Summertime means lots of watermelon, and a need for healthy snacks like watermelon bacon.
Watermelon Bacon
Watermelon…bacon?!?!? Yes – That’s dehydrated and spiced watermelon, cooked low and slow until crispy. It’s a purely vegan snack that tastes kind of like a salty/spicy fruit leather, or possibly fruit jerky.
If your summer is anything like ours, your kids are busy over the summer with camp, swimming, sports, coding, beach time, music lessons, and summer school. They’re going to want to grab a snack whenever they’re home, so it might as well be a healthy one. So here you go.
Watermelon Bacon Recipe
Watermelon Bacon
A delicious and easy vegan snack made from strips of dehydrated watermelon.
Ingredients
- 10 to 12 strips of watermelon cut to 1/4 inch thick
- juice of one lime
- sea salt to taste
- paprika to taste
Instructions
-
Cut watermelon into long strips that are no more than 1/4 inch thick. Lay
the strips out on a parchment paper-covered baking sheet. Drizzle with lime
juice and sprinkle with a light dusting of sea salt, pepper, and paprika to
taste. Bake at 175 degrees for 8 hours. Watermelon slice should be thin and
crispy. Store in an airtight container -
Bake at 175 degrees for 8 hours. Watermelon slices should be thin and
crispy. Remove from oven and store in an airtight container.
This is one of those recipes that involves a little planning ahead, because once you have the inspiration, it’ll be at least 8 hours before you have the finished product. But if you remember to start making it at, say, noon, you might just have some tasty “bacon” on your hands by 8:00. Make sure to store it in an airtight container so it stays dehydrated (We left one batch out in the humid air and it got a little soggy).
But then again, that’s assuming you’ll have some left over, which we often don’t.
P.S. If you like the watermelon bacon, you can also use it to make this Summer Corn Salad.
Hi! I'm Jeanne Fratello - a writer, reporter, and food enthusiast who is on a mission to write great stories about food and where your food comes from. 
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