Refreshing and cool watermelon juice with a splash of lime is the perfect drink to enjoy on a hot summer day.
I was not a big fan of watermelon growing up. When my brother-in-law introduced watermelon juice to me years ago, I was reluctant to try but ended up being surprised by how delicious it was. Now I have to make watermelon juice whenever it is in season.
Growing up, watermelon was the most common fruit during the summer time in Japan. We usually spent the summer at my grandparents’ home in Osaka. They have a big backyard and I remember having watermelon seeds spitting contest with my brother to see who can spit farther.
I also remember eating watermelon with my late grandpa on the porch after helping him tend the garden. When my family went camping, we would put the watermelon in the river to cool and played a traditional Japanese game called suikawari (スイカ割り).
Suikawari is a game where everyone takes turn to smash watermelon with a stick while blindfolded. The rule is similar to piñata except you play with a watermelon. Each person is blindfolded, spun around three times, and handed a wooden stick to strike with. The first to crack the watermelon open wins, and everyone enjoys the chunks of watermelon afterwards.
Watermelon Juice – Summer Thirst Quencher
To make the watermelon juice, I first cut them into chunks and leave them in the refrigerator to chill for 1-2 hours before blending. This keeps the juice cool without having to add too much ice. I added just a spoonful of homemade simple syrup, but you can totally skip it if your watermelon is sweet enough. To bring out the flavor of the juice, I love squeezing in a splash of fresh lime juice. It is so simple yet such a refreshing and delicious way to beat the heat on a warm summer day.
Hope you try playing Suikawari and making watermelon juice this summer!
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- 2 cups watermelon (chopped)
- ¼ lime (squeeze, save Juice)
- 1 Tbsp simple syrup (See Notes)
- 1 slice lime (for garnish, optional)
- Mint leaves (for garnish optional)
Gather all the ingredients.
- Cut the watermelon into chunks removing the rind and seeds. Place the chunks into a bowl and let them cool in refrigerator for 1-2 hours.
- In blender, combine watermelon, lime juice and simple syrup and puree.
- Pour into the glass and garnish with a slice of lime and mint leaves (optional). Chill before serving if you like.
Simple syrup: You can replace simple syrup with regular sugar if you want to save the time.
If you prefer to remove pulp, strain through a fine sieve. You will also need to double the portions for each ingredient per glass.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
I think I’ve found my answer for how to survive the Texas summers! This watermelon juice looks so refreshing and perfect for beating the heat. I love your addition of mint and lime, Nami!
I would so gladly welcome a tall glass of this right now. It’s been so hot this week and I’m going through fruit like water. : )
Had no clue that such a game existed… Sounds like fun!! What a great and easy juice!
Oh we don’t beat our watermelons but we love eating them and juicing them. Lately my husband has been literally juicing them, cramming watermelon pieces into our wheat grass juices, to separate the fiber from the juice. Kids love it! Stay cool!
I want to drink this all up right now. This post is so refreshing. Love your description of the ‘watermelon-smashing’ game. I never knew about it, but now glad to learn. Thanks for sharing this thirst-quenching recipe, Nami!
This would go down SO fast and easy! I love watermelon, too! Mmmm, so good 🙂
I’m normally not much of a melon fan, but I just can’t seem to get enough of it this summer. This looks so refreshing!
So refreshing! Perfect for the summer!
Looks delicious and very refreshing.
I love watermelon juice…so refreshing in summer.. Nice presentation Nami
Love, love this recipe!! Can’t to try it 🙂
Thanks Sandra!
This looks so bright and light and delicious. I will definitely try this – sounds perfect!
Suikawari sounds like a lot of fun. Messy, but fun! I love watermelon – it’s our usual breakfast at this time of the year, and we often go through a couple of seedless ones each week. I’ve not made watermelon juice, but I must – it sounds so delsh. Very refreshing. Thanks for this!
Ooh that looks so refreshing, Nami, and the COLOUR! just beauatiful. Lovely recipe… I suppose you could add a dash of vodka, too!
Interesting game, spitting the seeds sounds like fun…
The idea of drinking a tall glass of watermelon juice with lime, make me feel cool, chill and calm. Thanks Nami, I have a huge watermelon sitting on my countertop staring at me for couple of days. We are lazy to eat it slice by slice sometimes, this is a good alternative, and you get all the nutrients in one go.
Watermelon is so refreshing, love the idea of drinking it. Yes I must play Suikawari once in my life lol. Who was that guy in the 80s who always smashed watermelons on tv?
How refreshing Nami! The summer here is killing and juices are consumed like crazy. I can get real sweet watermelon this season, and would love to try your recipe 🙂
Looks very refreshing and what a beautiful photography of the juice. It feels like I am looking at a cover of food magazine. Really nice color coordination.
My son LOVES this stuff Thank you!!!!
Thanks Cheryl! 🙂
Beautiful!!!
I love watermelon in every possible form… LOL
This juice is all what we need to beat the summer heat.
Enjoy your time with your mom…. Have Fun Nami!
