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Watermelon Rind Pickles | The Kitchen Gent

Watermelon Rind Kool-Aid Pickles

Leftover watermelon rinds are given a new lease on life by boiling them with vinegar, spices, and...Kool-Aid? It works, trust me!
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 3 pints

Equipment

  • 3 pint-sized Mason jars

Ingredients
  

  • 2 lbs watermelon rind (from a roughly 5-lb watermelon)
  • 1 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp black peppercorns
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 4 tsp salt
  • 2 .14 oz packets unsweetened watermelon-flavored Kool Aid

Instructions
 

  • Start by thinly slicing or peeling the skin off of the watermelon rind. You should be left with the white part, that may have some pink on one side, but no tough green skin. Set the skin aside for the compost pile.
  • Place all of the pickling liquid ingredients in a large stockpot and bring to a boil. Hold the boil for 1 minute, then gently add the watermelon rind. Bring back to a boil and then shut the heat off and remove the pot from the heat.
  • Allow to sit and cool at room temperature for 30 minutes. Ladle the pickles into three pint-sized Mason jars, and cover with pickling liquid until it completely covers the pickles. Put the lids on the jars and let sit at room temperature for a further 90 minutes. Refrigerate the pickles and enjoy for up to a month!

Notes

  • The base of this recipe comes from Alton Brown, found here.
Keyword pickles, watermelon