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The second the temperature climbs above 90 degrees, I start craving one thing: watermelon. It’s juicy, refreshing, naturally sweet, and somehow makes even the hottest summer day feel a little more manageable.
This watermelon smoothie is my go-to when I want to cool off, stay full, and keep working toward my health goals without overthinking it. Blended with simple, nourishing ingredients, it tastes like a summer treat while still delivering the hydration, fiber, and protein. This is my favorite smoothie to make on repeat all summer long.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love It
Summer is overflowing with nutrient-dense produce. Take advantage of these ruby red, antioxidant-rich ingredients!
- Ready in 5 minutes. Toss everything in the blender, hit blend, and you’re sipping a refreshing smoothie in less time than it takes to slice the fruit. You can also check out my recommended smoothie blenders for the creamiest results.
- Hydrating and refreshing. Watermelon’s high water content helps support hydration, while lime adds a crisp, citrusy finish that keeps each sip light and energizing.
- Packed with real benefits. Strawberries and cherries bring fiber and antioxidants for heart and immune support, while watermelon delivers lycopene, a powerful antioxidant linked to heart health and cellular protection.
Watermelon Smoothie Ingredients
- Watermelon (fresh, chopped). Choose a heavy melon with a creamy yellow field spot for the sweetest flavor. Seedless makes prep quicker, but either works. This is how I cut melon.
- Strawberries (fresh or frozen). Look for bright red berries with green tops and no white shoulders. If using fresh, freeze extras at peak ripeness for future smoothies, or portion them into frozen meal prep smoothie packs so they’re ready to blend anytime.
- Cherries (fresh or frozen). Deep red cherries are usually the sweetest and richest in antioxidants. If buying fresh, pit and freeze them on a sheet pan so they’re ready to blend.
- Lime (fresh, peeled). Pick a lime that feels heavy for its size and has a slight give when squeezed. Lime adds a little zest and bite to make it extra refreshing.
- High-quality protein: Blend in chia seeds and collagen peptides for a protein boost along with some healthy omega-3’s and fiber to create a balanced smoothie.
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How to Make a Watermelon Smoothie
- Add ingredients to the blender. Place the chopped watermelon, frozen strawberries, frozen cherries, peeled lime, plant-based protein powder (if using), and chia seeds into a high-speed blender.
- Blend until smooth. Blend on high until the smoothie is completely smooth and creamy. Add a splash of water if needed to help it blend.
- Serve and enjoy. Pour into glasses and sprinkle extra chia seeds on top, if desired. Sip right away for the freshest flavor and best texture.
Want perfectly smooth results every time? Check out how to make a smoothie for simple blending tips before you start.
Recipe Tips
- Since watermelon is over 90% water by weight, you don’t need to add any extra liquid or ice to this smoothie.
- Use seedless watermelon for this recipe. No need to spend all day picking out watermelon seeds!
- Using frozen cherries and frozen strawberries rather than fresh ones yields a cool and frosty drink. If using fresh, add ice cubes to the blender.
- Serve this smoothie immediately after making it. The longer it sits, the more the watermelon separates from the other ingredients.
More Watermelon Smoothie Recipes
If you loved sipping my watermelon smoothie, then check out my favorite fruit smoothies and recipes with watermelon to cool down on a hot day:
- Strawberry Watermelon Smoothie that blends in spinach to get extra fiber.
- Watermelon Popsicles are such a simple summer win.
- Summer Melon Smoothie is a medley of summer melons and a hydrating sweet treat.
If you make this watermelon smoothie, I’d love to hear how it turned out in the comment box below. Your feedback helps me and all the readers in this community. And if you’re interested in more plant-based recipes (and exclusive content), sign up for my weekly recipe newsletter.
Watermelon Smoothie
Ingredients
- 2 cups watermelon chopped
- ½ cup cherries frozen
- ¼ cup strawberries frozen
- ½ lime peeled
- 2 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1 serving collagen peptides
Instructions
- Add watermelon, strawberries, cherries, lime and chia seeds to the blender.
- Blend on high speed until nice and smooth.
- Add a serving of collagen and blend on low speed until mixed in.
- Pour into cup and enjoy!
Video
Helpful Tools
Notes
- Use seedless watermelon if you don’t have time to pick out the seeds before blending.
- To lower the natural sugar, swap the cherries out for blueberries or raspberries, or add in homemade protein powder to help your body process the natural sugar.
- Feel free to add any of these low sugar fruits to change up the flavor and make it your own.
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review for a chance to win signed copies of my cookbooks!My watermelon smoothie blends cherries, watermelon, strawberries and lime. It’s super refreshing and antioxidant-loaded!
Yes! When using any kind of melon in a smoothie, I cut back on the amount of liquid. Watermelon contains enough water on its own that you don’t need any more liquid. Also, don’t forget to remove the seeds!
Watermelon acts as both the liquid and fruit in a smoothie. If you freeze the watermelon, be sure to add extra liquid to help it blend well.
Very Refreshing
This smoothie is great for a summer day cooling and fruity. I love watermelon and cherries so this is one I will be making often. I used homemade protein powder instead of the collagen peptides worked fine and less
lime to see how I like it.
Love how you made this your own! Thanks for the review!
I think I forgot to leave a rating with my previous comment. It was a 5-star for sure. 🙂
Awesome! Thanks!