Yum, this looks so refreshing! Love the vibrant color of this watermelon juice. The addition of lime and syrup make this the perfect drink to cool down with. Stunning photos too Nami 🙂
Nami, such pretty styling and the perfect thirst quencher for the summer. Suikawari sounds like good exercise too 😉
I’m glad to hear about Suikawari, I want to try it now, hahaha. It has to be so much fun. Your recipe sounds very represing.
this would go great with my watermelon rice krispie pie I posted today! what a delicious and refreshing treat!
This is so refreshingly delicious, I would love to drink it!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Watermelon juice is possibly the most refreshing beverage on the planet! this sounds like an amazing drink for a hot summer weekend. Love it!
A refreshing drink. Loves watermelon at any time.
Watermelon juice is my bosom buddy during summer time 🙂
Heart-winning colorful, cool pictures 🙂
I love watermelon juice so much! I find the extra sugar/syrup not necessary as the fruits is already very sweet. I’ve never thought about adding lime to the watermelon juice, although growing up my grandma would add it in her papaya juice. So great tidbit!
That watermelon game sounds a lot more healthy than what we see coming out of a pinata! I love watermelon juice and find it very refreshing during hot weather. I love your jar/glass, Nami xx
I love watermelon juice! It’s so refreshing. Love your addition of lime in here. Will have to try that next time I blend some up. Thanks for sharing Nami. 🙂
haha.. that game sounds like so much fun! Even better if the watermelon is super cold. We eat tons of watermelon here, since it’s rather warm and humid most days. Really cools us down and keeps us hydrated well. One of our very favourite fruits.
I’ve never heard of Suikawari before but it sounds like a fun idea for a summer picnic!
I love fruit smoothies and I think this is perfect! We get lots of watermelon all round and will buy one to make some with a dash of lime!
Suikawari is an interesting game. Will try it out, there are lots of watermelon here!
This looks so refreshing, Nami! I love the color!
Hi Nami-san, may I know where is your grandpa’s yakiniku restaurant in Osaka? Thanks.
It’s called New Matsusaka (ニュー松坂) in Umeda, Osaka. 🙂
Thanks. If I have chance, will visit your grandpa’s yakiniku shop. Are you in Osaka now?
I’m not a fan of watermelon, too. But if you were skeptical like me and you loved it, maybe I should give it a try 🙂
We have yet to buy a watermelon this season. Prices are finally getting good around here so I think this week will be our first taste of watermelon for the summer. I love the watermelon game you play… it sounds like something both kids and adults would enjoy. 🙂
The drink looks amazing. 🙂
Your story is very interesting to me, because I could have written it! 🙂 I have the exact same memories growing up in Louisiana. Granddaddy was a farmer and had a huge watermelon patch, spitting seeds (which you can’t find in watermelons today), smashing watermelons and eating the chucks… Amazing! However, two differences – I’ve always loved watermelon and my memories are AT LEAST 2 decades earlier than yours. 🙂 Great story Nami! Love the watermelon juice! The watermelons I’ve been getting this year have been so sweet that sugar hasn’t really been needed, but I do like your idea of using a simple syrup. Will definitely have to remember that as we get later in the season and the quality of the melons probably go down. Thoroughly enjoyed your post!
Hi MJ! Your comment made me very excited and happy, MJ! Two different countries with almost same summer watermelon memory! Thank you for your kind comment. xoxo
Very pretty photos Nami! I need to make this at least once this summer, I know my whole family would love it!
This is absolutely GORGEOUS! So vibrant and refreshing… We love watermelons and nothing gets my summer cravings than freshly opened aroma of watermelon. Perfection!
I absolutely love the first two photographs! This is such a great refreshing summer drink especially with seasonal watermelon fruit!
Delightful! That is the only way you’ll see me enjoying watermelon (I’m not a big fan of that fruit – too sweet and bland, in my opinion). 😉
Cheers,
Rosa
I do not like watermelon, but that looks SO refreshing! And pretty, too!!
There is an old-fashioned game in India, similar to Sukimari. The only difference is that they have an empty clay utensil for that breaking part. I am sure, this watermelon juice will cool everyone in this hot hot weather. Sometimes, simple is the best!
Nami, your watermelon juice looks just heavenly chilling… I rarely do other things than eating the watermelon as it is, apart from cocktails 😉 This drink looks perfect as it is, but I’m sure a bit of tequila of gin would go very well with watermelon too!
Oh I love watermelon juice in summer, and cocktails made with watermelon juice and diet lemonade YUM! I can’t wait for summer 🙂
LOL – the seeds spitting contest sound like fun but I don’t think I will ever win that. Watermelon juice sounds very refreshing especially since Summer is here.
Hi, this is a nice drink and I will try it… I love watermelon and I look forward to summer every year to eat a lot of it! I never tried this juice by I will.
Have a nice vacatin with your family in Japan! We will be in Italy for vacation this summer, so looking firward to it.
Ciao
A watermelon for a pinata! Now that game suddenly makes sense to me. GREG
That looks refreshing! Perfect for summer.
