Can You Freeze Honeydew Melon? [Yes, Here’s How]

Here’s a guide to freezing honeydew melon. Learn how to freeze the fruit, what to expect after defrosting, and the best ways to use honeydew after freezing.

Got some leftover honeydew that you can’t use before it goes bad? That probably makes you think: can you freeze honeydew melon?

That’s the 2-sentence answer.

Want to learn more? Here’s what we cover below:

• more info on how well honeydew freezes
• freezing honeydew step by step, including some modifications you might find useful
• ways to defrost the melon
• some ideas on how to use frozen honeydew

Interested? Let’s jump right in.

Does Honeydew Freeze Well?

Honeydew melon freezes okay. It turns much softer and a bit mushy after defrosting, which means it’s not a great option for fruit salads or eating as a standalone snack. But that doesn’t make it useless.

Fortunately, frozen honeydew has a lot of uses, and chances are you can find something that’ll work for you. Some popular ideas include smoothies (great use of any frozen fruit), sorbets, and baked goods such as muffins, quick breads, etc.

Frozen honeydew also works great in any recipe that requires the fruit pureed.

Long story short, freezing honeydew has its drawbacks (mainly texture change), but there’s a variety of ways you can use it, and you can certainly find one that works for you.

That said, remember that honeydew lasts more than two weeks if refrigerated. That meant if yours is still whole, you probably have at least a few days before it’ll start to lose quality.

(For more details on storage and shelf life, check out my How long does honeydew last article.)

Now, let’s cover how to go about the freezing process.

How to Freeze Honeydew Melon?

Here’s how you freeze honeydew:

1. Prep. Wash and cut up the honeydew. I suggest cutting it into small chunks, but you might as well dice it or go with larger pieces. Go with what makes the most sense for you. Next, let the honeydew pieces dry for 10 to 15 minutes or pat them with paper towels. If you skip this step, there will be more frost on the fruit after freezing, but that’s not that big of a deal in most cases.
2. Pre-freeze. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or baking paper, and spread out the chunks in a single layer. Make sure the fruit pieces don’t form any clumps (some touching is okay, you can fix that later). Once done, put that cookie sheet in the freezer for 2 to 3 hours (or more, if your chunks are pretty large) until the fruit pieces freeze solid. Or leave it in the freezer overnight.
3. Transfer. Take the baking sheet out of the freezer, separate any glued chunks using a spatula, and transfer the fruit into a freezer bag. Squeeze out any extra air and label the bag with a name and date if you like.
4. Freeze. Chuck the bag in the freezer.

That’s it, short and simple. The whole thing takes 10 to 15 minutes, including prep, which is necessary at some point anyway.

(The same approach works when you’re freezing watermelons.)

Now, you might have some further questions. Let’s tackle those.

Is Pre-freezing Necessary?

No, it’s not. Pre-freezing is useful because it allows you to freeze everything in one bag and still grab as many chunks as you need for a recipe without defrosting the whole thing.

But if you know up front that you’ll use all your frozen honeydew in one go, you can skip this step. The same is true if you portion the fruit into multiple bags, each having enough for a pre-planned dish.

In other words, pre-freezing is the way to go if you don’t yet have a plan on how to use the fruit. It gives you flexibility, but that’s all. Your honeydew won’t taste better (or worse) if you skip pre-freezing.

Can You Freeze Pureed Honeydew?

Sure. If you go this route, there’s no need for pre-freezing. Instead, you transfer the pureed honeydew into an airtight container and freeze it. That’s the simplest option there is.

But if you’re not yet sure if you need the honeydew pureed or not, I suggest going with freezing it in chunks. You can always defrost and puree them in a blender if need be.

How to Defrost Honeydew Melon?

If you actually need the honeydew chunks defrosted, place them in a freezer bag or airtight container and leave them in the fridge overnight. That’s by far the safest option.

(The same applies to frozen honeydew puree.)

If you go this route, expect some water in the bag after thawing. Here’s how that might look like:

You just drain that water and use the fruit.

One thing to note here is that getting rid of some of the honeydew’s water might mess with the texture of whatever you’re cooking. For instance, if you puree the defrosted fruit and fold it into muffin batter, it might be a bit drier than usual. If that’s the case, you fix it by adding an extra teaspoon (or more) of water.

That said, in many cases, you can skip defrosting whatsoever. That’s the case, for example, if you’re adding the honeydew into a smoothie and your blender can process ice cubes. Or if you’re making a honeydew sorbet.

Finally, let’s talk about using your frozen honeydew melon.

How to Use Frozen Honeydew

Some of the most popular ways of using frozen honeydew melon include:

• Making a sorbet.
• Adding it to a smoothie.
• Baking muffins.
• Baking quick breads and loaves. Here’s a recipe for inspiration.

Please note that there aren’t that many honeydew recipes out there, especially when it comes to baked goods.

Fortunately, there’s an easy fix for that. You can use most cantaloupe recipes and simply replace cantaloupe with honeydew without changing anything else. The dish will taste slightly different, but should still be quite good.

(I link to a couple of recipes in my article on freezing cantaloupe: Can you freeze cantaloupe.)