Watermelon Paletas
These amazing watermelon paletas are the best low-calories frozen treat to enjoy on a warm day!
Made with sweet and fresh watermelon, those ice pops have no refined sugar and are very easy to make at home. And if you’re like me (always craving for sweet stuff), paletas are a great way to satisfy your sweet tooth!
What are paletas?
Paletas are Mexican ice popsicles very popular all around the country, specially in the zones where the heat is intense. You will notice there is a paletas shop almost at every corner in the street, those shops are called paleterías and you’ll find an overwhelming amount of ice popsicle’s flavors.
There are also the paleteros, who are the people who go down the streets with some sort of freezer on wheels (a cart) selling these delicious ice treats. It is very common to hear them shouting in the streets: Paleeeeeetas! de limón, coco, piña, fresa, sandía, paletaaaas! …
Paletas is the name that ice popsicles are known only in Mexico, in other Spanish-speaking countries they are found with other names such as polo, helado de agua, pico de agua or picolé, to name a few.
There are two types of paletas, these made with a fruit and water base, and the others made with cream or milk.
Some common flavors of mexican ice pops are: Lemon, pineapple, watermelon, mango, strawberry or melon. While the most common flavors for popsicles are vanilla, coconut, and chocolate. Although today the amount of flavors found for this typical frozen dessert are much more than those.
Watermelon paletas recipe
Place watermelon in the blender, add the sweetener, the lemon juice and a salt (salt is optional, but I think it adds a nice touch).
Add half a cup of water and blend for one minute, if you want pieces of fruit to remain here and there, blend for less time.
Fill the glasses (or ice pop molds if you using those) with the watermelon mixture and place them in the freezer for about 15 minutes, insert the sticks and return to the freezer until ice pops are solid (about 4 hours).
Notes
- It is not necessary to use popsicle molds, as you can see, I have used some long, tall glasses to which I only added the sticks. Just make sure the glasses you use are frost-proof.
- The salt adds a delicious touch to these watermelon paletas. Mexicans loves to eat watermelon with a little bit of salt, which together with the sweetness of the fruits creates a nice contrasting flavor.
- With the ingredients I suggest in the recipe you’ll make about 12 watermelon paletas. But this depends on the molds you will use too, if you use smaller molds, you will end with more pieces.
- To help the wooden sticks to stay in place, soak them in warm water 10 minutes before using them.
- Spike up those ice treats by adding a little bit of tequila to the watermelon mixture. Cheers!
TOP TIP! You will notice that the pulp separates a bit from the liquid sometimes, to fix this, just mix a bit each popsicle when you’ll place the sticks.
More Mexican Paletas Recipes
Yogurt and strawberries – The kids love them and the grown-ups too! Yogurt and strawberries are a delicious combination that never fails.
With peaches and yogurt – In addition to being delicious, they are very cute too.
Watermelon paletas
Ingredients
- 2.2 lb (1 k) watermelon (seedless and cut into big chunks)
- 1 lime or lemon (juice)
- 2 tsp stevia or erythritol (or the sweetner you prefer)
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Place watermelon in the blender, add stevia, the lemon juice and salt.
- Add half a cup of water and blend for one minute, if you want pieces of fruit to remain here and there, blend for less time.
- Fill the glasses (or ice pop molds if you using those) with the watermelon mixture and place them in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
- Insert the sticks and return to the freezer until ice pops are solid (about 4 hours).
notes
- It is not necessary to use popsicle molds, as you can see, I have used some long, tall glasses to which I only added the sticks. Just make sure the glasses you use are frost-proof.
- The salt adds a delicious touch to these watermelon paletas. Mexicans loves to eat watermelon with a little bit of salt, which together with the sweetness of the fruits creates a nice contrasting flavor.
- With the ingredients I suggest in the recipe you’ll make about 12 watermelon paletas. But this depends on the molds you will use too, if you use smaller molds, you will end with more pieces.
- To help the wooden sticks to stay in place, soak them in warm water 10 minutes before using them.
Nutrition
DID YOU ENJOY THOSE WATERMELON PALETAS? Please, don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave us a comment below, we’d love to hear from you! Also, remember that you can follow us along on PINTEREST, INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK and YOUTUBE!
