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Pickled Watermelon Rind

June 28, 2021 By Lisa Kitahara 18 Comments

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Looking for a way to use up watermelon rinds? Here's a delicious way to make Japanese-style pickled watermelon rinds!

I love pickles of all kinds- but by far my favourite are pickling watermelon rinds! They're like cucumbers, but sweeter making it the perfect snack or side dish.

How to Make Pickled Watermelon Rinds

The Ingredients (+ substitutions)

  • Watermelon Rinds
  • Salt: you need about 2% of salt of the total weight of watermelon rinds
  • Rice Vinegar
  • Maple Syrup: or with sugar
  • Japanese mustard powder: or mustard of choice
  • Sesame oil

Variations

Here are some additional ingredients and seasonings you can add!

  • Soy sauce
  • Kombu Mentsuyu
  • Garlic cloves
  • Hawk claw pepper: for an
  • Black pepper: for slightly spicier version
  • Olive oil: instead of sesame oil, swap for olive oil for a different aroma

The Directions

  1. Wash the outside of the watermelon well. Slice the green parts off and then slice into equal sized pieces of your choice. Place in a reusable bag or large ziplock bag and add 2% of salt of the total weight of the watermelon (in this case, 18g). Rub the salt in and shake the bag. Place in the fridge overnight.
  2. The next day, remove 90% of the water in the bag. Add the rice vinegar, maple syrup, mustard powder and sesame oil. Let it sit in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

More pickles to try:

  • Japanese Soy Pickled Cucumbers

SAVE IT FOR LATER! ↓

If you recreate this Japanese Style Pickled Watermelon Rinds recipe let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment and rating below or by tagging me on Instagram @Okonomikitchen, I love seeing all of your tasty recreations!
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Pickled Watermelon Rinds


★★★★★

5 from 18 reviews

  • Author: Lisa Kitahara
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Description

Looking for a way to use up watermelon rinds? Here's a delicious way to make Japanese-style pickled watermelon rinds!


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 2 lbs of watermelon rind (907g)
  • 18g (2% of watermelon rind weight) salt
  • 3 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 2 - 2 ½ tablespoon maple syrup (depending on how sweet you like it)
  • 2 tsp Japanese mustard power
  • 1 ½ tbsp sesame oil (or olive oil)

Optional add-ins:

  • 1 ½ tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp kombu mentsuyu
  • 1 crushed garlic clove
  • 1 hawk claw pepper (Takanotsume chili pepper)
  • dijon / regular mustard instead of Japanese mustard
  • black pepper

Instructions

  1. Wash the outside of the watermelon well. Slice the green parts off and then slice into equal sized pieces of your choice. Place in a reusable bag or large ziplock bag and add 2% of salt of the total weight of the watermelon (in this case, 18g). Rub the salt in and shake the bag. Place in the fridge overnight.
  2. The next day, remove 90% of the water in the bag. Add the rice vinegar, maple syrup, mustard powder and sesame oil. Let it sit in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Notes

  • Helpful Equipment: pickling jars, reusable bags
  • Nutritional Information Disclaimer: Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated on an online tool (Cronometer). 

Did you make this recipe?

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Reader Interactions

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    Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

  1. Kiki+M says

    June 30, 2021 at 11:15 am

    Very refreshing!!! Thank you Lisa for expanding my food range through such fun and tasty (and easy to make!!!) recipes 🙂

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  2. Susan says

    July 01, 2021 at 7:37 pm

    So, I got a watermelon yesterday that was £1 per 1kg...got it weighed at the checkout and it cost £10.87!! So I'm very pleased to have this recipe available to get as much value out of the watermelon as possible! Ha. I made it in a mason jar as my zip lock bags weren't big enough and used the same weight as the recipe (so did bin a lot of rind, but I got tired of chopping!lol) I didn't add any mustard as I'm not a huge fan and I saw on your Instagram that mustard is a recent addition to the recipe. Had some with dinner tonight and it was really tasty and refreshing. I really enjoyed it and it was worth the effort. I wanted to make the other watermelon dish, but I think the texture of this one wouldn't have cooked well. So I've blended some for juice, got some in the fridge to snack on and froze a bunch too. So if you have any recipes on frozen watermelon, I'm always happy to try more of your recipes! 🙂 x

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  3. Emma Daisy says

    July 02, 2021 at 12:24 am

    This is my new favorite way to eat watermelon period! I don't even care about the middle part of the fruit anymore 😂. Love this recipe so much--so refreshing and addictive.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  4. Hanna says

