Pressure Cooker Watermelon Rind Barbecue Sauce is a nice change from the same old BBQ Sauce. Sweet, sticky and with a tiny kick, make this today!

Jump to Section

Pressure Cooker Watermelon Rind Barbecue Sauce

In the 80’s the Hard Rock Café introduced its famous Watermelon Baby Back Ribs with Watermelon Rind Barbecue Sauce. The Beverly Center in Los Angeles used to be packed with full of customers eating Ribs. Their Chinese Chicken Salad was pretty awesome too! This recipe is the first part of my Pressure Cooker Watermelon Baby Back Ribs recipe.

Cast of Ingredients for Pressure Cooker Watermelon Rind Barbecue Sauce

Sounds pretty crazy, a Barbecue Sauce made from Watermelon Rind. I thought so too, but it’s pretty delicious. Sweet, with a little kick. The part of the Watermelon that is used is the softer part of the rind. Cut off the hard green skin and about an inch of the hard white rind. Keep the whiter and the red/white part of the Rind.

While the red, sweet part is delicious to eat as is, check out my Vitamix Watermelon Lemonade for a sweet and refreshing drink. It goes great with my Pressure Cooker Watermelon Baby Back Ribs!

I converted this recipe from The Hard Rock Café to the Pressure Cooker and it worked out really well. There is no standing over the stove, making sure the pot is simmering just so. This Pressure Cooker Watermelon Rind Barbecue Sauce uses very simple ingredients. Try it as the Sauce in my Pressure Cooker Sweet ‘N Sour Chicken recipe as a change to the regular Sweet ‘N Sour Sauce Dipping Sauce recipe.

Add Watermelon Rind to Food Processor

You want to make sure to just use the rind with the white and red to pink parts. Those are softer than really close to the green.

A Food Processor or VitaMix will do the trick. You don’t want to pulverize the Rind. Just process it for a few seconds until it becomes a puree.

Drain out Some of the Liquid

Use a Strainer to Drain most of the liquid from the Watermelon Puree. Don’t Strain it until it is dry. Just run it through quickly and then measure out what you need.

The Watermelon Juice is delicious and can be added to my Vitamix Watermelon Lemonade recipe. It makes a really great summer drink. It’s very refreshing and quenches your thirst and your body.

Big Cup of Processed Watermelon Rind

It’s pretty amazing that the Rind, which we usually throw away, makes a great tasting Barbecue Sauce. Try this Pressure Cooker Watermelon Barbecue Sauce on my Air Fryer Hot Chicken Wings recipe, instead of using Hot Sauce. Yummy!

Measure out a big cupful of the Watermelon Puree for one recipe. Half of a small Watermelon will be enough for one recipe.

Add all Ingredients to Pressure Cooker

Cooking the Watermelon Rind Barbecue Sauce in the Pressure Cooker is so much easier than on the stove. The Liquid Smoke, Karo Dark Corn Syrup, Watermelon Rind Pulp, Hot Pepper Flakes, etc., all get added at the same time. There is no fussing or watching your saucepan. You can even leave the house, while your Sauce is cooking.

If you want to cook this the slow way in a Saucepan, add an extra quarter cup of Watermelon Juice and simmer for an hour.

Simmer until Desired Consistency

Some Pressure Cookers have a Simmer Button, some have a Sauté or Browning Button. Other Pressure Cookers may have none of the aforesaid buttons. Whichever Multi-Cooker or Multi-Cooker you have, use the labeled button or use the Meat Button.

Make sure you continuously stir, until the Pressure Cooker Watermelon Rind Sauce has cooked down a bit and it slightly thick. Be careful not to get it too thick, as it will thicken much more as it cools.

Instant Pot Watermelon Rind Barbecue Sauce

You can make this Sauce as spicy as you like, just by adding more of the Hot Pepper Flakes. Enjoy on my Pressure Cooker Watermelon Baby Back Ribs and my Air Fryer Watermelon Chicken Wings.

Kitchen Equipment and Essentials

Caring is sharing! If you would like to support This Old Gal, please share this recipe on Social Media, so that I can continue to bring you more wonderful recipes!

Here is the handy printable recipe: