Meet Our New Favorite No-Cook Summer Snack—And the $8 Tool That Makes It Easy

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Go ahead and make some waves this summer.

Summer snacking is all about fresh fruit, but one fruit in particular truly captures the essence of summer—watermelon. The refreshing seasonal fruit is always welcome on a hot summer day. It’s delicious in watermelon feta salad, watermelon sherbet, or juiced for agua fresca.  But often eating it plain—whether it’s cut into wedges, scooped into balls, or sliced into cubes—is the preferred way to enjoy this juicy treat.

If you want to get fancy with your cut watermelon, cutting the fruit into “fries” is the way to go. Serving French fry-shaped slices of watermelon and artfully arranging them on a plate with a dip isn’t a new idea, but this summer, watermelon fries are getting a trendy upgrade with a new shape: crinkle-cut!

How to Make Crinkle-Cut Watermelon Fries

You'll need this hand-held crinkle cutter to create the wavy cuts that turn your watermelon into crinkle-cut watermelon fries. The tool is useful for quickly slicing fruits and vegetables with decorative, wavy edges. The best part is that it's inexpensive, costing less than $8 at Amazon!

Buy it: $8; Amazon

TikTok user happykidskitchen captured the food world’s attention recently with her viral video that demonstrates how easy it is to create this snack. Over 6.5 million viewers have watched Heather, a mom and cooking instructor, demonstrate how simple it is to cut wavy sticks out of watermelon slices using the manual kitchen tool. She also demonstrates how to make a strawberry dipping sauce by blending yogurt, strawberries, and honey together. When she places the watermelon and the sauce on a plate together, the pair resemble pink French fries and pink ketchup.

Fruit dip seems essential to the appeal of watermelon fries, adding to the French fry illusion of the dish. The yogurt-based strawberry dip in the video looks delicious, but other versions would be good too. Marshmallow creme, peanut butter, and cream cheese all make great bases for a yummy fruit dip.

Make the Most of Your Crinkle Cutter

The crinkle cutter is no unitasker. It cuts any fruit into wavy-edged shapes. Add variety to the tray of watermelon fries by adding cantaloupe fries and pineapple fries. Make crinkle-cut veggie trays, and of course, use the tool to make crinkle-cut French fries, sweet potato fries, or potato chips.

Aside from fruits and vegetables, the crinkle cutter can be used in many other ways. Here are just a few ideas:

• Make fancy pats of butter.

• Cut French toast or pancakes with them for fun breakfast sticks that kids can dip into syrup.

• Trim the edges of ravioli.

• Slice block cheese into wavy slices for your next charcuterie board.

• Use it to make wavy strips of pie crust.
  

However you use it, we're sure it will make regular appearances around your kitchen. And for such an easy way to add some fun to summertime snacks, it might be the best $8 you spend all summer.