Viral no-churn watermelon ice cream uses just 2 ingredients: Here's how to make it
This sweet frozen watermelon dessert can be made in under five minutes.
No-churn watermelon ice cream has been filling up social media feeds recently and could be a contender for the most refreshing viral recipe trend of summer.
The concept, much like other viral recipes with mass appeal, is simple: Combine minimal, easy-to-find ingredients with an uncomplicated technique.
This one -- as hundreds of users on TikTok and Instagram have shown in the last week -- starts with half of a watermelon that's been scooped to create a bowl-like indent and frozen overnight. Milk or heavy cream are added to the frozen watermelon, and a few minutes of scraping the two together yields a simple chilled sweet treat.
Content creator Alexa Santos, known on for her viral recipes as @alexawhatsfordinner, tried her hand at the frozen watermelon dessert, sharing a video of her step-by-step guide that has since amassed more than 32,000 likes.
"Many people in the comment section didn't believe it actually works, but I promise it really does," Santos told ABC News. "It just takes about five minutes of stirring, scraping, and it turns into ice cream like magic. It's creamy, light, refreshing and really fun to make."
Technically speaking, since this recipe uses fruit as the majority base and minimal dairy, this is actually closer to sherbet than ice cream -- but the social media comments section can handle that debate.
Nicole Keshishian, creator of Kale Junkie, who regularly dishes up the latest internet sensations across her various social media pages and website, made her version of the frozen watermelon trend using almond milk to make it dairy free.
How to make the viral 2-ingredient watermelon ice cream
Ingredients
1 watermelon, cut in half
1 cup heavy cream or milk
Honey, for drizzling
Directions
Cut the watermelon in half, and then scoop out a large bowl-like dent in the middle of one of the halves. Wrap that half in plastic wrap and place in the freezer overnight.
Once fully frozen, remove the plastic wrap. Pour cream or milk into the bowl-like dent of the watermelon.
Stir the cream while scraping the frozen watermelon to get the watermelon incorporated into the cream. Continue until the cream turns light pink and frozen.
Scoop into bowls and top with honey. Serve and enjoy immediately!