How To Dehydrate Watermelon (Watermelon Jerky Recipe)

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Learn how to dehydrate watermelon so you can enjoy the sweetness of summer all year long. As sweet as candy, dehydrated watermelon is a healthy snack without added sugar. It’s a perfect snack for kids and the young at heart!

Summer gardens are gearing up for one of the season’s best treats: watermelon! I’m hoping we have a bountiful watermelon harvest this year because I want to stock our pantry snack shelf with dehydrated watermelon (aka watermelon jerky).

So far this summer, we’ve been devouring garden-fresh dishes like cucumber salad, sourdough peach cobbler, and Instant Pot stewed tomatoes. But soon, we will be knee-deep in watermelon everything.

Last night, when I was in the garden, I was a little bummed to find that a critter ate not one but TWO of our watermelons. However, there are a few watermelons the critters haven’t discovered. Fingers crossed that they don’t find them.

Luckily, you don’t have to have homegrown watermelons for dehydration. As long as you have a food dehydrator and get your hands on a juicy, ripe watermelon, you can easily make watermelon jerky at home.

Learning how to dehydrate watermelon will change your snacking game. It’s a healthy alternative to processed snacks and will satisfy your sweet tooth. It’s so sweet that it is often called watermelon candy, but it is made without a single granule of added sugar.

Wait. Is this healthy candy? Yes, as a matter of fact, it is!

Plus, dehydrating watermelon preserves summer harvests for later in the year. So, if you are embarking on your food preservation journey, this is a great way to get started!

Why You’ll Love Dehydrated Watermelon

• Sweet treat with NO added sugar – We love summer sourdough sweet treats like sourdough lemon bars and pop tarts. But I try to keep our sugar intake reasonable, and dried watermelon is a great alternative. When watermelon is dehydrated, the flavor and sugar condense into a sweetness similar to candy. But there is zero added sugar!
• Kids love it – I’m always looking for kid-friendly food with a small child in the house. This recipe is a winner! My three-year-old begs for watermelon jerky, and I feel good about giving it to her because it is a real fruit snack.
• Easy – Learning how to dehydrate watermelon is simple. You slice it up and put it in the dehydrator. Then, set it and forget it!
• Summer food preservation – Dehydrating watermelon is a form of food preservation. So you can enjoy summery watermelon all year long. I like to keep preserved fruits in the pantry, such as freeze-dried apples and strawberries, and, of course, dehydrated watermelon.

Tips for How To Dehydrate Watermelon

• Cut the right thickness – After a few experiments, I found that long strips of watermelon about 1/2″ thick worked the best. If they are too thick, they take an eternity to dry. And if they are too thin, they stick to the dehydrator trays.
• Cut the right width – I recommend cutting the watermelon about 1 inch wide. Anything smaller shrivels too much and is a pain to peel off the trays.
• Add a little salt (if you prefer) – Just like with fresh watermelon, a sprinkle of salt can bring out the flavors in dehydrated watermelon. If you prefer, add a little before putting the sliced watermelon in the dehydrator.

How to Pick the Best Watermelon

It’s the age-old question: How do you pick a good watermelon? It can be a little hard to tell if a watermelon is good. But if you want to find the holy grail of watermelons, here are a few tips:

• Give it a thump – A good watermelon will resonate when you thump it. It should have a deep, hollow sound.
• Look for a light patch – A light yellowish patch on a watermelon is called a “field mark.” It’s where the watermelon was resting on the ground while ripening. If it doesn’t have a field mark, that might mean it was picked too soon.
• Check the symmetry – A good watermelon is usually symmetrical in shape.
• Lift it – A juicy watermelon is usually heavy.

Suburban Homestead Tip: You don’t have to grow fancy watermelons to enjoy this jerky recipe. Grab a regular watermelon from the grocery store or farmers market!

Is Dehydrated Watermelon Good?

Yes! Dehydrated watermelon isn’t just good; it’s a delicious snack. It has a chewy texture and is naturally sweet with a burst of watermelon flavor.

While taking pictures for this very blog post, I gave my three-year-old a few slices of fresh watermelon and a few pieces of dehydrated watermelon. She ate all the dehydrated watermelon (and asked for more) and didn’t bother much with the fresh.

Why Dehydrate a Watermelon?

Dehydrating watermelon has two-fold benefits. It is a healthy snack to keep around. Also, it is a way of preserving your summer watermelon so that it is shelf-stable for several months or even up to a year.

