Cantaloupe Melon Juice Recipe

Looking for a cantaloupe juice recipe that you’ll want to make again and again? You’ve found it.

This chef-made summer juice recipe is a super refreshing drink. And it’s perfect for any time of the day.

Cantaloupe is the star, of course, but the secondary flavors provided by the pear, lemon, turmeric, carrot, and dried lavender take it to the next level.

Plus, this cantaloupe fruit juice recipe features loads of amazing health benefits (more on that in a moment).

Cantaloupe: The Fruit of Many (Amazing) Names

People from most places refer to this juicy, seedy-centered melon as a cantaloupe, but have you heard what it’s called elsewhere?

Sweet melon is one alternative name. Another one is muskmelon (though that is a broader term that includes other melons). But gets much more interesting than that.

In Australia, cantaloupes go by the strikingly more intuitive name rockmelons. You know, because the rinds sort of look like rocks, and they’re melons.

It gets better.

The South African name for cantaloupe is spanspek, likely derived from the Afrikaans word Spaanse spek, which translates to Spanish bacon. The supposed backstory is from the 1800s. It has to do with a man named Sir Harry Smith and his Spanish wife Juana María de los Dolores de León Smith.

Unlike Juana’s name, the backstory is quite short.

You see, while Sir Smith ate bacon and eggs for breakfast, Juana María preferred the sweet and bright taste of cantaloupe in the morning. Because Juana María was from Spain, South Africans nicknamed the fruit Spanish bacon.

That said, the name may actually pre-date the Smiths, as an earlier reference to Cantaloupe as Spaansch-spek dates back to 1770 in the Dutch colony of Suriname.

Now that you know what to call cantaloupe melons no matter where you are in the world, let’s talk about health benefits.

Health Benefits of This Cantaloupe Juice Recipe

Since it’s MVP of this juice, let’s start with cantaloupe’s greatest health benefits.

1. Cantaloupe is packed with anti-inflammatory antioxidants. When you take a sip of cantaloupe juice, you’re getting lutein,  cryptoxanthin, beta-carotene, and zeaxanthin. Antioxidants like these are sought after due to their anti-inflammatory and cancer-prevention properties.
2. Ultra-hydrating. Over 90% of cantaloupe is water!
3. Immune system supporting vitamin C and vitamin A.Just over one cup of cantaloupe contains enough vitamin C (around 75mg ) to hit the recommended daily value.
4. Recovery-friendly potassium.Potassium helps balance your heartbeat and muscle contractions, and each cup of cantaloupe contains around 10% of the recommended daily value of the electrolyte.
5. Cantaloupes contain relatively few sugar and carbs.Rockmelons might taste super sweet, but their sugar and carb content is just 13g per serving. That’s around the same amount of sugar as a glass of milk.

Health benefits provided by the other ingredients in this delicious cantaloupe juice recipe include:

• Pears are antioxidant rich and can help lower blood pressure. “A pear a day” can also help prevent osteoporosis and some forms of diabetes.
• Turmeric is an appetite stimulant and natural diuretic that helps prevents fungal and viral infections. It also can improve circulation and help reduce stress.
• Lemons are natural antibiotics that can help prevent asthma and strokes while promoting healthy skin. (As long as you put it in your mouth and not on your face, like many misguided internet kids have attempted.)
• Lavender helps promote restful sleep, fight depression, and prevent vomiting.

So, you not only get to enjoy a delicious, fresh fruit juice beverage on a hot summer day. You also get to gulp it down knowing it’s doing your body good.

How to Pick a Ripe Cantaloupe 

Need help at the store? You can learn how to pick a ripe cantaloupe here.

Can’t get enough melon? Try our refreshing watermelon juice recipe or our spicy watermelon juice recipe.

Want to browse dozens of chef-made seasonal recipes you can make with your home juicer? Browse our juicing recipes here!