With a wide variety of melons at the market, you know it's summertime. Their juicy sweetness is refreshing in hot weather. These colorful fruit kabobs made with different melons and mint leaves are easy to make. Serve with yogurt dip for your summer weekend barbecue.
Summer Fruit Kabobs
A few weekends ago, these simple mint and melon kabobs were a hit at a baby shower I catered. Scooping the melon into bite sized balls and skewering them on bamboo picks made them eye catching as well as easy to eat. No messy fingers or juice running down your chin.
Melon kabobs are an easy, healthy dessert or as part of an appetizer spread. They even work great for an afternoon snack or lunchbox treat.
For a fruit kabobs dip, I whipped together plain Greek yogurt with lime juice, honey and vanilla. It made them just a bit more tasty and special, but it's optional.
How to Choose Melons
Watermelons, Tuscans, Honeydews, Cantaloupes, Charantais, Casabas, Canaries, Persians and Muskmelons. Melons come in many varieties and colors. Ask the produce person what is best at the time. I chose a mini seedless watermelon (red), a mini honeydew (green) and a Tuscan (orange) melons for the color and flavor. The produce guy said the Tuscan melons were better than the cantaloupes at the time, so that is what I chose.
But What About the Sugar?
Some people steer clear of melons because they are naturally high in sugar. And while most melons rank medium to high on the glycemic index, many of them have a low or favorable glycemic load.
The glycemic index measure how quickly the carbs (sugars) are digested and get into the bloodstream. The glycemic load takes into consideration not only the glycemic index but the impact on the body. And that is good news, because melons contain many important nutrients. Nearly all fruits and vegetables are acceptable on a low-glycemic (low sugar, low carb) diet.
The Cool Tool for Perfect Melon Balls
With a small scooper (called a disher) you can make just the right size melon balls. This is one tool I have in 5 sizes. They are so handy for making perfect scoops, balls, and for portioning. I used a #60 for these melons balls. Follow the link to Amazon to see the sizes. The #60 is about 1 ¼" in diameter. The higher the number, the smaller the scoop. What size skewers for fruit kabobs? I use a 4" bamboo size.
Note on quantity - Using half of each melon, the yield was 10 kabobs, enough for 5 people at 2 kabobs each. The yield depends on the size of the melons. If you use the whole melon, you should get approximately 20-24 kabobs. You will need two mint leaves per kabob.
Summer Fruit Kabobs
Equipment
- 4" bamboo skewers
Ingredients
Melon Kabobs
- 1 mini seedless watermelon
- 1 mini honeydew melon
- 1 small tuscan or cantaloupe melon
- 1 package mint leaves
Yogurt DIp (optional)
- 12 ounces plain unsweetened Greek yogurt
- 1-2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 lime juiced
Instructions
- Wash the exterior or the melons and dry. Cut them in half top to bottom. Scoop out any seedy centers. Using a scooper or disher that is approximately 1 ¼″ across (#60 size), create as many round balls of each melon as possible. Skewer melon balls and mint leaves, alternating melon colors. Cover and refrigerate until serving.
- For the yogurt dip, stir all in gradients together until smooth. Serve child alongside the melon kabobs.
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
Love these healthy little fruit kebab snacks. They look so fresh & delicious.
Sally Cameron says
Thanks Thalia. A nice fresh off set aside butter and brioche?
Madonna/aka/Ms. Lemon says
When I saw your first photo I was thinking party. So simple yet so appealing.
Sally Cameron says
Yep, totally party or certainly entertaining, you are right Madonna. And so simple. When I first made them I wondered if it was too simple. But simple is good. We get so wrapped up in making things more complicated. The mint is a nice thing. Just enough. Nice thing for kids lunch boxes too, or to take to work as a healthy snack.