When I preserve food, my goal isn’t to stockpile. Instead, I like to keep simple, healthy foods around and use them up within a year.

I store dehydrated fruit, freeze-dried eggs, and freeze-dried fruits in the pantry. And in the fridge, I keep a constant rotation of lacto-fermented peppers and onions.

Some of my preserved foods are used as ingredients in other recipes, but I keep dehydrated watermelon around as a treat.

What Type of Dehydrator Is Best?

I prefer a cabinet dehydrator (also called a horizontal dehydrator) because it heats more evenly, and you don’t have to worry about rotating the trays.

I use a Cosori food dehydrator (affiliate link), and I love it. It holds a large amount of food. One watermelon used only four of the 10 trays in the dehydrator. It heats evenly, and it’s about as quiet as a dehydrator can get.

Vertical dehydrators like the popular Elite Gourment (affiliate link) also work. The only catch is that the bottom trays dry faster, so you will need to rotate them every few hours.

How To Cut a Watermelon for Dehydrating

When it comes to the shape, you can cut a watermelon however your heart desires. I cut mine into triangular wedges, then cut long strips.

However, the size is more specific. For the best results, I recommend cutting the watermelon about 1/2 inch thick and at least 1 inch wide.

You don’t have to be super precise. But thicker pieces will take forever and an eternity to dry. Really thin strips will stick to the trays (ask me how I know about this).

I recommend at least 1 inch for the width because after trying various sizes, I found that anything smaller shriveled up so much that it wasn’t really worth using.

Tools You Will Need

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• Food Dehydrator – You will need a food dehydrator. There are two main types of dehydrators. I use a cabinet dehydrator. If you don’t have one and aren’t sure what type to get, check out my dehydrator section above.
• Sharp knife – Grab a large, sharp knife for slicing the watermelon.
• Cutting board – I like to use a wood cutting board, but any cutting board is a-okay.

Ingredients

• Watermelon – For the best watermelon jerky, try to find a ripe, seasonal watermelon. Also, I prefer a seedless watermelon.
• Salt (optional) – A little dash of salt can elevate the watermelon’s natural flavors.

How To Dehydrate Watermelon

Slice the watermelon into any shape that is about 1/2 inch thick and at least 1 inch wide. Cut off the watermelon rind and remove any large seeds.

Place the cut watermelon in a single layer on the dehydrator trays. Don’t crowd the watermelon. It needs circulation to dry fully and evenly. If sticking is an issue with your trays, line the trays with parchment paper.

Optional: Sprinkle the watermelon with a little salt.

Put the trays into the dehydrator and dry at 135° F. Since watermelon has a high water content, it can take a while to dry. The total drying time depends on your dehydrator and the slices’ thickness. Mine took about 24 hours.

Remove the watermelon from the dehydrator when it is dry, malleable, and without signs of stickiness.

Let the watermelon cool to room temperature on the trays (packing it up while it’s warm will create condensation and ruin your watermelon jerky).

Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for 3-12 months (see section below about storing dried watermelon).

How To Store Dehydrated Watermelon

You can store dehydrated watermelon in the pantry, fridge, or freezer. The shelf life of dried watermelon depends on how dry it is when stored and the conditions in which it is stored, and it can range from three months to a year (source).

Make sure it is stored in an airtight container, preferably one that will allow you to see if any unwanted moisture has developed (moisture and mold go hand in hand).

If you see any signs of mold or if it smells funny, throw away your dried watermelon.

How Long Does Watermelon Take To Dry?

The dehydrating time depends on the amount of watermelon juice in the fruit, the thickness of the slices, and the type of dehydrator. It can take up to 12-24 hours.

Keep an eye on it. I recommend checking it around the 8-hour mark and frequently after that. Mine usually takes just under 24 hours to fully dry.

Can You Dehydrate Watermelon in the Oven?

Because of watermelon’s high water content, it could be hard to dehydrate it in the oven. In full disclosure, I’ve never tried. But it took 24 hours for my watermelon to dry in my dehydrator. So even though it would probably work in the oven, it would take a really long time.

If you want to give it a go, put the watermelon on a wire rack on top of a cookie sheet. Set the heat to 140° F or your oven’s lowest temperature. Keep the oven door cracked to let the moisture escape.

If you try the oven method, leave a comment below and let us know how it went.

Related Video – What I Eat From My Garden

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If you tried this recipe and loved it, leave a comment or review!