Yellow Watermelon?

Posted on by Robin Damstra Salant

I am food-knowledgeable. Well, at least food-knowledgeable-enough to write a blog about food. That’s why I was surprised to come across Yellow Watermelon. I gleefully stumbled upon it the other day as though I’d struck gold (juicy, delicious gold), and quickly asserted myself a pioneer in this fruit species. I was certain I’d go home and find a mysterious and murky entry about the elusive Yellow Watermelon on Wikipedia or some strange blog from a far-off land, learning that it grows only in the heart of the Amazonian jungles, and that few people have ever sunk their teeth it’s sweet, sunshiny flesh.

Wrong.

Seems that yellow watermelon–which tastes like the red variety but sweeter and with a honeyed flavor–doesn’t even get its own Wikipedia entry. In fact, this is the only mention of my mystical fruit: “[watermelon] has a smooth exterior rind (green and yellow) and a juicy, sweet, usually red or yellow, but sometimes orange, interior flesh.”

Usually? Hmmfph.

I guess I am not as food-knowledgeable as I thought. Which, actually, is quite a wonderful thing. To think of all the foods I can still discover….

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Published by Robin Damstra Salant

76 thoughts on “Yellow Watermelon?”

    1. I just cut what i thought was a black diamond watermelon open and lord behold it was yellow as well sweetest watermelon i’ve ever had my nieghbor roy grew it and brought it to me as a gift the other day im saving the seeds to grow next year !!!

  2. You should try some of the variety melons, if you can still find them. Usually their season is in early June. They are like cantaloupe with a kick, and most delicious.

    Yellow watermelon is wonderful…..a great treat! Way to be adventurous!

  3. I grew up eating both yellow and red watermelons. They both are great and you can find them easily in and around GA (especially Cordele). The yellow watermelons are sweeter too.

  4. I just cut into a watermelon that a neighbor gave me and was suprised it was yellow. I came on to the web to make sure it was safe to eat!! I have never heard of a yellow watermelon. My husband said to throw it away it had to be bad!! I will enjoy it.

  5. I bought a watermelon the other day and just cut it open and was surprised to find it yellow. Such a pretty yellow color and so sweet. At first i thought it might be bad then I remembered hearing something about a yellow watermelon so I looked it up on the web. What a surprise.

  6. Hi, My mother just bought a watermelon and cut into it and it was yellow, I was a little worried, but she tried it and loved it. We’d never seen anything like it before. What an oddity to us! But what a wonderful fruit!

    Thanks for such a lovely post about it.

  7. Hi,

    I saw and ate a yellow watermellon for the first time at a friend’s party in May-2007. It tasted good. I did some search because the red watermelon is rich in lycopene that helps fight cancer. I found that some researcher has identified lycopene content in red/yellow varieties. The details can be found at http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?SEQ_NO_115=144375.

    Reproducing a bit of their text “Yellow and orange watermelon varities had little lycopene (0.1 to 4.2 Fg/g FW) compared to red fleshed types (63 to 68 Fg/g)”.

    I will personally continue to enjoy only the red watermelon..)

  9. I just tried yellow watermelon the first time myself. So yummy. And pretty. I blogged it too and it seems more and more people are writing about it lately.

  10. I bought a watermelon from Walmart the other day. My family was quite surprised it was yellow. We really loved it and enjoyed it very much. The red variety is still good but it was quite a pleasant surprise to see the yellow variety for the very first time. We had never even heard of the yellow variety, yet alone, taste it. I hope to see and taste the orange variety some time soon.

  11. It looks like I’m not the only one who was surprised by yellow watermelon! Isn’t it such a fun fruit?!?

    Gill: Even though the nutrient value may be lower–it is pretty tasty. But of course, should not be a fruit eaten for exemplary nutritional qualities!

    Sheri: I loved your blog post about it and thanks for including me!!

    I’m so happy to share this wonderful fruit discovery with all of you!! 😀

  12. I am living in Japan and a few minutes ago I was just served a beautiful juicy watermelon by my japanese host mother! I had never seen anything like that before so I was enormously suprised but she just laughed! I have to say that the next steps led me to search on the web just to learn a bit more about what I have just eaten…;-))))

  13. My mom bought a watermelon at the grocery, and when we cut it open, it was yellow. We had never heard of such a thing, but tried it anyway. At first we blamed the yellow watermelon on her lack of glasses in the grocery store, but I guess it was just a lucky chance!

  14. I can also join the many people that were surprised by the yellow watermelon. I purchased one last weekend and at first thought it must be spoiled. Then I (cautiously) took a little taste…and wow! Now I kind of prefer it over the popular red watermelon. I plan on going to purchase another yellow melon on tomorrow. What a delicious treat!!

