There’s nothing quite like watermelon on a sunny day. That’s why I love to sip on this watermelon slushie all summer long. It’s cold, slightly sweet, fresh, and you can switch it up with a lot of different fun flavors, or even make it into a cocktail too!
Watermelon is one of my all-time favorite fruits. It’s so juicy and fresh. I love eating it on warm days.
Turning watermelon into a slushie drink is actually pretty easy. Watermelon freezes really well so it’s great to have some in the freezer to throw into drinks like this.

How To Make Watermelon Slushies
For this watermelon slushie, what you do is to cut the watermelon into cubes and then freeze the cubes until frozen right through. That will take a minimum of 2 hours, but I find it best to just freeze it overnight. I’ll also say that it will be easier to puree the frozen watermelon chunks if you freeze them flat so that they’re not all in a clump stuck to each other.
To make the slushie, you put the frozen watermelon chunks, some ice, lemon juice, water, and sugar into a blender and whiz it up. That’s pretty much it!
Slushie Variations
Now, if you want to make some fun watermelon slushie variations, it’s really easy to do. You can substitute some flavored seltzer water for the water. Any flavor will work but I really like to use strawberry or lime. I haven’t tried coconut yet but I bet it would be good too!
Another thing that you can do is to turn the slushie into a cocktail. Substitute 1 cup of vodka for the 1 cup of water. One cup is the equivalent of 8 ounces. So you’re putting about 8 shots of vodka in there. Since the drink serves 6, that means that each drink will have a little more than an ounce of vodka, which is perfect for me.
My final idea, and this one is my favorite and the one that I do most often, is to put some wine in there. Make sure the wine is really really cold. I put it in the freezer for 45 minutes so that the bottle is almost ready to turn into slush inside. Then add 2 cups of wine instead of the 1 cup of water. I like to either omit the sugar and use a sweet wine like Moscato or a sweet Riesling. Or, leave the sugar in and use a dry white wine like a Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio.
Whether you make this drink as a daytime slushie or a nighttime cocktail, I’m sure you’re going to love all the summery flavors.
Enjoy!
Christine :)
Print
Watermelon Slushie
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Beverage
- Method: Blended
- Cuisine: American
DESCRIPTION
There’s nothing quite like watermelon on a sunny day. That’s why I love to sip on this watermelon slushie all summer long. It’s cold, slightly sweet, fresh, and you can switch it up with a lot of different fun flavors, or even make it into a cocktail too! (See the notes at the bottom for how to add alcohol).
Ingredients
- 5 cups of watermelon cubes
- 1 cups ice cubes
- 1 cup water*
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 2 Tbsp. sugar
Instructions
- Put the watermelon cubes into a plastic zip top bag and then into the freezer until frozen, at least 2 hours.
- Put the watermelon, ice cubes, water, lemon juice, and sugar into a blender and whiz it around until it’s smooth. Serve immediately.
Notes
*Instead of plain water, you can use a flavored seltzer water. My favorites to use here are a strawberry or lime flavored seltzer.
*For a White Wine Watermelon Slushie: Use 2 cups of white wine instead of the 1 cup of water. Anything that you like the flavor of for drinking will work here. I like to exclude the sugar and use a Moscato or a Riesling, or leave the sugar in and use a Sauvignon Blanc.
*For a Watermelon Slushie Cocktail: Use 1 cup of vodka instead of the water. That ends up being 8 ounces of vodka, so each serving has a little more than 1 ounce of vodka in it. Enjoy!
This recipe originally appeared in June 2013 and was revised and republished in March 2021.


Sharon says
This looks like the perfect drink for a summer evening get together.
Christine Pittman says
Absolutely, Sharon!
Denise says
Definitely late to the party here, but I’ve done this with 1 c (higher quality) Vodka and it was amazing. You can do it w/o freezing the watermelon, just puree it in a food processor
Natalie says
This looks like an incredibly yummy recipe, too bad summer grilling season is over, it would be perfect. Will definitely make in future.
Thanks
★★★★
Andrea says
Love this! Like a margarita, but without the tequila headache the following day! I would totally make this!
Christine Pittman says
Andrea, No tequila headache here! It’s true. This is as refreshing as a frozen margarita but not nearly as boozy. You can also use soda water in the last step instead of adding more wine if you want it to have even less alcohol.
Shaina says
This would be so so so good with either a riesling or moscato. I love watermelon and wine, duh. What a good refreshing summer drink idea!
Helene D'souza says
I met some great blogging friends online too. The internet is a great enrichment to our lives no? ;)
What a neat drink! Lovely addition of wine, that should keep me busy ^.^
★★★★★
Liz says
What a fantastic way to keep cool on a hot summer night…such a beautiful color, too!
Paula says
Talk about a refreshing and tantalizing drink!
Jane's Adventures in Dinner says
Oh! This just made me want to see you even more.
★★★★★
Rachel @ I Love My Disorganized Life says
This drink sounds very refreshing, perfect for summer!
Cathy Pollak ~ Noble Pig says
I love that this uses watermelon which is something I could exist on during the summer! I have never tried watermelon, lemon and wine together….I guess I’ll have to make it my homework!