Pickled Watermelon Rind

Pickles are literally one of my favorite foods. I’ve eaten them since I was a kid. As a night-time snack ever since I can remember, I would get a cupful of 20 small Spanish green olives and a pickle spear or two. This always confused those around me since I didn’t eat much of anything.. but pickles and olives? Yes. 

And still yes. I’m still a fan. I try more exotic olives now and I’ve tried a few other pickles, but dill is a classic favorite that is always in my fridge. 

Watermelon is another food I’ve loved my whole life, but I would never have imagined I could marry the two and make PICKLED WATERMELON RIND!?

A coworker gave me a giant watermelon from her garden, and I wanted to use every last piece of it! I sliced the watermelon, and ended up with a ton of the unused, bright green, beautiful rind. I had only heard about pickled watermelon rind on TV, I’d never actually tasted it, but I thought, “Why the hell not? Let’s pickle and take pictures!”

I researched some recipes and found a good one from food.com and one from Martha Stewart that I referenced. I cut most of the rind into small chunks, trying not to make them thicker than an inch. Then I thought maybe I should LEAVE some of the green rind, as long as it’s a thin layer — like pickled cucumbers. So I finished cutting the rest of the rind by just slicing it thinly and leaving some green rind on the edges. Here’s an idea of how the thin sliced watermelon rind looked — you can also see the small rectangle shaped ones mixed in. 

I had about 1.5 lbs of trimmed rind, but would have come out with much more if I wasn’t worried about the green outer-layer. And I recommend not to worry about trimming it off, because the one’s with the rind turned out better! When you get done trimming it up, place it in a large bowl to brine. Boil 1/2 cup salt with 2 qt. water and cover the chopped rind. Brine overnight.

Slice rinds thinly, and cover in a salt/water mixture to brine overnight.

Rinse rinds with fresh water and drain.

Add 2 cups water, 1 1/2 cups white or apple cider vinegar (I used 1 cup white and 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar), 2 cups sugar, 3 cinnamon sticks, 1 thinly sliced lemon, and 1-2 tablespoons pickling spice in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Add your rind little by little to the mix and bring back to a boil.

I had never needed this before this recipe, but I found it near the pickling supplies (down the baking aisle of Publix). It wasn’t with the all the spices like I thought it should be. It’s a mix of many yummy spices and can be made just as easy (but I didn’t have all the ingredients).

Water, Vinegar ( white and/or apple cider vinegar), sugar, cinnamon sticks, lemon, and pickling spice.

Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.

Lower heat and simmer for about 15-20 minutes (the smaller and thinner the rind-slices are, the less amount of time this will take). Scoop out rinds, add to jars, and cover with the remaining syrup from the bowl. Seal, and place in refrigerator.

The greened jar consists of the thinly sliced rind, while the yellow-er jar was the cubes. I prefer the thin-sliced greener look and taste. But they’re both yummy!

I was so happy with the way that these turned out! Even my non-pickle-liking boyfriend had more than a few. I went into this not knowing what to expect, but came out of it with a new, super-delicious, pickl-y treat. I love the summer!