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Granita is an icy Sicilian dessert made from fruit, water, and sugar. It’s incredibly easy to make and can be customized to your favorite fruit or whatever is plentiful in the current season. Or, make a few flavors and layer them together.
Granita is an ideal summer treat: It’s simple to make (blend fresh fruit and sugar in a blender), easy to customize (use whatever fruit is the current favorite, in season, or on sale), and perfect for children and adults alike.
Children love it because it looks like (and actually is) a cup of shaved ice. It’s fun, fruity, and colorful, and it’s everything a kid wants in a summer treat.
You like it because it’s made from real fruit, not just a blast of fruit-flavored Red 40. You also love knowing you can put less sugar in it, if you want to.
And the rest of the grownups love it because it’s icy and refreshing but also fun a blip in their lives of mundane adulting. Splash of vodka, anyone?
Since it needs to be frozen for a few hours, you have no choice but to make it ahead, freeing up your time for other matters. There is basically no downside to Granita, the idea summer dessert.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Fruit: Some fruit, such as peaches, may make a thicker puree than others, like watermelon. Feel free to add a little water to the mixture if it is on the thicker side.
- Lime juice: Or substitute another flavorful liquid such as lemon juice, orange juice, wine, or even liquor.
Step-by-step instructions
- To a blender or a food processor, add cubed fruit, lime juice, sugar, and salt. Blend until smooth.
- Transfer to a 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish.
- Freeze until slushy, about 30 minutes.
- Remove granita from freezer and scrape with a fork. Return to freezer until edges begin to freeze, about 30 minutes more. Repeat every 30 minutes until mixture is frozen and flaky in texture, about 4 hours total.
- Scoop into bowls or glasses, garnish with mint, and serve.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This Granita recipe makes about 6 cups, enough for 8 (3/4-cup) servings or 6 (1-cup) servings
- Storage: Granita can be stored in freezer, up to one week in advance. Scrape with fork before serving.
- Alcohol: Add ½ to 2/3 cup of white rum or vodka before blending.
- Cool dessert: Serve with whipped cream and fresh fruit for a frosty, refreshing dessert idea.
- Beachy breakfast: Serve over a bowl of yogurt and pretend you’re eating breakfast in the tropics.
- More drinks for the 21+ crowd: If you’re looking for more fun, fruity cocktails, try Pirate Punch, a Strawberry Peach Frosé, a Mai Tai, or a Piña Colada.
- More slushes: Sicilians aren’t the only group making frosty, icy drinks! In the Midwest, we love a cocktail made in an ice cream pail. Try Pink Lemonade Vodka Slush, Brandy Slush, Margarita Slush, or Brandy Apple Cider Slush.
Recipe FAQs
These two icy, fruit desserts are made with similar ingredients (water, sugar, and fruit) but are made in different ways and thus have different textures. Sorbet is churned like ice cream so it is incredibly smooth, almost creamy. Granita is frozen in a pan and scraped, so it has an icy, crystalized texture.
You can use almost any fruit for granita, but thicker fruits might need additional water to get the right consistency.
Freeze granita for at least 4 hours to get that icy, crystalized texture that you know and love.
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Granita
Ingredients
- 4 cups fruit cubed, such as peaches, strawberries, or watermelon (about 1 ½ pounds, see note 1)
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (see note 2)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- fresh mint minced, for garnish
Instructions
- To a blender or a food processor, add cubed fruit, lime juice, sugar, and salt. Blend until smooth.
- Transfer to a 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish. Freeze until slushy, about 30 minutes.
- Remove granita from freezer and scrape with a fork. Return to freezer until edges begin to freeze, about 30 minutes more. Repeat every 30 minutes until mixture is frozen and flaky in texture, about 4 hours total.
- Scoop into bowls, garnish with mint and serve.
Notes
- Fruit: Some fruit, such as peaches, may make a thicker puree than others, like watermelon. Feel free to add a little water to the mixture if it is on the thicker side.
- Lime juice: Or substitute another flavorful liquid such as lemon juice, orange juice, wine, or even liquor.
- Yield: This Granita recipe makes about 6 cups, enough for 8 (3/4-cup) servings or 6 (1-cup) servings
- Storage: Granita can be stored in freezer, up to one week in advance. Scrape with fork before serving.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
Easy to make and you can use whatever ingredients at home.
Thank you for your comment, Lina! Take care! – Meggan