Watermelon Mint Sorbet – Refreshing sorbet made with real watermelon, fresh mint, and a hint of lime juice.

July is speeding by us, isn’t it?! I can’t believe we’re so close to this month being over. Before we know it, fall will be here and we’ll be obsessing over pumpkin once again.

But before we say goodbye to July, there are three more recipes to enjoy in celebration of National Ice Cream Month. The first of the last three is another sorbet recipe. In fact, it’s another sorbet recipe with mint. As you’ll recall, a couple weeks ago, I shared this Mojito Sorbet. It was such a success that I needed to find a way to have mint sorbet in a different way.

Enter: Watermelon Mint Sorbet.

Mint and watermelon pair incredibly well together. The flavors play off each other nicely without overpowering one another. So the combination of these two just felt right for a sorbet. And can you imagine anything more refreshing than creamy, frozen watermelon?!

How to make this sorbet

Sorbet is made with water, sugar, and fruit puree/juice. In order to get it from freezing into a solid cube of ice, it’s important for there to be just the right amount of sugar since sugar helps prevent freezing. You can also add alcohol to achieve even creamier results.

Since watermelon has so much water and relatively low sugar, it’s important to make sure there’s enough sugar in the sorbet base so that it has a creamy consistency.

Mint syrup

To properly infuse mint into the sorbet, we make a simple syrup and steep the mint in it for a few minutes. The mint syrup is made with whole leaves to keep the flavor more subtle. When the leaves are chopped up, the oils release from them and make their flavor super strong. We don’t need that strong flavor for this sorbet or else it will overpower the watermelon.

Balancing it out

With all that sugar that we need to add to achieve the right consistency, the sorbet may be a tad too sweet. As a result, it’s important that we add in some lime juice and a pinch of salt to balance it all out.

Freezing the sorbet

Once the sorbet base is made, it needs to be chilled until cold, which can take up to 4 hours. This ensures the sorbet freezes properly in the ice cream machine. Once the mixture is cold enough, we add in a little bit of chopped mint leaves and then freeze it in the ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Tips & Tricks

1. When making the mint syrup, you don’t need to chop the mint. In fact, you don’t even need to remove the leaves from the sprigs. This will make it easy to remove them once they’ve steeped long enough.
2. The chopped mint leaves should not be added until after the mixture is chilled. If you add the mint to the hot mixture, the heat will turn it brownish and loose its beautiful green color.
3. This recipe calls for an ice cream machine. I know, I know – one more appliance that you need. But I love mine and use it a lot. And it’s the only way I know to get a creamy sorbet that isn’t icy at all. If you use the same one as me, don’t forget to place the drum in the freezer at least 8 hours before using!

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More recipes you’ll love:

Mojito Sorbet

Citrus Melon Fruit Salad with Mint Dressing

Pineapple Sorbet