  15. Yesterday my husband bought a watermelon . we usually eat watermelon as breakfast . when i cut it i was surprised to see its yellow color .thanks for your blog which helped us to know whether it is safe or not.

  16. just yesterday my mom opend a watermelon and saw it was yellow.. she thought it was roten so we opened another it it was red… i tasted the yellow watermelon and it was good too…. was weird finding out dat we bought a yellow watermelon though

  17. I am trying to find where to buy yellow watermelons, looking for suggestions. My friend bought one earlier this summer by accident. My kids loved it they keep bugging me to get another one. In the little bit of searching I’ve done it seems that most people found yellow watermelons at Walmart. I checked with some of my local fruit markets, with no luck. They either have never seen nor heard of one. So, is it just a fluke that they stay yellow instead of turning red, or is there a specific type that is yellow?

  18. I’m visiting home and my uncle accidentaly bought on and gave it to my mom, wary of how different it was. I definitely agree with most of the previous comments. It is very fun and quite tasty!

  19. We just bought a watermelon and we opened it and my mom thought it was rotten, haha. We took a bite and were like “oh my goodness”

  20. I have been eating yellow watermelons since I was a baby going to visit my uncle in Marshall, Texas. I am amazed at the people who call me a liar when I tell them about a yellow watermelon. One person even told me I was stupid and that I was eating a cantaloupe. Some people refuse to believe me and say that I am crazy. About 3 weeks ago, at a baseball game, a family came to me to show me the yellow watermelon that they had accidentally bought at a Walmart. They thought something was wrong but thought to ask me before throwing it out. I had a good laugh and then I generously helped them eat it.

  21. well i was bored today and i had a watermelon in the fridge outside. so i brought it inside, and my dad either wanted me to cut open the black diamond watermelon or the one outside. i cut open the one outide, and come to find out it was yellow. i almost threw it away, but gave it a try it was good. from what i hear its so random. you just wont know what your gettting

  22. All my life, in the southern USA, I have had yellow watermelons. My family grew them in Va. They were rather small but tasty. we grew the red ones and all we produced was always eaten. None ever went to waste. I learned how to make watermelon wine using yellow melons.

  23. I have never in my life heard of a yellow watermelon. My husband went grocery shopping and came home with it. It had been sitting in the fidge, the kids had kept asking me to cut it so finally I did. When I went to cut it there to my suprise was a yellow watermelon. I thought I had a bad watermelon,once again I was suprised when I sampled a piece and it was sweet and juicy. So I looked it up on goggle and low and behold there it was a pitcure of a yellow watermelon. I also heard that it was rare.

  24. man it is unreal iam 49 y/o and traveled around the world and in hinesville ga is where i got my first yellow watermellon i could not find a lable on it i will try to find another one it so so so good

  26. ok so I just got a yellow watermelon from my mother. It’s amazing. I’m sorry if I’m to excited. Haha
    It is seriously Yellow. Tastes almost the same except more sweet.

    That’s all.

    -Alexis

  27. How can you tell a watermelong is yellow? I am dying to know. I’ve enjoyed it for years and years, but I’ve only ever had it pre-cut. Our local store, Price Chopper, has always offered it. However, I have never had a chance to get it whole.

  28. One of the girls at work brought in a watermelon and low and behold – it was YELLOW!!

    Never seen such a thing ! Now i have ! Very cool!

    Barb

  31. i actually grew up in Thailand in Asia so we only ate yellow watermelon. I don’t know why some people thought it so strange. I thought it was amazing to see watermelon that was a red color! I guess it’s the same way you guys felt when you saw watermelon in a different color.

  32. We just cut into our first yellow watermelon and went directly to the Web to find out if it was safe to eat 🙂

    Thanks so much. We now will enjoy the yellow without fear of death.

  33. I have known for some time that yellow watermelons existed, but have never tasted any. I was curious about how they might taste because they are very pretty. So, I decided to grow them in my garden this summer. Hope to taste one VERY soon.

  34. I saw one a few days ago at the grocery store for the first time. My mom was very hesitant to buy it but i was too curious not to try it. I bought it and loved it. It almost melts in your mouth. I have not found any more but i will keep searching.

  35. you have not eaten a yellow meat melon until you’ve eaten a Hempsted yellow. its crossed with the black diamond. it will cause you to bust gut due to over indulgence. good luck.
    Hempstead, Tx

  36. Hi, just got home from Walmart ( where else!!) with a watermelon, to my surprise it turned out to be a Yellow flesh watermelon, its is Yummy!!!

