This Watermelon Salad is the perfect refreshing summer salad! It's made with juicy watermelon, crisp cucumber, salty feta cheese, and fresh mint leaves. It's the perfect combination of flavors and textures. Whether you're looking for a light lunch or a side dish for your BBQ party, you'll love this salad!
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Why This Recipe Works
Refreshing - Nothing beats fresh produce when it's in season and especially watermelons in the summer! The mix of juicy watermelon, refreshing cucumber, and salty feta to balance it all out is perfect for hot summer days!
Simple and easy - There are only a handful of simple ingredients in this salad most of which can be found at the farmer's market. It's so easy to throw this salad together!
Main or a side - This salad can either be served as a light lunch of dinner or as a side at a BBQ, picnic, or any other get-together. I like serving it for lunch when it gets extra hot in the summer.
Ingredients
- Watermelon - Pick a watermelon that's heavy for its size, dull, uniform in size, with a yellow/orange field spot, and a dry brown stem. This will ensure it will be extra sweet and juicy!
- Cucumber - Any cucumber works here. Peel if not organic.
- Red onion - Red onion adds crunchiness and flavor. You can let it soak in cold water while you prep the rest of the ingredients to remove a little bit of the bite and make it less strong.
- Feta cheese - The saltiness of feta balances out the sweetness of the watermelon and adds some healthy fats. I recommend sheep or goat feta. Try to buy feta blocks, not pre-crumbled feta whenever possible. Crumbled feta has unnecessary additives and it's not as good.
- Fresh mint - Fresh mint compliments the other flavors really well here. I don't recommend dried mint, it won't provide the same amount of flavor.
- Dressing - Extra virgin olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, black pepper, and a little bit of sea salt (optional) is all you need to allow all the other flavors to shine.
Variations and Substitutions
- Shallots - If you want something milder in flavor than red onion, thinly sliced shallots are a great choice.
- Basil - If you're not a fan of mint, fresh basil is a great substitute.
- Greens - Arugula or romaine lettuce would be a great addition to make it into a bigger salad. If you add greens, I recommend doubling the salad dressing.
- Berries - You can add less watermelon and toss in some blueberries or raspberries for added fruity flavor!
- Quick pickled red onion - If you don't like raw onions, add some pickled ones instead! You can pickle your own onions in just about 30 minutes!
- Balsamic glaze - Drizzle some balsamic glaze on top for extra flavor!
Step-by-Step Instructions
Into a large mixing bowl add diced watermelon, diced cucumber, sliced red onion, crumbled feta, and chopped fresh mint.
In a separate bowl or a cup, whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, black pepper, and salt if using.
Pour the dressing over the salad and toss everything together gently to mix well. Serve and enjoy!
Serving and Storing
You can serve the salad on its own as a light lunch or dinner or as a side. It's perfect served as a side for anything from the grill, at a picnic, or as a side for any summer lunch or dinner.
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. The salad will naturally release some water but it will still be delicious!
FAQs
Dull: A ripe watermelon will look more dull than shiny and should be dark green.
Orange Field spot: Look for a big yellow or orange field spot - this means it's sweet and ripe. If the spot is very light or there isn't one it could mean the watermelon isn't ripe enough.
Uniform size: Round watermelons also tend to be sweeter than oval-shaped ones.
Brown Stem: Green stem means it was picked too early and it's not ripe enough.
Heavy: Always pick a watermelon that's the heaviest for its size, this means it's extra juicy.
Yes! Simply sub regular feta for some vegan feta.
More Summer Salads
If you're looking for other great summer salads, check out the four linked below! To see all the latest salads, head over to the Salads Category.
📖 Recipe
Watermelon Feta Salad
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 2-6 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This Watermelon Salad is the perfect refreshing summer salad! Whether you're looking for a light lunch or a side dish for your BBQ party, you'll love this salad!
Ingredients
- 5 cups diced watermelon (1 small watermelon)
- 1 English cucumber, diced (approx. 2 cups)
- 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
- 200g block feta cheese, crumbled
- ¼ cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp freshly squzeed lime juice (1 lime)
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp sea salt (optional, feta is usually very salty)
Instructions
- Into a large mixing bowl add diced watermelon, diced cucumber, sliced red onion, crumbled feta, and chopped fresh mint.
- In a separate bowl or a cup, whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, black pepper, and salt if using.
- Pour the dressing over the salad and toss everything together gently to mix well. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Red onion: You can let it soak in cold water while you prep the rest of the ingredients to remove a little bit of the bite and make it less strong. Shallots are also a great option.
Feta: Use block feta if possible instead of pre-crumbled feta. I recommend washing it with cold water before crumbling to remove leftover salty brine. This will prevent it from being overly salty.
Storing: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. The watermelon will release quite a bit of water as it sits with the salty feta so this salad is best eaten right away.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 300
- Sugar: 16 g
- Sodium: 462.8 mg
- Fat: 21.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 9 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 21.5 g
- Fiber: 1.5 g
- Protein: 9 g
Gloria
Sweet watermelon and salty feta are a match made in heaven. This is the perfect summer salad recipe. A hit at bbq parties.
Marta
I love making salads when the weather gets too hot and this watermelon and feta version was the perfect way to cool down this weekend. I served it with toasted pita bread and the family devoured it.
Veronika
This is my favorite Summer salad! So easy to make and so delicious, cannot wait to make it again ;)
Sean
Watermelon salads are so refreshing and the addition of the feta was amazing. It was the perfect compliment for the watermelon.
Susan
What a perfect salad for a BBQ I'm going to next weekend! The combination of the sweet watermelon with the salty feta is always such a huge win!
Erin
I made this for a picnic today and everyone loved it! So refreshing in this heat. Will make again!
Moop Brown
This salad looks incredibly refreshing and the mint is a nice touch as well. Seems like a great summer salad.
Hayley Dhanecha
I made this watermelon feta salad for guests over the weekend and it went down an absolute treat! The flavours are incredible
Sangeetha
I recently tried this watermelon salad recipe, and it was absolutely amazing! The combination of juicy watermelon, crisp cucumber, and tangy feta cheese was so refreshing and flavorful. The addition of fresh mint leaves gave it a delightful burst of freshness. It was the perfect side dish for a summer BBQ, and everyone loved it. I'll definitely be making this salad again and again. Highly recommended!