all the pieces of melon are covered.

Put your container in the fridge for 12 hours (up to 24 hours). You can shake it up every now and then to make sure the fruit stays covered.

After its rest in the fridge, take it out and grab a clean bottle to pour the liquid into.

Strain out the solids while you pour the liquid into a clean storage container. (Use a funnel if the opening of your bottle is small.)

You can use it right away, or store the syrup in the fridge for up to three weeks.

Hint: If you want to line your fine mesh strainer with a layer of cheesecloth, you can use the cheesecloth at the end to squeeze out any extra liquid from the rinds.

Top tip

Although this is a different method from my hot-process simple syrup recipe, it works really well for a lot of different fruits! Try it with strawberries, pineapples or peaches.

Making syrup this way really captures the flavor of the fresh fruit, where cooking it would give more of a jam-like flavor. This cold-process method is perfect for summertime!