  38. my faimly just bought a yellow watermellon at walmart, and at first we were mad at are 12 yr olg doughter for picking what we thought was a “bad” watermelon, but then she desided to eat it any way and we all loved it!now we are looking forward to try the orange watermellon =]

  39. It was sort of a family tradition that as soon as there were watermelons in the store, my grandma, grandpa, uncle, and aunt would all buy one and put it in the fridge to get cold and then we’d sit outside and eat em.
    We always got a yellow one at least once a summer.

    I love the yellow ones. They’re delicious.

  40. I bought a yellow watermelon today, however I did not know it was yellow until we cut it open. WHAT a PLEASANT surprise!
    Juicy and sweet!

  41. Wow, I was caught off guard when I cut open the watermelon I bought the other day. It was yellow, I had to double check the package (LOL) yes it is the same green rind and google it which is how I came across this site, so I thought I would leave a comment. It is delicious, mmm I was lucky to come across one.

  42. my cousin bought a water melon at walmart we got it home and cut it open saw it was yellow the kids got crazy wanted some we werent sure what to do i ate some it was good so i gave some to the kids but my cousin wouldnt eat it maybe it was like bad luck or something i laughed and ate it anyway haha

  43. Hi! Bought a watermellon yesterday at Walmart. Can you i magine how shocked I was at 4:30am when I cut into it to put some in my husbands lunch ! I just knew we got hold of something “bad”! I went to the trusty computer–and sure enough we hit gold!! My husband wouldn’t try it so I kepT half and gave my daughter the other half. Very tasty!!

  44. the other day i got a watermelon and i didnt even know that it was yellow i cut it open and like wtf?!? is this still good?!! then i tried it ya it tasted fine.. but still wasnt sure so then i found this site then i was like yes.. cuz i realy wanted sum watermelon. lol. but ya yellow watermelon is good

  45. my mother just cut open a watermelon and it was yellow. I went online to see if it was safe… I’m too scared to eat it though… ^.^lol

  46. My moter just cut open a watermelon it was so suprising its so bright yellow. I went online to see if it was safe, and it was so i dug in right when I new it was safe without turning the computer off it is so much sweeter then red watermelon. My mom and i thought it was a different fruit, but it taste awesome.

  47. I’m from the South, and grew up eating both yellow and red watermelons. It’s surprising how many people haven’t heard of the yellow variety.

  48. Let me just say that finding this site just saved me a little bit of sanity. Why? Because I bought a watermelon a few days ago, and finally cut it today. I’m sure you can imagine my surprise when I was met with not the comforting pink center of your standard watermelon, but with a rather alarming display of canary yellow fruit. I smelled it and poked at it with a knife for a few minutes, briefly wondered if my refrigerator somehow had the amazing power to suck color out of fruit, then took a bite.

    Oh my gosh. I was instantly hooked on the crazy goodness.

    Only once I’d eaten my fill did it occur to me that I might want to make sure I hadn’t eaten some genetically mutated/fermented/poisoned watermelon. Thank you for saving me from considerable stress.

  49. Hello! I’ve been eating yellow watermelon my whole life, in fact it is the only watermelon I eat! We mostly by our yellow watermelon in Texas (Lubbock area).

  51. I’m surprised yellow watermelon has been so overlooked by so many people. I love watermelon but I can’t eat some red varieties because of allergies (throat & mouth will itch) but none of the yellow varieties affect me this way; so anyone who reads this & has this problem…try the yellow variety! I’m from Arkansas & we’re well known for our Hope & Cave City grown melons here so I suppose that’s why I’m so shocked that not everyone has heard of yellow melons.

  53. I just bought a watermelon from Trader Joes in California and I was shocked to see it was yellow. I had no idea I bought a yellow watermelon. It is so yummy and sweet. I am letting it chill right now so we can have it as a dessert later.

  54. We just built a house and we had been discussing planting a garden, but have been too busy. I was looking out over a rocky hill on the side of our house and saw some beautiful yellow flowers on a vine, that was growing over the entire hillside. I then noticed a watermelon and then another. My kids were thrilled and we waited a few weeks until the melon got about 18 inches long. We were surprised when we cut into it and saw the yellow meat. It was not sweet and we fed it to the animals. We let the other ones grow even bigger, about 2 1/2 to 3 foot long and cut into them. Yum, they are awesome. I don’t know if they grow wild out here or if a worker spit his seeds out over the hill. Either way we love them and will continue to enjoy the yellow melon as long as they grow. We are in Lago Vista, TX. About an hour from Austin . My daughter was concerned about the yellow color and found this website. Now we will enjoy the melons and not worry about getting sick. Enjoy!

  55. My boyfriend and I were in shop rite and came across a yellow watermelon. we both love trying new things so we grabed it up. (since there were only 2 there) it was delicious! I hopw we come across it more often

  56. my mom bought a watermellon from a local store called “Oceans’ here in brampton, canada… at first i thought its genetically modified messed up fruit but after trying it once i found the taste to be lil bit different than the red one..not bad.. “i think one common similarlity between yellow watermelons is that they are all ‘small’ in size”…did everyone who found their melons were small in size….

