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What can you do with melon rind?

linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago)

13 years ago

I read somewhere on here that it is good in stir fries. As a kid my mom made watermelon pickle, but I was wondering if there were more uses.

I have a big yellow cantaloupe that has a lot of white rind: seems like a shame to waste it. And, do you keep the peel, or cut that off? I washed it very well with soap before cutting it up.

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Comments (12)

thatchairlady
13 years ago
Don't know about cantaloupe rinds, but remember my Grandmother making watermelon pickles. ALL of the green was pared off outside. Pretty much just white part. Cooked in a sugar syrup with... vinegar and stuff??? other stuff. Think I'm gonna google some recipes before I buy next watermelon.
cooksnsews
13 years ago
Compost it???
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The rind of any watermelon has no flavor, nor nutritional value, that I have been able to discern in my research so far, so I doubt that the color of the edible fruit has anything to do with making pickles from the rind. You really have nothing to lose. Nancy
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pkramer60
13 years ago
You can also chunk it up, put it on a plate and place it in your garden to feed the butterflies. the same for any too ripe fruit.
seagrass_gw Cape Cod
13 years ago
I have an 8 month Aussie pup who thinks the garden and compost pile is snackville. She'd chew the melon rinds right along with the orange peels, eggshells, cherry tomatoes, dropped pears and summer squash.

She's more of a pest than the deer and the rabbits lol.

seagrass
lbpod
13 years ago
AWWWWW. . . Seagrass, could you post a picture???
Please, Please, Please???
I love animals more than life itself, and your
Aussie sounds like such an adorable creature.
Please ?
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
13 years ago
Melon rinds are delicious. I have posted many using watermelon rinds.

I also enjoy Honeydew and Cantaloupe rinds.

I often look for melons which are not very ripe for cooking. You do need to peel of the thin skin first. The skin can be tough.

Dcarch

Cantaloupe with Chicken.
Honeydew with oyster mushrooms
carol_in_california
13 years ago
My worms in the worm farms love melon skins.
lindac
13 years ago
If a cantelope has a lot of white next to the rind...it's not ripe. I have a little bit left of the most wonderful melon....orange right to the tough rind.

I can't find any flavor to water melon rind....unless you make watermelon pickles....and then it absorbs that wonderful sweet/sour spicy flavor!...I must make some this summer!

It hurts me to toss watermelon rind, but if the melon is good and ripe, there's not much left on the skin....and I rarely have anything left of a musk melon or a honey dew but the skin.
linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago)
Original Author
13 years ago
Oh, those photos look SO tasty! Dcarch, it must have been your recipes I saw. Thanks!

I misspoke when I said cantelope. It is a golden honeydew, which has flesh that is mostly white to begin with.
donna_in_sask
13 years ago
I'm going to sound like a crank, but I eat foods for their flavour. I won't use bland melon rinds and season it up to make it palatable. I feed those scraps to my compost bin, so none of it goes to waste.
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
13 years ago
Posted by Donna.in.Sask "I'm going to sound like a crank, but I eat foods for their flavour. I won't use bland melon rinds and season it up to make it palatable. ---"

I would not say I totally disagree with you. Melon rinds happen to have a lot of nutrition and flavor and can pair well with other foods.

Also, texture is important in the eating experience. For instance, Iceberg lettuce has not much taste, and risotto rice has 0 taste.

dcarch
linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago)
Original Author
13 years ago
Texture is one of the elements I really enjoy in asian cooking. Water chestnuts don't have much flavor either.

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