This Boozy Watermelon Lime Granita is part cocktail, part dessert. The perfect, frozen adult treat for hot summer days.
Boozy Watermelon Lime Granita
Sweet, juicy watermelons are one of the best things about summer. I love eating watermelon by itself, but it also makes an excellent base for a fruity drink. For some more refreshing watermelon drinks, try Chia Watermelon Fresca or Watermelon Agua Fresca. And for when you want a cocktail, my Watermelon Martinis are delicious.
This Boozy Watermelon Lime Granita is part cocktail and part dessert – such a refreshing way to cool off during the hot summer. Made with just four ingredients – watermelon, lime, rum, and sugar – this watermelon ice dessert is like a grown-up slushie. If you have my first cookbook (affil link), I have a non-alcoholic version of this!
What is a granita made of?
A granita is an Italian dessert, originally from Sicily, similar to a slushie. Granitas are made of sugar, liquid and flavored with fruit. They can be eaten with a spoon or drunk through a straw. Granitas have a coarser, icier texture than sorbet.
How to make a granita
Granitas do not have to contain alcohol. To make this watermelon granita recipe, start by putting the watermelon, lime juice, rum, and sugar in a blender and process until smooth. Pour the puree into a 9” x 9” metal baking pan and freeze for about 1 1/2 hours.
Use a fork to scrape the mixture around. Put the pan back in the freezer and freeze until almost set for 1 to 2 hours. Scrape the granita again with a fork to form chunky snow-like ice crystals. Freeze and repeat scraping every hour or so until the entire mixture is frozen and shaved. Serve in martini glasses and garnish with watermelon wedges and mint.
Variations:
- Sub the rum with tequila or vodka.
- You can change up the granita’s flavor by substituting the watermelon with a different fruit. Strawberry and lemon are other popular granita flavors.
- To make a non-alcoholic granita, leave the booze out!
More Watermelon Recipes You’ll Love:
- Watermelon “Pizza” with Feta and Balsamic
- Watermelon Feta Arugula Salad in Jars
- Ahi Tuna Watermelon Salad
- Grilled Peach and Watermelon Burrata Salad
- Watermelon Cucumber Feta Salad
Boozy Watermelon Lime Granita
Ingredients
- 4 1/2 cups cubed seedless watermelon
- 1 lime, juiced
- 2/3 cup white rum
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 6 small watermelon wedges, for garnish
- mint leaves, for garnish
Instructions
- Place the watermelon, lime juice, rum and sugar in a blender and process until smooth, then pour the puree into a 9 x 9 metal baking pan.
- Freeze for about 1 1/2 hours, then using a fork, give it a good scrape to mix everything around.
- Return the pan to the freezer and freeze until almost set, for about 1 to 2 hours. Use a fork to scrape the granita to form chunky snow-like ice crystals.
- Freeze and repeat occasional scraping until the entire mixture is frozen and shaved.
- Serve in martini glasses and garnish with watermelon wedges and mint.
- Store, covered in plastic wrap, until ready to serve.
Perfect for a pool day. It did take much longer than 1 1/2 hours to freeze. I enjoyed mine the next day and it was frozen after being in the freezer overnight.
Easy to make and so yummy! I substituted tequila for the rum as we were having Mexican. Great recipe!
Do you think there would be any problem with making this ahead of time and freezing a day or two later? I want to make it and transport to our vacation destination and then freeze.
should be fine
Thanks!
Would any pan work for this, like a glass pan maybe? Or does it have to be metal?
Glass might be ok, I worry about it cracking
Sounds great! Can I use a ceramic dish instead of metal to freeze it? Thanks!
How far in advance could you complete the final step? I’d love to make this on Christmas Eve ready for after Christmas lunch!
This was so delicious!! Perfect amount of rum, sugar, and watermelon!
Great!!!
Awesome recipe! So good!
I’m so excited to try this, but I don’t have a 9×9” pan. If using a 13×9” pan, how would you adjust? Freeze for less time?
Yes, I think that would be fine.
This is so fun and easy! Great flavors – the addition of fresh mint really elevates it. Love seeing easy skinny cocktail recipes on your site every once in a while. 🙂
Could you use an ice cream maker instead of freezing it in the pan?
Wow! So good on a hot day. Highly recommend this recipe.
Great recipe! My watermelon was more pink than red unfortunately, so I added about a tablespoon more sugar to mine, to make it a little sweeter. Worked perfectly, for anyone else that can’t get really good watermelons. This is definitely not a weak slushy, you can taste the rum. It reminded me exactly of being in Jamaica, which is perfect right now. Thank you Gina!
Delicious! Love the drink recipes!
Yum! I bet this would be fantastic with tequila as well.
I try to keep carbs as low as possible, but this sounds like such a good summer thing, so would it be possible to do this with Stevia or other no carb ingredient or does it really require the sugar to get the texture right?