There’s more than one way to enjoy fresh watermelon! While most people eat the fruit inside a watermelon, you can also eat the rind, enjoy watermelon in savory dishes and get creative with watermelon carvings year-round.

Note: The post is sponsored by the National Watermelon Promotional Board. All opinions are our own. 

It’s hard to think of summer and not think of taking a bite of a slice of refreshing watermelon. The two are a perfect match.

But what about the rest of the year? While you may think of watermelon as a summer fruit, it’s grown in warm climates making it available year-round!

While snacking on fresh watermelon has always been a go-to, there are other great ways to enjoy watermelons – and not just the flesh. 100% of a watermelon is usable and compostable! That’s right, you can even use that watermelon rind.

Before you toss any part of your watermelon in the trash, here are 3 unconventional ways to use it.

Watermelon Rind Recipes

Did you know watermelon rinds can be added to stir-frys, stewed and pickled for a delicious way to add flavor and cut down on food waste? We put the watermelon rind to the test in two creative recipes – Baked Fish Tacos with Watermelon Rind Slaw and Instant Pot Watermelon Rind BBQ Sauce. Both had rave reviews from our team and kid chefs.

Baked Fish Tacos with Watermelon Rind Slaw
Instant Pot Watermelon Rind BBQ Sauce

The best part? We had these yummy watermelon-infused recipes AND got to snack on all the fresh watermelon. Win-win!

For more watermelon rind recipes, like Watermelon Rind Stir Fry, Watermelon Rind Kimchi and more, visit watermelon.org.

Go Savory with Watermelon

Watermelon is known for being a sweet, refreshing summer treat, but there are tons of ways to use watermelon in savory dishes. Here are a few of our favorites:

Watermelon Poke Bowl

Slow Cooker Korean BBQ Pork Lettuce Wraps

Watermelon Rind Quiche

Nachos with Watermelon Avocado Salsa

Watermelon Pulled Lamb Sliders

Spiralized Cucumber & Watermelon Salad

Watermelon Carvings for Halloween

Move over, pumpkins! Watermelons are taking over this Halloween. Whether you’re feeling witchy, want to keep things under wrap like a mummy, or are making Frankenstein the center of your party, a watermelon carving is where it’s at!

Although we can’t let Halloween have all the fun. Over on watermelon.org, you can find carving ideas on everything from football helmets and Spider-Man to sharks and submarines. Check out a few of our all-time favorites below!

Shark Watermelon Carving

Rabbit Carving for Easter

Football Helmet

Beach Bucket

Watermelon Grill

Watermelon Snowman for Christmas

Find more recipes, carving patterns and inspiration at watermelon.org. Follow the Watermelon Board on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.