  57. I ate yellow meat watermelon when I was a kid from a local guy who use to sell all kinds of melons from a converted gas station it here in Los Angeles. 22+ years later he’s gone…can anyone tell me where I can find yellow meat watermelons in Los Angeles or near by?
    no one wants to beleive me they are delicious!

  58. I bought one earlier this year at a Vallarta Market in San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles County, Southern California. Boy was I surprised! It tasted good, my kids would not eat it. I ate most of it myself. It was yellow, juicy and sweet. I had never seen one or had one before. Yes, I would eat this food again. I would like to know their origin though. Recently my co-worker brought one in and this one was yellow with a bit of orange in it. I was similar to my first one. She bought it at CostCo in Northridge.

  59. My mom went to the store and bought a watermelon and took it home and opened it. We were surprised to see that it was yellow. We ate some then my mom went to the web and looked up yellow watermelon. Then we ate some more.

  60. I grew up on yellow meat watermelons, I now live in Nevada and want some. Does ANYONE know of a person or company that will ship? I know they only grow in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas,(to my knowledge anyway) and would LOVE to have a good ole TEXAS BBQ here and show these “folks” what a GOOD watermellon is. Drop me a line at ABikerInvegas@hotmail.com PLEASE!! Thanks

  61. I have been eating yellow watermelon as long as I’ve been able to eat. It’s been one of my favorite foods. I grew up in Maryland and we always visited one farm that grew and sold the best melons. For several years we grew our own melons. I always preferred yellow watermelon to red watermelon. My husband jokes that it doesn’t exist. We live in Wisconsin now and are starting a small garden with a few basic plants but I ordered some yellow watermelon seeds and am hoping that they grow. I haven’t had yellow watermelon in almost three years now and I miss it terribly. Yellow watermelon grows in many places in the country. We successfully grew it in Maryland and even Wisconsin meets requirements to grow good watermelon.

  62. I am amazed while reading through all of the feeds that not many people know about yellow watermelons. I grew up in Louisiana and I definitely preferred the yellow over the red watermelons. In the small town there would be farmers who would load up watermelons on the trucks and come into the neighborhood selling both varieties. However, living in California, it is difficult to find. I was just talking to a friend and he said, yellow watermelon? Honey it is called a “honey dew.” Of course I wanted to say “honey do” your research 😉 Yes, yellow meat watermelons are wonderful and in my opinion, much more tastier than the red meat watermelons.

  63. OMGosh. When I was a kid our nieghbor who would vacation to his home state of Texas every year would always bring back some and share with my family. It was the BEST! Oh so good. I don’t ever remember seeing it here on West Coast of California, the OC to be exact.

  64. Just two days ago I bought a watermelon in our local Walmart. When I sliced it open to my surprise, it happen to be a rare yellow watermelon. Being myself, I went ahead and tried it, I then called my husband. Right away he thought something was seriously wrong with it. Of course I got ready to return it to the store when my husband found this website. So, thanks to all of you now we are enjoying this unique fruit. I do have to say I like the traditional ones better, though.

  65. I just discovered these this morning at Wal-Mart…I was curious so I got one..it was kinda like opening a present on Christmas morning..I couldn’t wait to crack into it when I got home…very delicious…I recommend it highly..

  66. The “Worlds Sweetest Watermelons” are yellow, or “Cave City” melons from Cave City, Arkansas. They truly are delicious! You can google “cave city watermelons”, and it will pull up a wikipedia page about them. They come in season late in the summer, like late july and august I believe.

  67. Where are y’all finding the yellow melons? I have been eating them for years, can’t find them anywhere this year. Please tell me they are available somewhere around Austin TX.

  68. im actually eating a yellow meat watermelon right now, just though i would look it up to see what all was out there, but they are great, put a little salt on it and go to town

  70. yes i came across a yellow watermelon dis summer while i was visiten family..and i asked why are some yellow and some red and whats the differences.so yea now know a little bout it.!!!(:

  71. Whoa I just can’t remember whether I’ve tasted this kind of melon or not. XD. My sis said I did but I really wasn’t surprised about it that time. lol… anyways I live in a tropical country where some fruits are as exotic as I can get so I really don’t get surprised with fruits like these but damn! I’ve suddenly got a craving for this lovely golden stuff!

  75. Just want to say your article is astounding. The lucidity in your post is simply spectacular and i can take for granted you are an expert on this field. Well with your permission allow me to grab your rss feed to keep up to date with succeeding post. Thanks a million and please keep up the sound work

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