You're Only 3 Steps Away From Turning Watermelon Rinds Into Candy

Watermelon is nature's candy — it's crunchy, naturally sweet, and fruity. There are a lot of creative ways to use up an abundance of watermelon fruit, but the green rinds normally get tossed. But did you know that the rinds can actually be turned into candy? Raw, the rinds are not flavorful and slightly bitter. But with three easy steps and about 20 minutes of cooking, you can transform this food scrap into a natural treat. Plus, it's an easy way to reduce food waste in the kitchen. 

If you're starting with a whole watermelon, you can use a peeler to take off the green exterior. Slice the melon up, and then separate the red fruit from the pale green rind. Cutting the rind into either cubes or strips, depending on what candy shape you prefer, is the first step. Try to make the size of the pieces the same to ensure they will cook evenly. 

Once your rind is ready, your second step is to measure out 2 cups of sugar for every 4 cups of watermelon rinds, add sugar and rinds to a pot, then pour just enough water so that it is at the same level as the rinds. Bring to a boil, and cook for about 20 minutes or until the water evaporates, stirring frequently. Remove from the pot, and toss in sugar to finish your third and final step of making watermelon candy. 

If you want to amplify the flavor of the candy, the rind pieces can be soaked overnight with other fruits, herbs, or spices. You can simply add these additions to the same sugar, water, and rind mixture you'll cook the next day. Lemon can brighten up the flavor of the bland rind, so lemon juice and peel are good options to add to the overnight soak. 

Get creative by soaking the rind with ginger, mint, concentrated tea, fruit juice, or whatever flavors you enjoy in candy. Instead of using water to soak overnight and boil the next day, it can directly be replaced with another liquid fruit juice or tea. Finally, instead of coating the candy in plain sugar, try Tajín for a sweet-spicy finish. 

The same process mentioned above can be used to make candy from other peels and fruit scraps that would otherwise not be used. The most commonly used ingredient used for this process is citrus peels, like lemon, orange, and lime. These can be eaten as is, added to desserts, or used to garnish cocktails. 

Now that you've made the candy, the obvious next step is to eat it! If you have any leftovers, the rind candy can be added to granola or trail mix as a sweet element. In baking, you can also use it like a dried fruit, adding to loaves, muffins, and fruit cakes. It also makes an interesting garnish for cocktails, sundaes, yogurt parfaits, and chia seed pudding. If you find that your rind candy doesn't quite have the flavor you're looking for, resort to the classic solution of dipping it in chocolate. 

To store for later, keep the rind candy in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. Make sure the candy is completely cooled before storing. If you have watermelon rinds that need to be used but don't have time to make the candy, the rinds can be frozen and stored in the freezer for later use.