Cantaloupe is a sweet and smooth melon that can be used in salads, breakfasts, and desserts. Also known as muskmelon, it has a unique flavor that you’ll love in these paleo recipes!
1. Avocado Cantaloupe Boats
These gorgeous cantaloupe boats are made in avocado halves and drizzled with a luscious pomegranate balsamic reduction. The combination of creamy avocado (full of healthy fats) and sweet, musky melon is balanced by the bright tang of pomegranate balsamic vinegar.
Photo: Wicked Spatula
2. Cantaloupe Margaritas
These refreshing margaritas are easy to make and were a life-saver for me when I ended up with 2 CSA cantaloupes that I didn’t know what to do with. You can make the cantaloupe juice by following the instructions to blend the diced cantaloupe and then straining it to remove the pulp.
3. Cantaloupe Popsicles
These popsicles are so simple I can hardly call them a recipe. There’s only one ingredient! Can you guess what it is? Yes, it’s cantaloupe! If you’re feeling fancy, you could add a few pinches of sea salt, chile powder, or anything else you think goes well with the orange stuff.
4. Basil Cantaloupe Sorbet
This easy sorbet is smooth, creamy, slightly sweetened with maple syrup or honey, and enhanced with fresh basil. The basil complements the fruit so nicely! You’ll need a touch of vodka for this, but it isn’t enough to make this sorbet alcoholic—the vodka keeps it soft in the freezer.
5. Cantaloupe Gazpacho
We’ve looked at watermelon gazpacho recipes before, but not cantaloupe. This one’s a first1 The effect is similar, though, as the sweet and smooth melon combines with cucumber, shallots, basil, garlic, white wine vinegar, and other ingredients to make an easy and refreshing soup.
Photo: May I Have That Recipe
6. Cucumber Melon Paletas
Paletas a Mexican-style popsicle that’s often made with fresh fruit, and paletas recipes typically pay a lot of attention to flavor combinations and details instead of just pouring fruit into a freezer mold. These are no exception, with mint, lemon juice, and refreshing cucumber with sweet fruit.
7. Fire Kissed Cantaloupe and Melon Salad
This melon salad is made with red onion, bell pepper, cayenne pepper, sweet Hungarian paprika, jalapeno, lemon juice, and a bit of macadamia nut oil. You could eat it as a salad, or even just chop the ingredients up smaller and use it as a fun and unique salsa!
8. Spiced Melon and Watercress Salad With Agave Lime Dressing
This fun and simple salad is made with watercress, cantaloupe, honeydew, lime zest and juice, agave nectar or honey (or you could use maple syrup_, extra virgin olive oil, fresh cracked pepper and cracked pink peppercorns or smoke sea salt, etc. for sprinkling over the top.
9. Cantaloupe, Coconut, and Strawberry Agua Fresca
This easy agua fresca is full of flavor and sweetness. You’ll want to replace the sugar with coconut sugar, but if any of your fruits are particularly sweet (or you’re looking for a less sweet drink) you could just leave it out. Garnish with coconut shreds and extra mint leaves!
Photo: A Fod Centric Life
10. Mint and Melon Kabobs
This is another recipe that’s hardly a recipe. All you need is watermelon, honeydew, and cantaloupe. Put it on sticks with mint leaves and you’re done! If you want to make the optional yogurt dip, use coconut yogurt in place of the Greek yogurt and enjoy with honey, lime, and vanilla.
11. 4 Ingredient Cantaloupe Sorbet
This easy sorbet doesn’t require an ice cream machine, nor does it require you pouring the mixture into a pan and laboriously revisiting it every half hour to stir. Nope! Freeze your cantaloupe ahead of time and enjoy the sorbet instantly by making it in your food processor.
12. Fig and Melon Salad With Prosciutto
This fun salad uses the popular combination of cantaloupe and prosciutto. It sounds odd, and I’m not sure where it came from, but if you try it, you’ll see that it’s a truly delicious combination! The sweetness of the figs makes this even better. Leave out the goat cheese if you need to.
13. Grilled Cantaloupe Salad With Bluberry Ginger Vinaigrette
Never grilled melon before? You’re missing out! Because melons are sugary, grilling them results in a delicious caramelization that can’t be beat. This salad is made with grilled cantaloupe, blueberries, chopped pecans, ginger, Dijon mustard, white balsamic vinegar, and more. Leave the goat cheese out of this one, too.
Photo: Hungry Girl por Vida
14. Spicy Cantaloupe and Cucumber Popsicles
These simple pops are spicy and sweet with cantaloupe, jalapeno, cucumber, and sweetener. You can replace the sugar with honey or maple syrup (and cut it down to _ cup. Honey would be especially good for a sore throat friendly popsicle that’s hydrating and nourishing.
