No food signifies summer more than watermelon. May through September (maybe a bit longer if you dig it as much as we do) is prime time for savoring your fair share of watermelon. To help you enjoy it even more, we created guides to pick a watermelon and cut a watermelon into wedges, cubes, sticks, and melon balls.
But according to one trending social media post, we missed the best way to cut watermelon: fries.
How to Make Watermelon Fries
Heather Staller, creator of the blog Happy Kids Kitchen and author of Kid Kitchen, nearly broke the internet when she shared this idea on TikTok. It has since garnered more than 8.3 million views and 5,700 comments like, “I NEED THIS,” and “Love! I just ordered the crinkle chopper after seeing this.”
The tool she uses—a French fry crinkle cutting tool. To make watermelon fries, start with a clean watermelon. Staller (and we) opted for seedless for ease. Place the melon on a cutting board, and then, using a sharp chef’s knife, trim ½ inch off one of the watermelon ends so it sits flat on the cutting board. Use the knife to slice slabs of melon that are about ½-inch thick. Working one slab at a time, use the crinkle cutter to cut “fries” that are about as wide as they are thick. After you are finished cutting the entire watermelon into fries, transfer them to a platter.
When you're done, don't toss the watermelon rinds! Use them to make a batch of pickled watermelon rind.
Ingredients
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1 mini seedless watermelon (4 to 5 lbs)
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2 large strawberries, hulled
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1/2 cup low fat vanilla-flavored Greek yogurt
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1 tablespoon honey
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1/2 teaspoon lime zest
Directions
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Cut the rind off of the top and bottom of the watermelon, about 1-inch thick. Stand the watermelon up on one of the cut sides. Cut the rind off from the top down rotating the watermelon as you go. Using the crinkle cutter cut the watermelon in half lengthwise. Place watermelon half, cut side down, on cutting board crinkle cut crosswise into 1/2" slices, getting half moons. Working with each slice crinkle cut fruit into 1/2-inch-thick sticks from there. Using a crinkle cutter, cut each slice into 1/2-inch fries.
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For the dip, in a small blender or food processor combine strawberries, yogurt, honey, and lime zest (if using). Cover and blend until smooth. Serve fries with dip.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
| 162 | Calories |
| 2g | Fat |
| 36g | Carbs |
| 6g | Protein |
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings Per Recipe 6 | |
| Calories 162 | |
| % Daily Value * | |
| Total Fat 1.5g | 2% |
| Saturated Fat 0.6g | 3% |
| Cholesterol 1.9mg | 1% |
| Sodium 19.1mg | 1% |
| Total Carbohydrate 35.5g | 13% |
| Dietary Fiber 1.7g | 6% |
| Total Sugars 30.2g | |
| Protein 5.6g | 11% |
| Vitamin D 0.3mcg | 2% |
| Vitamin C 34.4mg | 38% |
| Calcium 65.7mg | 5% |
| Iron 1mg | 5% |
| Potassium 481.2mg | 10% |
| Fatty acids, total trans 0g | |
| Vitamin D 13.2IU | |
| Alanine 0.1g | |
| Arginine 0.2g | |
| Ash 1.2g | |
| Aspartic acid 0.2g | |
| Caffeine 0mg | |
| Carotene, alpha 0mcg | |
| Choline, total 28.6mg | |
| Copper, Cu 0.2mg | |
| Cystine 0g | |
| Energy 683.8kJ | |
| Fluoride, F 6.2mcg | |
| Folate, total 16.3mcg | |
| Glutamic acid 0.2g | |
| Glycine 0g | |
| Histidine 0g | |
| Isoleucine 0.1g | |
| Leucine 0.1g | |
| Lysine 0.2g | |
| Methionine 0g | |
| Magnesium, Mg 42.5mg | |
| Manganese, Mn 0.2mg | |
| Niacin 0.8mg | |
| Phosphorus, P 88.2mg | |
| Pantothenic acid 1mg | |
| Phenylalanine 0.1g | |
| Phytosterols 8.3mg | |
| Proline 0.1g | |
| Retinol 41.6mcg | |
| Selenium, Se 5.2mcg | |
| Serine 0.1g | |
| Starch 0g | |
| Theobromine 0mg | |
| Threonine 0.1g | |
| Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) 0.2mg | |
| Tryptophan 0g | |
| Tyrosine 0g | |
| Valine 0.1g | |
| Vitamin A, IU 2291.9IU | |
| Vitamin A, RAE 147.5mcg | |
| Vitamin B-12 0.2mcg | |
| Vitamin B-6 0.2mg | |
| Vitamin K (phylloquinone) 0.6mcg | |
| Water 381.7g | |
| Zinc, Zn 0.6mg | |
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.