Watermelon Fruit Leather
ShareEasy homemade watermelon fruit leather. Just two ingredients! A great snack or addition to school lunches.
Growing up I pretty much devoured boxes of fruit roll-ups, as I’m sure many kids did back then. They were hard to resist. The strawberry variety were my favorite. A classic. I do recall rainbow ones and the occasional surprise packages where you didn’t know what the flavor was until you opened it and bit in. Fun for kids, but I’m not sure I’d be so entertained by mystery food these days.
If you asked me 10 years ago if I’d ever make my own fruit leather, I might have laughed. I’m in the kitchen so much more now. Plus, having kids… that definitely changes my view on things. Within the past few years I’ve shared several homemade fruit leather options… all equally tasty! I love how you can control the sweetness and know what’s in it! No special equipment is needed either!
One day at the grocery store, the watermelons were practically screaming at me to buy them. You know the moment you see something and that’s all you think about until you pick it up and put it in your shopping cart? That. They were necessary. I knew immediately what I had to make (besides watermelon sherbet, of course)… homemade watermelon fruit leather! Because… why not?! It’s easy and I knew the entire family would love it!
Easy two ingredient watermelon fruit leather (aka fruit roll-ups), perfect for lunches or snacking! A must make for watermelon fans!
And don’t forget to make some delicious watermelon sherbet with some of the leftover watermelon juice!
Watermelon Fruit Leather
Ingredients
- 8 C watermelon cubed
- 2/3 C granulated sugar
Instructions
- Line two baking sheets with silicone baking sheets. Preheat oven to 170F°.
- Puree watermelon, draining through cheese cloth, set over a mesh strainer. Drain almost all of the liquid, reserving for another use.
- Combine watermelon solids with sugar, discarding any seeds. Blend again if needed to ensure a smooth mixture.
- Divide watermelon mixture between pans, spreading into an even layer, roughly 1/8-inch thick. Bake for 3 hours or until no longer wet, but still slightly tacky. Rotate pans 180° and swap levels each hour until they are done.
- Transfer fruit leather to a cutting board, cut into desired sizes. Store on parchment paper in an airtight container.
Notes
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AMAZING! I consumed so much fruit leather and fruit rollups as kids. Looking back, I cannot believe my mom let us eat that stuff!
Thanks Bri! :)
Perfection! I’ve made many fruit leathers but never watermelon. Looks yummy!
Have a marvelous week Rachel!
Thanks Melanie!
I cannot WAIT to try this Rachel! It’s so simple.
Thanks so much Sally! :)
Fruit leather was the premium currency for “swapping” at the lunch table when I was a kid. Somehow I think it might work at the office too ;-)
It could totally work at the office too haha
This is awesome!! Thanks for the recipe. Can’t wait to try it.
Thanks Rebecca!
Do you have a suggestion on how big to cut the pieces? 8 cups could vary greatly, depending on the size and shape of the pieces. Thanks!
I’d recommend trying to cut it down to 1-2″ pieces for easier measuring and processing. Enjoy!
I can’t believe how easy these are to make! My boys would love them!
It’s SO easy! They’d definitely love it :)
Rachel, how does everything amazing on Pinterest lead me here??? Can’t wait to try these. We always have so much watermelon coming from our garden that we don’t always know what to do with it. Now I know I can make this and your watermelon sherbet.
Aww, thanks Maria! You’re too sweet!
Rachel this is genius, love it and pinned! I want to reach through the screen and grab some! :)
Thanks so much Averie!
Oh lovely!! I love watermelon!!!
I’m guilty of doing that now!!! Probably won’t after I bake this though!
Thanks Anne! :)
I used to be addicted to fruit leather … this looks like the perfect recipe to become obsessed all over again. Yum!
It’s super easy to become addicted to (and totally worth it) :)
When you strain the watermelon do you push the juice out or just let it sit there for awhile?
You will squeeze enough out, but not all, to make 2 cups of solid watermelon. Reserve the liquid for another use.
Oh yum! I’ve made so many types of fruit leather before and thought about watermelon, but since it has so much juice, I wasn’t sure if the actual fibers would extracted enough to make the leather – now I know it can! As always, your photos are beautiful!
Thanks Amanda! If you love watermelon, then you’ll definitely love this fruit leather! :)
I love that these only have 2 ingredients! I have got to try these!
Thanks Stephanie! Enjoy! :)
Seriously the coolest idea ever. I never even thought to use watermelon in fruit leather. I love the little specks in them as if they’re seeds but obviously they’re not, haha..I really need to make fruit leather sometime :( I still haven’t gotten around to it. Boo
I love this so very much!! Fruit leather is the best- Watermelon?! You are blowing my mind!!
Yes please. I have been meaning to make some fruit leather, I just couldn’t pick a flavor. This is perfect
Wow, Rachel! This looks simply amazing! My kids will flip for these leathers. LOVE IT! Pinned!
I’m not that familiar with making fruit leather, yet. Will this work without the added sugar?
I have not personally tried it that way. All recipes I’ve seen have used some form of a sweetener.
