Low-Carb Watermelon & Lime Sorbet

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Summer and watermelon are almost synonyms. I can't imagine summer without fresh chilled watermelon! A couple of days ago, I asked my Facebook followers if there is any cocktail they are missing on their low-carb journey. Well, watermelon sorbet is definitely not a cocktail recipe but it's great for hot summer days like these!

To make this low-carb and sugar-free sorbet I used my ice cream maker but you can simply freeze it and churn every 30 minutes until you get the desired consistency of sorbet.

Although watermelon has a high Glycemic Index (GI = 72), it has a very low Glycemic Load, which measures how much insulin will be released by your body for a given food measured in standard portions. You always need to consider serving size to get the best estimate of how it will affect your blood sugar levels.

Other health benefits of watermelon are:

• it's very high in water (more than 90%) which makes it filling
• it's relatively low in net carbs and calories (7.2g net carbs and 30 kcal per 100g)
• it's high in vitamin A
• it contains lycopene, a carotenoid with antioxidant activity and has potential cancer-fighting abilities

Remember, only avoid watermelon or any fruit if your carbs limit is very low (20 g or less of net carbs a day).

Nutritional values (per serving, about 2 scoops/ 85 g/ 3 oz)

Ingredients (makes 8 servings)

• ¹/₂ small watermelon (600 g/ 1.3 lb)
• juice from 1 ¹/₂ limes
• Optional: 25-35 drops liquid Stevia extract if needed (I recommend SweetLeaf or NuNaturals) or other healthy low-carb sweetener from this list

Instructions

1. Cut the watermelon in cubes and remove all the seeds. Place in a blender together with freshly squeezed lime juice and stevia to taste. Pulse until smooth.
   
2. Pour into the ice-cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's instructions. Mine took just about 45 minutes. This varies based on the make of your ice-cream maker (30-60 minutes) and also depends how solid you want the sorbet to be. If you don't have an ice-cream maker, simply place the diced watermelon in the freezer for at least 3 hours and blend until smooth with lime juice and stevia. I wanted mine to be really frozen, so it took 45 minutes.
   
3. When done, using a rubber spatula, put into small containers and place in the freezer.
4. This will help you with portion control and prevent you from eating all the ice-cream in one go. If you serve the sorbet straight away, garnish with lime wedges and fresh mint. Enjoy!
   

Ingredient nutritional breakdown (per serving, about 2 scoops/ 85 g/ 3 oz)

Net carbs	Protein	Fat	Calories
Watermelon, fresh
5.4 g	0.5 g	0.1 g	23 kcal
Lime (juice), fresh
0.7 g	0 g	0 g	2 kcal
Stevia extract (SweetLeaf or NuNaturals, natural low-carb sweetener)
0 g	0 g	0 g	0 kcal
Total per serving, about 2 scoops/ 85 g/ 3 oz
6 g	0.5 g	0.1 g	25 kcal