Watermelon salad makes for an easy, refreshing, and light summer dinner. If you’ve never tasted watermelon and feta together before, it may sound like a strange combination. But give it a taste, and you will certainly be hooked. The sweetness of the juicy watermelon meets the rich, salty feta creating an explosion of flavor on every perfect bite.
Cucumber Feta and Watermelon Salad
On hot summer nights in Barcelona, one of our favorite dinners was a thick wedge of watermelon with a chunk of salty feta cheese. Consider us trendsetters: today, the watermelon/Feta (or Halloumi) combination is gaining popularity on this side of the Atlantic - and it’s the inspiration for this gorgeous cucumber, feta, and watermelon Salad.
In the summer months when it’s easy to dehydrate, WATERmelon is the perfect food; it’s full of H20, which leaves you both hydrated and satiated. Mixed in a watermelon salad, you’ll feed your body with all kinds of nutrients and bonus plant compounds. In other words,
watermelon salad for the win.
The beauty of this recipe is its simplicity: aside from cucumber and feta, this cold watermelon salad also includes tomatoes, black cured or kalamata olives, and fresh mint or basil, and dressed simply with lemon or lime juice and salt. It makes for an easy, refreshing, and light summer dinner. You can also bring your watermelon salad as an exciting addition to a BBQ or potluck.
Here's how to slice your watermelon to get the perfect cubes for this salad!
1) Slice your watermelon in half. Place one half on a cutting board, cut side down
2) Using a large, sharp knife, make vertical cuts all across, about ½-inch thick
3) Turn the cutting board around, and cut again
4) You'll end up with long watermelon pieces. Cut off the rind, and cut each piece into cubes
A couple of pro-tips:
- Cut the tomatoes, cucumbers, and watermelon up to one day ahead and keep them in separate containers until you’re ready to assemble the watermelon salad
- Assemble and dress the watermelon salad right before serving to prevent the moisture from the melon and veggies from watering down the rest of the salad.
- Drink up!
Gorgeous, seasonal summer veggies give this watermelon salad fresh, super juicy flavors.
Other Middle Eastern Food Recipes
- Fattoush Salad
- Tabbouleh (Tabouli Salad)
- Hummus
- Deconstructed Hummus
- Cheese Sambusek
- Maamoul
- Semolina borekas
- Knafeh
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Cucumber Feta and Watermelon Salad
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 5 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Watermelon salad makes for an easy, refreshing, and light summer dinner. If you’ve never tasted watermelon and feta together before, it may sound like a strange combination. But give it a taste, and you will certainly be hooked. The sweetness of the juicy watermelon meets the rich, salty feta creating an explosion of flavor on every perfect bite.
Ingredients
- ¼ large watermelon, cut into cubes (about 6 cups)
- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half (about 2 ½ cups halved)
- 4 Persian cucumbers, sliced (about 2 cups)
- 5oz feta cheese ( dairy or vegan ), cut into cubes
- 12-18 Kalamata or black cured olives, pitted
- 10 mint or basil leaves, cut into ribbons
- ¼ cup fresh lemon or lime juice (or to taste)
- ½ tsp coarse sea salt (or to taste)
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients, except the lemon juice and salt, in a large bowl. Dress the salad right before serving and toss gently
Notes
To cut your watermelon, slice it in half, and place one half on a cutting board, cut side down. Using a large, sharp knife, make vertical cuts all across, about ½-inch thick. Turn the cutting board around, and cut again. You'll end up with long watermelon pieces. Cut off the rind, and cut each piece into cubes
Cut the tomatoes, cucumbers, and watermelon up to one day ahead and keep
them in separate containers until you’re ready to assemble the watermelon salad.
Assemble and dress the watermelon salad right before serving to prevent the
moisture from the melon and veggies from watering down the rest of the salad.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Method: raw
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 cups
- Calories: 168
- Sugar: 15.4
- Sodium: 596.5
- Fat: 7.9
- Saturated Fat: 4.5
- Unsaturated Fat: 2.9
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 21.1
- Fiber: 2.3
- Protein: 6.3
- Cholesterol: 25.3
Keywords: watermelon, feta,salad, gluten free
Paula Zevin says
Excellent summer dish! Been making a variant of this great salad without olives (being the only one in the family who loves them) for a while. It's a delicious and versatile salad, a keeper.
★★★★★
Vicky & Ruth says
Thank you so much! Half of our family loves olives and the other half doesn't like them at all! More for us who like them 😉
Cindy says
Great and refreshing. Love salty and sweet
★★★★★
Vicky & Ruth says
We also love salty and sweet. Best flavor combo!
Elaine says
Hands down the best salad of this type that we’ve found. We’re with you on having more olives!! It will be on the menu rotation throughout the summer, thank you!! Didn’t have regular feta so we used a vegan feta that was firmer and creamier. Delicious!! And thank you for the watermelon cutting hints! So much faster and easier now.
★★★★★
Vicky and Ruth says
Thank you so much!