Ina Garten’s 5-Ingredient Watermelon Mojitos Are a 10-Minute Summer Cocktail

TL; DR: 

• Watermelon Mojitos from Ina Garten are 10-minute cocktails. 
• The Barefoot Contessa recipe calls for watermelon, mint, rum, lime juice, and simple syrup.
• The cookbook author uses specialty kitchen equipment, including a food processor and mortar and pestle, to make the cocktails.

Ina Garten’s Watermelon Mojitos might just be one of the simplest Barefoot Contessa cocktails to make. The cookbook author sticks to her decidedly unfussy cooking style, throwing together a handful of ingredients. Ahead, find out how to make Garten’s Watermelon Mojitos, somewhat unusual kitchen gadgets and all. 

Ina Garten’s recipe for Watermelon Mojitos calls for 5 ingredients 

One glance at the ingredient list and it’s easy to see why Garten’s Watermelon Mojitos originally appeared in the pages of How Easy Is That?, her 2010 Barefoot Contessa cookbook. According to Food Network, which has the complete recipe details, Garten uses only five ingredients to make the summery cocktail. 

Her list of ingredients is as follows: fresh mint leaves, slices of fresh watermelon, light rum (Garten suggests Bacardi), simple syrup, and freshly squeezed lime juice. She also uses sprigs of mint and watermelon spears for serving. 

And, better yet, as the cookbook author wrote in How Easy Is That?, her recipe yields a lot of mojitos. “In the summer, when the watermelon is sweet, this recipe makes a big pitcher of mojitos — it’s a refreshing drink with crushed mint and freshly squeezed lime juice,” she said. 

Use store-bought simple syrup or homemade, the Barefoot Contessa has no preference

Garten’s known for saying, “storebought is fine,” on Barefoot Contessa. In fact, it’s a popular catchphrase of hers. 

However, based on her recipe instructions, simple syrup seems to be one of the ingredients she doesn’t mind making at home. Garten included a note in her recipe for Watermelon Mojitos on simple syrup. 

She explained how to make it at home, saying all it requires is simmering equal parts sugar and water in a pan on the stove until the sugar’s dissolved. Once chilled, it’s ready to be used in cocktails. 

As Garten says, how easy is that? If going the homemade route, keep a batch of simple syrup on-hand in the fridge for cocktail hour. Alternatively, have a “storebought is fine” moment and use the bottled stuff. 

Ina Garten uses a mortar and pestle on the mint while blending the mojitos in a food processor

Now for the kitchen gadgets Garten uses to make Watermelon Mojitos. They’re not many because, after all, she is the Barefoot Contessa and simplicity is her thing. However, they’re somewhat unusual for the average cocktail recipe. 

Garten mashes fresh mint leaves that have been “coarsely torn by hand,” according to her instructions, with a mortar and pestle. Later, it goes into a large pitcher with the rest of the ingredients. 

As for the watermelon, Garten uses a food processor to puree it until smooth. Don’t have a food processor or a mortar and pestle? According to reviewers, a blender works too, but there’s the added step of straining.

Next, Garten transfers the watermelon to the pitcher with the fresh mint, rum, simple syrup, and freshly squeezed lime juice. After stirring it to combine, she pours the mixture into six ice-filled glasses. Lastly, she garnishes each one with watermelon and mint and the Watermelon Mojitos are done.