    July 05, 2021 at 6:59 pm

    I always love a good food waste reduction tip! I may have salted it a bit too heavily but it was still very very tasty. It goes perfectly with the watermelon katsu and also by it’s own as a snack! 🙂

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  5. Angie says

    July 06, 2021 at 12:49 pm

    This was so easy and delicious, and it seems like I'm eating 90% of the watermelon now that I honestly feel like I'm pulling off some great food heist. I omitted mustard because I didn't have any, and it still tastes delicious. I also tested out some leaving some pink watermelon on and some that were just rind and both taste equally yummy. Tangy, sweet, crunchy, refreshing. It's similar in flavor to liang ban cucumber salad my mom makes for us at home, but a bit sweeter.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  6. Caitlin says

    July 07, 2021 at 4:37 pm

    Super easy and delicious! When I told my mom about this recipe she was skeptical, although she does love pickled foods. Therefore she was willing to give it a try. It was really quick to make. I put only a drizzle of maple syrup and a teaspoon of Dijon mustard in the bag of watermelon rinds. It’s so delicious with rice!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  7. Caitlin says

    July 07, 2021 at 5:38 pm

    Super easy and quick to make! When I told my mom about this recipe she was skeptical, although she does love pickled foods. Therefore she was willing to give it a try. It was really quick to make. I put only a drizzle of maple syrup and a teaspoon of Dijon mustard in the bag of watermelon rinds. It’s so delicious with rice!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  8. Andressa says

    July 22, 2021 at 5:17 am

    Uma delícia e super prático de fazer 🤤 🤤 amei

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  9. Brooke says

    August 12, 2021 at 1:50 pm

    So refreshing and addictive! I love trying to minimize my waste in the kitchen so utilizing the rind in this recipe had me so excited. I was out of ground mustard but wanted a kick so I added a bit of pepper flake. Can’t wait to try this again with the mustard addition!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  10. Jay says

    August 15, 2021 at 8:29 pm

    So easy, refreshing, and tasty! They make a great snack. I used 1/4 of a watermelon and weighed it to find the right amount of salt. I used dijon mustard instead of mustard powder and eyed it & the other ingredients since it wasn’t a whole watermelon. I never thought to use watermelon rind before. I’ll definitely do it again 🙂

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  11. Lindsey says

    August 17, 2021 at 12:56 am

    This is the second time I’ve made this recipe this year and I can’t stop craving it! I think I like pickled watermelon better than pickled cucumber now!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  12. Mari says

    August 20, 2021 at 3:27 am

    When I read some comments about these pickles being better than the actual fruit itself, I assumed it was an exaggeration. Spoiler alert - it's not. As a two person household, I use to hesitate to buy a whole watermelon (also because they're so expensive in Japan!) but thanks to these pickles, I don't any longer. Obviously, I enjoy the fruit itself but these pickles are next-level. I used homemade fermented mustard in place of the powder but otherwise followed the recipe exactly!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  13. Sarah says

    August 30, 2021 at 7:13 am

    I’m not vegan, but I find myself visiting this blog whenever I want to eat clean. Tried these pickled watermelon rinds last week, and they’re def gooood! Thank you for sharing, Lisa! 😊🍉

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  14. Zoey M says

    August 30, 2021 at 6:36 pm

    these watermelon rinds were sooo good! i've been trying to reduce my food waste and these picked rinds were perfect! they're also super easy to make:)they were so yummy and refreshing. seriously the perfect palate cleanser !

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  15. SAEMI amazake says

    September 07, 2021 at 2:03 am

    This is my grandma's taste! In south part of Japan, there is kind of culture that they use the food maximum in order to not waste the food, especially, my grandma's generation. Lisa's recipe reminds me my young memories in local town. Absolutely, high recommended to make it! Delicious and less waste food !yay!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  16. Sarah P says

    September 07, 2021 at 10:22 am

    I usually love the southern-style (US) pickled watermelon rinds, but this is SO MUCH EASIER and tastes way more interesting. I leave less of the red of the watermelon on because it gets a little slimy after storing the pickles for a few days.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  17. Helena says

    June 15, 2022 at 7:29 pm

    I love this recipe and have made it a bunch of times. Excited that it's watermelon season again! I reuse the brine a couple times and it works great.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  18. Yvie says

    September 01, 2022 at 3:50 pm

    Amazing! So delicious and refreshing! The flavor and texture are fantastic! Such a simple recipe and a great way to reduce food waste!!!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

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