15. Kale Cantaloupe Juice With Mint and Ginger
This yummy and healthy juice is perfect to enjoy first thing in the morning. You’ll need a juicer along with apple, pear, lemon, ginger, kale, cantaloupe, and mint leaves. I bet this would also be delicious with basil if that’s what you’ve got bopping around the fridge.
16. Cantaloupe and Cream Popsicles
I love the swirls in these simple and easy popsicles. You can make them dairy-free by using full-fat coconut milk instead of cream (the coconut milk is thick and rich enough to replace heavy cream. The vanilla extract is a perfect touch to finish off the flavor.
17. Cantaloupe and Arugula Salad
Here’s a fun salad that uses spicy arugula with sweet and smooth cantaloupe. Red onion adds flavor and color, and a lovely honey lemon poppy seed dressing finishes the whole thing off with a good, solid drizzle. I like to keep the ingredients for this dressing on hand.
Photo: Some the Wiser
18. Cantaloupe Blueberry Lemon Parfaits
These fun parfaits can be made with coconut yogurt to keep them dairy free, and you could use maple syrup or honey in place of the agave nectar, too. Make sure you’re using lemon extract for the flavoring and not lemon essential oil—it’s not safe to eat!
19. Triple Layer Popsicles
These fruity pops are made with cantaloupe, watermelon, pineapple, and honey and mixed and poured separately to make lovely layers. My favorite is the frozen pineapple, which you can mix with a bit of coconut yogurt, coconut milk, or almond milk if you’d like.
20. Mint Pistachio Fruit Salad
This easy fruity salad is colorful and elegant from the orange cantaloupe to the blue-purple wild blueberries and bright green pistachios and mint leaves. There’s something sweet, something juicy, something herbal and something crunchy. Every bite is delicious.
21. Margarita Melon Salad
This is my kind of salad! Not for kids, and definitely delicious for grown-ups. Enjoy this salad with cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon, silver tequila, orange liquor, and freshly squeezed lime juice. You could also add some freshly shredded mint leaves to the mix.
Photo: Cooking on the Weekends
22. Balsamic Glazed Melon Cake
This beautifully colorful and layered cake is impressive. While it’s simple, there’s a bit of work involved in getting the layers sliced just so; take a look at the instructional provided by this blogger. The balsamic vinegar is the perfect final touch.
23. Tequila, Sherry, and Cantaloupe co*cktail
This not-for-kids poolside drink feature fresh cantaloupe juice, blanco tequila, Fino sherry, freshly squeezed lemon juice, agave nectar (you could also use honey or maple syrup), mint leaves, and club soda. It’s fizzy, sweet, tangy, and delicious.
24. Cantaloupe Coconut Lime Sorbet
This sorbet is made with full fat coconut milk, making it rich while also keeping it light. The chilled cantaloupe, sea salt, and lime juice are the star flavors, while honey sweetens this sorbet and vodka keeps it soft so you can still scoop it after it’s been in the freezer.
25. Cantaloupe Orange Smoothie
Why not combine two orange fruits to make a double-orange smoothie? This dessert smoothie has only three ingredients: cantaloupe, oranges, and a touch of maple syrup. I love that as well as sweetness, the maple syrup adds a nice maple flavor to counter the cantaloupe’s muskiness.
Photo: The Almond Eater
26. Cantaloupe and Raspberry Yogurt Parfait
This simple yogurt parfait can be made with coconut yogurt as the recipe suggests, or you could use dairy if that’s part of your diet. You’ll also need raspberries, basil, cantaloupe, and a bit of water to loosen things up in the blender. This makes a great easy breakfast!
27. Cantaloupe Lemonade
This cantaloupe lemonade is made with fresh cantaloupe, lemon juice, lemon zest, sabja seeds, and a bit of sweetener if you feel it’s necessary. You can use coconut sugar or maple syrup for the sweetener, but I’d taste it first, because it may depend on the sweetness of your melon.
28. Chilled Melon and Lavender Soup
This unique chilled soup works for breakfast, dessert, or a fun summer snack. You’ll need to get your hands on some culinary lavender, ripe melon, coconut water, lime juice, blueberries, shredded coconut, and mint leaves to garnish the top. I love the color combination here!
29. Cantaloupe Dragonfruit Boats
These cantaloupe boats are super simple, but the presentation is a winner that’ll get your kids (or guests) eating some unusual fruits like dragonfruit. A melon baller does the trick here, and you could make it eve better by using some fresh shredded mint leaves.
Photo: Eat Well 101
30. Frozen Cantaloupe Capuccino
This cantaloupe treat is made with cinnamon and sweetener if you need it. In place of the Chantilly cream (which is a sweetened whipped cream) you can use whipped coconut cream, sweetened with a little bit of maple syrup if you’d like, or just used plain.