This looks so good and your photographs are beautiful, thanks Rachel. I just picked up a watermelon yesterday – lucky me! :)
Thanks Kevin! Enjoy!! :)
i’ve never heard of fruit leather
before… what do you do with it at the end? Just eat it?
Yes, you eat it. It’s dried pureed fruit that can be cut into desired sizes.
How do you store the fruit leather? And how long does it stay fresh?
I stored mine in a standard plastic container. Typically homemade fruit leather will keep for up to a month at room temperature, or longer frozen. However, I have not personally tried freezing fruit leather and mine has also never lasted long (the family devours it). Enjoy!
Since watermelon is naturally sweet already, do we really need to add sugar? I am trying to watch my calories.
You’re welcome to try without, but I can’t promise what the result will be like.
Would honey work, instead of sugar? Has anyone tried this?
I have not personally tried using honey. However, I know other recipes do exist using it. Keep in mind when you use honey instead of granulated sugar, you need to reduce the amount. Typically it would be 1 cup honey for every 1 1/4 cup sugar, so in this case I’d recommend trying 1/2 cup honey or a tad less. Hope that helps! :)
Before I go buy my watermelons, I had a question. So one watermelon produces 2 cups of watermelon… does that mean I need 4 watermelons to make this? That seems high… anyone know?
You need 8 cups of watermelon fruit, prior to blending and straining. 2 small seedless watermelons were used for this recipe.
Hey! I cant wait to try this! but was wondering can I strain the watermelon w/o the cheese clothe?
You’re certainly welcome to try straining without the cheesecloth, but it’s recommended for best results.
Recipe looks great, excited to try. But here in Canada 170 F converts to 76.6 C and my oven doesn’t quite work like that. The lowest I can bring it down too is 170 C is that too hot still for this recipe? As I do not want the sugar to burn.
Also because I’m diabetic granulated sugar is not the best, would a substitute of splenda, Truvia baking blend work as well?? If so, what would u recommend for a measurement?
170C (or 338°F) would be far too hot for this recipe. You want it to be a low temperature so it’s gradually dehydrating the food, not cooking it. If you have access to a food dehydrator, I’d recommend trying that instead, if your oven does not go low enough. I don’t have conversions for you for alternative sweeteners, since I’ve never used them. You could simply add a little bit and keep tasting the puree until you’re satisfied with the flavor/sweetness level.
I’m from Canada too. Although we use Celsius for outside temperature, our oven temperatures are actually in Farenheit just like Americans, so your oven should do just fine.
Hi Rachel!
My girls and are making this now. I’ve never made fruit leather or used cheesecloth. Should I purée it first or strain it through the cheesecloth first?
Thanks!!!
Puree the watermelon and then drain through cheesecloth, set over a mesh strainer, as instructed in the instructions. Good luck and enjoy!
What a great recipe! Thank you :)
How long does the fruit leather last once it’s baked?
It can last several months or longer stored properly, but I doubt you’d have to worry about long term storage! :)
What is Nutritional Value of Watermelon Fruit Leathers?
I don’t offer that information. However, there are free online calculators you can use to find that information.
Sounds good but it’s a lot of sugar. I’m wondering if you couldn’t halve the sugar and replace it with some good quality unflavored gelatin and get the same results?
Gelatin shouldn’t be used in fruit leather. It’s also not a good sugar replacement. If you’re looking to reduce the amount of sugar, do just that, reduce it a bit to whatever amount you’re comfortable with. How much you need will depend on the sweetness of your fruit and how sweet you want your fruit leather to be. Good luck!
Could I use honey or something natural? I don’t want my kids eating that much sugar.
For best results, granulated sugar should be used. You can reduce the amount of sugar, but this will be at the expense of the final flavor.
Hi I just found your recipe for watermelon fruit leather perfect since I can’t upon 4 watermelons this past weekend. I have everything but the silicone baking mat. Do you know if it would be OK to bake on parchment paper? Thanks and going to try your watermelon sorbet also yum!
Some have had great success using parchment paper, while others haven’t had the best of luck. Silicone baking mats would definitely be your best bet.
Can this be put in a dehydrator?
Absolutely! Enjoy :)
I just received 3 watermelons from a food drive. They didn’t have the turnout expected so I racked up!. Watermelon is my favorite fruit! I was wondering how to use some of it up instead of using it all to make watermelon slushies. I’ll give this a go this week! Sounds and looks delicious! The apple cinnamon too! I received two bags of apples from the food drive too…apples are starting to spoil. I usually make homemade applesauce or an apple phyllo dough strudel, I’ll try the apple cinnamon version also! I’m new to your blog. Will start following you. Can’t wait to see what other goodies you create! I see how much your followers love what you do based on their commentary. Works for me too!
So glad you found me! Enjoy the fruit leather! If you’re looking for other fun watermelon recipes, I also have a watermelon sherbet recipe. :)
Could I use Splenda in this recipe? My husband is a diabetic!
I haven’t personally tried using Splenda instead, but it is typically a safe substitute in most baking recipes.