Last updated on January 25th, 2026

You know when you cut up a watermelon and then you have 37 pounds of it?! Only, every time! The kids only want to eat so much watermelon…so, what to do with it? Make Watermelon Lime Ice Cream! This ice cream was shockingly easy to make and requires no churning! There’s that limey punch and then that sweetness of the watermelon – it’s just the perfect combo! There’s some chunk for texture and then that creamy ice creamy taste we all know and love! A total success and my kids were super happy!

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What ingredients do I need?

Watermelon
Lime
Sweetened Condensed Milk
Heavy Whipping Cream
Vanilla
Salt

How do I make this?

To prep the watermelon:

The very first thing you need to do, and this is the most important step – is to freeze your cubed watermelon for 2 hours. Lay it out on a large baking sheet with some parchment paper, ensuring the watermelon don’t touch. Then pop it in the freezer and wait!

Watermelon chunks on a baking sheet with parchment paper

To make the watermelon lime ice cream:

Next, in a large bowl, beat heavy cream on high until stiff peaks form. Don’t overbeat it! Whisk in the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla.

In a large blender, pulse the frozen watermelon, lime juice, zest, and salt, until a slushie mixture forms. You can blend it completely if you’d like or you can leave a little bit of chunk in there like I did.

A large bowl of heavy cream next to a large blender full of watermelon slushie mix

Carefully fold half the watermelon mixture into the bowl with the cream and whisk until combined. Then, fold in the rest and whisk until thoroughly mixed.

Watermelon slushie mixture in a large bowl of heavy cream that's been beaten, next to a blender

To freeze it:

At this point, you’ll want to find yourself a nice airtight container, or use a loaf pan to store your ice cream. A loaf pan is good because it’s easier to scoop the ice cream when you want to eat it and because of the metal exterior, it gets super cold! A loaf pan, however, typically will not have a lid so you will have to wrap the ice cream up really well with saran wrap.

Pour the ice cream in and leave a bit of space at the top. Before wrapping, cut a piece of parchment paper to size and lay it directly over the ice cream. This helps keep the air away from the ice cream to prevent freezer burn.

Once the ice cream is covered with the parchment paper, wrap the loaf pan extremely well with saran wrap and finally, label and date.

Watermelon Lime Ice Cream in a loaf pan with parchment paper on the top

Watermelon Lime Ice Cream in a loaf pan with saran wrap wrapped all around it

Next, we need to freeze our ice cream for no less than 5 hours or up to overnight. After it freezes, you’re ready to eat! Enjoy!

Watermelon Lime Ice Cream that's been scooped on a marble counter with watermelon and lime nearby

Tips for this Watermelon Lime Ice Cream:

It’s really important that every time you open up your ice cream to scoop some and eat it, you get it back into the freezer as soon as possible. This helps to keep the ice cream fresh and safe from freezer burn. The abrupt thaw and unthaw will start to compromise the flavor of the ice cream if too excessive.
Store the ice cream in the coldest part of your freezer such as the very bottom corner.
Don’t skip the parchment paper step!
When you first open your ice cream up after the freeze, you may see some air bubbles on the surface which is perfectly normal!
Because this recipe doesn’t have any stabilizers like egg – it does only last for a few weeks. There are plenty of alternative ways to make homemade ice cream though if you’d like something longer lasting or if you don’t mind having to churn it.

If you liked this, check out some of my other easy, creamy desserts!