Watermelon Salad
Watermelon Salad, flavoured with mint and lime, was made for hot summer days. Refreshing, quick, and incredibly good.
Joining juicy cubes of fresh watermelon are crunchy diced cucumber plus a little red onion and lime zest. A simple olive oil and lime juice dressing brings the salad together delightfully. For a tangy, salty contrast, add diced or crumbled feta cheese.
Perfect as a cooling side to spicy or barbecued food, Watermelon Salad can also be enjoyed as a light meal on its own.
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If the thought of fruit in a salad seems odd to you then consider this. Both tomatoes and cucumbers are, botanically speaking, fruits. So you have absolutely zero excuse for not trying the wonderful Watermelon Salad I want to share with you today.
Summer eating should be about lightness and freshness. But it has to taste good too. And this refreshing, cooling, salty and sweet salad certainly fits the bill.
One of my favourite fruity salads from last year was a Strawberry & Cucumber Salad. It was inspired by some perfect-looking strawberries and super-crunchy mini cucumbers in my Moorland Veg Box.
And I’ve the same folks to thank for Watermelon Salad as my latest delivery included this gorgeous organic baby watermelon.
Perfectly ripe, sweet but firm, I decided to turn it into a cooling side dish to accompany that night’s spicy dinner. And it worked like a charm.
Ready to make this salad? Jump to Recipe or read on for tips and more pics.
THE WATERMELON
Of course, you don’t have to use baby watermelon. A big chunk of regular watermelon would be fine too. Unless you want to be spitting out seeds, you’ll need to remove them. Mine did have seeds, but they were mainly the tiny, softer white ones. So I only removed the larger darker ones.
To serve 2 – 4 people you’ll need around 500 grams of prepared watermelon, although appetites naturally vary. I will eat as much watermelon as is put in front of me so used the whole baby one.
First remove the rind and cut the fruit into generous bite-sized chunks.
WATERMELON SALAD
For me, the watermelon should be star of the show, so I don’t add many other ingredients to the salad.
I think the slightly bitter taste of cucumber is a great contrast to the sweet watermelon. It also adds welcome crunchy texture. A little red onion, finely sliced or chopped, brings some astringency as does the zest of a lime.
Mint is one of my favourite herbs, always seeming to lift a dish, and goes so well with summer eating. I include a small bunch, just the leaves stripped from the stems, and add them whole.
If you want to prep ahead, then you can cover the bowl and leave it in the fridge for an hour or two. I wouldn’t leave it longer than that though: freshness is what Watermelon Salad is all about.
THE DRESSING
So that the ingredients speak for themselves, the dressing for this salad is super-simple. Extra virgin olive oil, lime juice, salt, pepper. Although my dinky watermelon was lovely and sweet, I decided to accentuate this by adding a little honey. You could use any other sweetener or leave out if you prefer.
The easiest way to combine the dressing ingredients is to pop them in a lidded jar and give it a good old shake. Taste and add more seasoning if you think it needs it then gently toss through the salad.
I recommend you now put the salad in the fridge for a bit. Not so long that things go soggy. But allowing a little time for the flavours to meld, and to chill the salad, certainly improves it. Around twenty minutes should be fine.
WATERMELON SALAD WITH FETA
The salad will work great as a side just as it is. I think its cooling, sweet and tangy elements are perfect alongside spicy and chilli-hot foods. Think north African, Middle Eastern, Mexican. I reckon it would sit well with barbecued foods too.
But if you want to eat Watermelon Salad as a light main course on its own, I suggest adding protein to it in the form of salty, creamy feta cheese. The contrast with the sweet watermelon, bitter cucumber, zingy lime, and mint is wonderful.
Although we were going to eat the salad you see in this post alongside chicken, I still added feta. Mainly because I just love it. But also because I’m exceptionally greedy.
I marinated skinless, boneless chicken thighs in ground cumin, chilli powder, Aleppo pepper flakes, smoked paprika, dried oregano, salt, pepper, and olive oil. After a couple of hours, I pan fried them and served with a heap of the Watermelon Salad. Also on the plate were some mixed grains I’d heated with roasted red peppers from a jar, pickled chillies and the same spices I’d used on the chicken.
In my head, the combination worked. But I was genuinely surprised at just how good it was. Even my partner, no mean cook himself, and who I sense was a little sceptical beforehand, loved it. In fact, we both kept saying all evening, ‘that was a really good meal, wasn’t it?’
REFRESHING, FAST & SO GOOD
If you’re not one hundred percent sure about fruit in salad I hope you’ll still give this fantastic Watermelon Salad a try.
Refreshing, sweet and tangy yet healthy too, the recipe’s so quick and easy, you’ve really nothing to lose.
I’d love to hear from you if you’ve made this salad. Leave a comment and don’t forget to rate the recipe.
Watermelon Salad
With refreshing mint and lime plus optional feta, this quick and easy salad is a great side dish for spicy or barbecued food and as a light main course or lunch on hot summer days.
Ingredients
- 500 g watermelon (weight is after preparation) rind removed, cut into large bite-sized pieces
- ⅓ of a cucumber deseeded, diced small
- ½ medium red onion thinly sliced or finely chopped
- 1 small bunch mint leaves only
- 1 lime zest only
- 120 g feta cheese, cubed or crumbled optional
Dressing
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lime juice only
- ½ tbsp honey or other sweetener optional
- salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
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Make the dressing first: put all the ingredients into a lidded jar and shake well to combine. Taste and add more seasoning if needed.
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Put the prepared watermelon, cucumber, red onion, whole mint leaves and lime zest into a serving bowl.
Can be prepared in advance up to this stage, covered and chilled for 2 hours if necessary.
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Shake the dressing again then pour over the salad and toss gently.
Cover and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes to allow the flavours to meld.
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Toss in the feta cheese if using and serve.
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