Oh Nami, summer is sizzling here and I couldn’t be happier, although a large glass of this refreshing watermelon juice would certainly make the warm evening even better. Happy summer to you!
I love watermelon but I never had watermelon juice – such a great idea and looks so refreshing!
I don’t remember having a lot of fruit in our house growing up but we always seemed to have watermelon when we grilled. This looks delicious and perfect for our hot weather.
How refreshing! And I just bought a huge watermelon today, too!
I love watermelon during the warm summer months. I remember eating watermelon with my grandma and swinging on the porch swing. She always sprinkled a little salt on her watermelon. Your recipe looks similar to a recipe I posted recently. Watermelon makes such a great agua Fresca.
Looks delicious! I can drink this the whole summer. I grew up enjoying watermelon because it was so abundant in the Philippines. My grandma used to make it to juice for me. Good memories…!
suikawari sounds like fun. At least, it’s “healthier” than piñata! hahaha….cos the kids get to eat some fruit, and not candies, afterwards. 😛 My family is huge fans of watermelon anything; Juice, chunks, balls, frozen, salad, etc. Good that you like watermelon juice now. It’s so refreshing. I love your childhood memories associate with watermelon. hehehe….although the seed spitting contest, sounds like fun, I hate watermelon with seeds. 😛
This really makes me miss summer even more, love this but I will have to wait until watermelon is in season.
You played some waaaay cool watermelon games when you were a kid!
Aside from mangoes, watermelon IS the ultimate summer fruit with or without alcohol hehe
I love watermelon juice but never drank it as a child. We always ate it and spit out the seeds to see whose seed went the farthest. Maybe that’s too much information. 🙂
Hi Nami. I just made this juice and it was really good and incredibly refreshing. My 2-year-old loved it too! Thanks for the great idea!
Hi Laura! Yay, so happy to hear your son liked it! Thank you so much for letting me know, Laura! 🙂
:O I thought watermelon was something that everyone likes! haha…. Suikawari sounds like such a fun game!! I remember seeing it in some anime and thinking that it would be pretty dangerous since you’d need to whack a lot harder than with a pinata 😉 Mmm….your watermelon juice looks delicious too! 😀
The title sums it up. They can´t be anything but amazing
I’m going to try this when summer comes back in December! I can feel that it will dissolve the heat down to my throat. 🙂
I’m with you Nami , I do not enjoy so much eating watermelon, but I love watermelon juice.
Combined with lime juice there is nothing more delicious and refreshing in summer!
Nami, this is one gorgeous drink! I love that bright vibrant color!
Nami, great job for making a glass of simple refreshing watermelon juice look so fantabulous!
Hi Nami, I always like to eat all the seeds and store them in my mouth and then “machine-gun” them out at my target… sister, wife, cat… nothing is safe from my game!
We bought a watermelon this weekend but surprisingly, ended up eating almost all of it already. I was considering making a juice when I bought it, so it’s very fortuitous timing that you posted this. They’re very cheap at the moment so I’ll probably buy more and make juice next time.
Hahahahaha! Machine-gun… that’s a good trick! I can see myself competing with my younger brother. 😀
Watermelon is not cheap in Japan, so I don’t see myself making it into juice… 😉
Watermelon and lime!! One of my newest favorite flavor combos… I had no idea they went so well together. Love this!!
Why have I never thought of this before? This is a fantastic idea! And the perfect way to beat the heat in the summer.
The perfect beverage for summer! I love watermelon!
I love watermelon juice! It’s sooooo refreshing, and makes a nice mixer when it comes to cocktails.
This is such a refreshing, summery, treat! It has been SO hot around here for the past week. I think this drink would be just the thing for us right now!
What a gorgeous color! Just beautiful! Are you having fun in Japan?
watermelon juices is perfect for our hot weather here too, and my son Desmond love watermelon juices a lot. Suikawari game sound very fun!
I think this would be the best summer drink, so refreshing! Then just for fun, add a splash of tequila, rum or vodka….YUM! Delicious, Hugs, Terra
This juice looks absolutely incredible!!
Very refreshing juice.. awesome clicks as always 🙂
Watermelon is one of my favorite fruits. I can probably eat a whole one by myself!
This was really refreshing, but next time I don’t think I’ll add any sugar.
Thank you so much for trying this recipe Alex! Yes, if the watermelon is already very sweet naturally, you do not need to add sugar or syrup at all. 🙂
Enjoyed reading this. I went to Japan only once to visit my grandparents with my family, but since I was only five at the time, I don’t remember much. However I do have a photo where we are all sitting around eating watermelon!
Hi Julie! I hope you get to visit Japan again! Thank you so much for sharing your story. I need to take many pictures when we’re in Japan, so that kids will remember when they grow up… 🙂
I am super glad that I discovered your site! I loooooove watermelon, and I was surprised by how easy it was to make such a refreshing juice. I’ll be drinking this for the rest of the summer!
Hi Lom! Thank you, and welcome to my blog! I”m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Have a happy summer! 🙂
Very useful page. Cook what you like no matter you know how to cook or not.
Thank you for your kind words!