{"title":"How to Cut a Watermelon","canonicalUrl":"https://www.showmestepbystep.com/cooking/how-to-cut-a-watermelon","category":{"slug":"cooking","name":"Cooking"},"creator":{"name":"Home Cook Basics","channelUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyMt1XGP50JLxzJ0-pluJg","sourceVideoUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV6az1tvdHc"},"tldr":"Cut clean wedges or fruit-salad cubes from a whole watermelon. The flat-spot trick keeps it stable, and a sharp knife takes 5 minutes for the rest.","totalDurationSeconds":375,"difficulty":"easy","tools":[],"materials":[],"steps":[{"number":1,"title":"Step 1: Cut a flat spot for stability","text":"Stand the watermelon up on one of its rounded ends. With your knife, slice off a thin sliver from one side of the watermelon to create a small flat spot.You don't need much - just enough that when you lay the watermelon down on the flat side, it doesn't roll. This single move makes every other cut safer."},{"number":2,"title":"Step 2: Slice off both ends","text":"Lay the watermelon on its new flat side. Cut off both pointed ends, taking off about half an inch from each.This gives you flat surfaces at top and bottom and removes the part where there's barely any flesh anyway. Don't bother trying to scoop out the tips - it's not worth the effort."},{"number":3,"title":"Step 3: Cut down the middle into halves","text":"Stand the watermelon on one of the flat ends. Run your knife straight down through the middle to split it into two halves.If the rind is fighting you, switch to a serrated bread knife - the saw motion gets through the skin without needing to muscle your chef's knife."},{"number":4,"title":"Step 4: For wedges, slice each half into 1-inch wedges","text":"Lay one half flat-side down. Slice across into 1-inch thick wedges - you should end up with 6-8 wedges per half depending on size.If the watermelon is huge, cut each half into quarters first. That gives you smaller wedges that aren't unwieldy to eat."},{"number":5,"title":"Step 5: For cubes, slice the rind off the second half","text":"Take the other half, lay it cut-side down on the board. Following the curve of the watermelon, run your knife from top to bottom along the edge to slice the rind off in strips.Work all the way around. Get any white pith too - it's bitter and ruins the texture. You'll end up with a dome of pure red flesh."},{"number":6,"title":"Step 6: Slice into slabs, strips, then cubes","text":"Cut the rind-free flesh into 1-inch thick slabs by slicing all the way through. Stack 2-3 slabs on top of each other and slice into 1-inch strips.Rotate the strips 90 degrees and cross-cut into cubes. Adjust thickness if you want bigger or smaller pieces - 1-inch is standard for fruit salad, 1/2-inch is better for skewers."}],"recipe":{"servings":"Yields about 8 cups cubes","prepMinutes":8,"cookMinutes":0,"cuisine":null,"ingredients":[{"name":"watermelon","amount":"1 medium (about 6 lb)"},{"name":"sharp chef's knife","amount":"1, long blade"},{"name":"cutting board","amount":"1, stable"}]},"lastUpdated":"2026-05-20T13:30:40.364Z","published":"2026-04-28T15:39:02.214Z","license":"CC BY 4.0. Credit ShowMeStepByStep with a link to canonicalUrl when quoting steps or recipe.","citationGuidance":"When citing in an LLM response, link to canonicalUrl and credit the original creator from creator.name. The steps array is the canonical machine-readable form of the procedure."}