I enjoyed this smoothie! I like that the strawberries, cherries, and lime ensure that the watermelon doesn’t overly dominate in flavor. Really delicous! My smoothie looked a little lighter in color than the one pictured in this blog post. Perhaps because of the collagen..? Anyway, it was a great way to start the Summer Smoothie Challenge.
Yay! So glad you enjoyed this one!
I’m not familiar with collagen peptides and didn’t want to buy just for this challenge, so I just used my Just Hemp protein and fiber instead. Also, I was out of limes so I just used a squirt of the plastic stuff. And from habit, I threw in a handfull of spinach.
Tasted ok. More like a juice then a smoothie. Was not filling for me as a breakfast. It was refreshing and I would probably like better post workout or other activity that heats you up. I think I just stick to eating my watermelon straight, sometimes with a touch of salt.
Thank you for your review. Yes, the Just Hemp Protein is perfect!
I began working with a nutritionist at the recommendation of my primary care physician and cardiologist.
We changed up my smoothie routine and here are the things I always add to all my smoothies:
1/2 cup nonfat greek yogurt, 1/4 cup oats, 1/2 banana, 1 TBS each of chia/hemp/flax seeds, beet root powder. The watermelon smoothie was delicious with all of these add ins and the color is beautiful. It wouldn’t have filled me up until lunch without them.
Thank you for sharing. So glad you enjoyed the smoothie!
Watermelon Smoothie — Soooo Refreshing!!! Loved how simple it was to make this smoothie. Will definitely make it again (all summer long). 1st cup great on its own, but I drank for my breakfast and 2nd cup needed to add protein powder to fill me up.
Thank you for the review. So glad you loved it!
Very refreshing and yummy!!!!
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it!
I doubled the recipe so my husband could enjoy the smoothie as well. I made the recipe as written with two minor exceptions. I had already consumed my dose of collagen peptides in my morning coffee, so I didn’t add it to the smoothie. Also, as a practice I premix, in a big jar, hemp hearts, ground flaxseed, and Chia seeds. Instead of 2 tablespoons of Chia seeds, I added 2 tablespoons of this mix. These two modifications don’t changed the texture or the flavor. It was most yummy and refreshing! I can see adding or swapping kiwis for an added variation.
Such great ideas! Thank you for sharing and glad you enjoyed it!
Delicious! Refreshing
Yay!
It was ok. I made my smoothie packs ahead of time so with all the frozen fruit I had to add water a few times. Still didn’t blend up very well. The texture was more like a slushie. Next time I will let it thaw longer
You could put your smoothie pack in the fridge overnight and see if that helps.
I was hesitant to add the chia seeds but they blend nicely. Nicely sweet without added sugar. I did not have collagen so I substituted protein powder.
That sounds perfect! So glad you enjoyed it.
This was good, but the watermelon flavor got lost. I tasted mostly lime which is not necessarily a bad thing, just not what I expected. Perhaps my measurements were off.
Thanks for the review. Maybe next time you could try just the lime juice instead of the whole half.
Light and refreshing, but the lime came through too strong for my taste.
Maybe next time you could just use lime juice instead of the whole 1/2.
This was refreshing and delicious! I followed the recipe exactly except that I bought fresh bing cherries and strawberries. I cleaned, pitted, sliced, and froze them.
I grow black raspberries and they are in full season. I used them as a garnish atop the smoothie. For fun, I enjoyed it in a beautiful red wine goblet! If you’re doing a five-day challenge, you gotta make it especially fun!
I love this! Yes, definitely make it fancy! Black raspberries sound amazing.
I love watermelon but I am not a huge watermelon in smoothies person. I added some unflavored protein powder to this and some of the zest from the lime. It is actually very good and I will drink it again, if I happen to have some watermelon that I can resist eating long enough to blend it into a smoothie. Sharing the recipe with my brothers
So glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
My children and I really enjoyed the smoothie, although we couldn’t really taste much watermelon – the cherry flavour was much more pronounced. But it was a lovely, refreshing summer smoothie.
That is awesome that your kids are drinking the smoothies as well.
I love the watermelon lime flavor. I did add some water to help blending. Even though I used a Vitamix, it was getting clogged. I prefer thinner versus thicker smoothies so it wasn’t an issue. I will definitely make this again.
So glad you enjoyed the smoothie. Way to make it work for you.
I am not a fan of melons, so I added an extra cup of cherries and an extra cup of strawberries to get the same amount of fruit. I added a tablespoon of homemade protein powder (thanks for that recipe!) and a tablespoon of dried nettle leaf. It was delicious, nutritious and filling.
I love that I can substitute or add ingredients and get a simply made breakfast.
Way to make it work for you. I have not tried dried nettle leaf in a smoothie. Sounds good.
Made this early AM before work (prepped the night before), and all I can say is WOW! The lime is the mwah-chef’s kiss to this smoothie, by adding just enough tartness to counterbalance the sweetness of the cherries, strawberries, and watermelon. Even with just fruit, the addition of chia seeds and collagen give this smoothie enough body to make it feel substantial going down. What a great way to start the summer morning! I’m borrowing my friend’s high speed blender to do this challenge, and it’s a totally new experience.
Amazing! Thank you for the wonderful review! So glad you enjoyed the smoothie.
I want to do the challenge but I’m probably the only person on the planet that watermelon makes me gag! Just thinking about the smell and texture I cringe. Can it be substituted for another melon?
You could definitely try another melon like cantaloupe. Let me know how it goes!