Fruit
Watermelon
SandíaSíndriaCitrullus lanatus
Over 90% of a watermelon is water, and it's still a struggle to carry one home. Once cut it won't ripen any further: what you see is what you get.
When
Around: Jun–Sept · At its best: Jul–Aug
Around: May–Sept · At its best: Jul–Aug
Around: Dec–Mar · At its best: Jan–Feb
Around here
Early-season watermelons usually come from Almería and Murcia, the big growing areas; by high summer there are some from closer farms. Seedless now rules, but the dark seeded kind still has fans who swear it tastes better.
At the market
- Look for the patch where it lay on the ground: creamy yellow is good; white or greenish means it was picked early.
- It should feel heavy for its size.
- Knock on it: a deep, hollow sound is what you want; a dull thud is bad news.
- If buying it cut, look for deep red, glossy flesh with no white or mealy patches.
At home
- Whole, out of the fridge in a cool spot: it keeps one or two weeks.
- Cut, covered with cling film in the fridge: three or four days.
- Cubed in a sealed tub; handier, and it gets eaten sooner.
If you have too much
- Granita: frozen cubes blended with lime and a little sugar.
- Freeze seedless cubes on a tray; thawed they lose texture, so they're only for drinks and granitas.
- Juice or agua fresca: blend, strain and add lime and ice.
- The white rind can be pickled in vinegar with sugar and spices.
In the kitchen
- In wedges, well chilled, at the beach or by the pool.
- Watermelon salad with feta, mint and red onion.
- Watermelon gazpacho, with tomato and cucumber.
- Griddled for a few seconds a side, with flaky salt.
- On skewers with melon and cured ham.
What it brings
Per 100 g, raw.
- Energy
- 30 kcal
- Water
- 91% water
- Carbs
- 7.6 g
- Sugars
- 6.2 g
- Fibre
- 0.4 g
- Protein
- 0.6 g
Stands out for
It isn't a «source» of anything by the EU rules: you eat it because it's good, which is plenty.
Data from the USDA (FoodData Central). See the full table ↗ · How we decide what stands out
Goes with
- MelonJun–SeptPicking a melon is famously a lottery, and there's some truth in that. But they don't all behave alike: cantaloupes keep ripening at home, while piel de sapo barely does.
- CucumberJun–SeptBotanically it's a fruit, like its cousin the melon. What it tells you most is about cold: it likes being cool, but in a very cold fridge it goes soft and pitted.
- TomatoJun–OctAn August tomato and a January one only share the colour. And a good tomato's worst enemy isn't winter: it's your fridge.