Salty, sweet, refreshing watermelon feta salad is a great side dish for BBQ parties or picnics. Watermelon cubes are tossed in olive oil, lime juice, fresh basil leaves, and crumbled feta cheese. This bright, healthy salad is simple and easy to make.
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Need suggestions for more summer salads that fit for backyard grilling, BBQ parties, picnics, or potlucks? Try cherry tomato salad, classic egg salad, or marinated tomatoes salad.
Why you’ll love this salad?
- Quick and easy to make.
- Terrific summer salad that is a must for summer BBQ parties or picnics.
- Needs easily available ingredients.
- It has a wonderful balance of salty, and sweet flavors.
Ingredients
- Watermelon – use seedless watermelon. If there are seeds in watermelon, simply scoop it out using a small spoon.
- Feta cheese – buy a feta cheese block and crumble it when ready to use or cut into small cubes and use it in the salad.
- Lime – use freshly squeezed lime juice. Feel free to use the zest of the lime for extra zing in the salad.
- Extra virgin olive oil – use the best quality olive oil for the best taste.
- Basil – basil leaves cut into julienes or simply tear basil leaves and add them to the salad. You can add fresh int leaves too for freshness.
Variations
Make it your own and include other ingredients of your choice. You can add-
- Raw red onion or pickled red onions for crunch.
- Add cool English cucumber. Seed the cucumber and cut into cubes before adding to the salad.
- Toss fresh arugula salad leaves.
- Kalamata olives are another great addition to the salad.
- Feel free to include fresh blueberries.
- Cherry tomatoes cut into halves can also be added.
- Drizzle with balsamic glaze for flavor explosion.
How to make
In a small bowl whisk together olive oil, lime juice extracted from fresh lime, salt, and pepper. Combine watermelon cubes, crumbled feta, and basil leaves in a large salad bowl. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss it gently until combined. Transfer to a serving bowl. Sprinkle a few basil leaves on top.
Useful tips
- Use seedless watermelon.
- Always buy a feta cheese block and crumble or cut into cubes when ready to use.
- Feel free to swap fresh basil with fresh mint.
- Watermelon and feta salad is best when served chilled. It’s a great make-ahead salad, but don’t let the salad sit in the fridge for many hours. Make it just an hour or two before serving.
- Don’t skip adding dressing to the salad. A simple dressing goes a long way.
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📋Refreshing Watermelon Feta Salad
Ingredients
- 3 lb watermelon seedless, chilled
- 8 oz FETA cheese crumbled – sheep’s milk feta
- ¾ cup fresh basil chopped
For Dressing-
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 lime juice
- Salt to taste I added about 1 ½ teaspoon
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
- Cut out rind from watermelon. Chop the fruit into 1 inch cubes. Seedless watermelon works best for this salad. If you cannot find seedless watermelon, buy watermelon with seeds and while cutting them into cubes, remove the seeds from it. Remember this is going to be tedious job – removing seeds from watermelon.
- In a small bowl whisk together olive oil, lime juice extracted from fresh lime, salt, pepper. This is the dressing for the salad.
- In a large bowl combine watermelon cubes, crumbled feta and basil leaves. Toss gently until ingredients are combined well. Transfer to serving bowl. Sprinkle few basil leaves on top.
- Drizzle the dressing over the salad. Stir gently to integrate the cheese, dressing into the salad.
- Serve chilled.
Notes
-
- Use seedless watermelon.
- Always buy a feta cheese block and crumble or cut into cubes when ready to use.
- Feel free to swap fresh basil with fresh mint.
- Watermelon and feta salad is best when served chilled. It’s a great make-ahead salad, but don’t let the salad sit in the fridge for many hours. Make it just an hour or two before serving.
- Don’t skip adding dressing to the salad. A simple dressing goes a long way.
Nutrition
Created by Jyothi Rajesh
Thank you for stopping by.
I’m Jyothi Rajesh (Jo for short) and I’m the founder of the food blog, Curry Trail where I share my culinary Adventures. I live in Bangalore, India. I’m a mom of two beautiful kids. My passion is creating and sharing delicious and easy recipes for the home cook. I have been blogging since 2007 and many of my recipes have appeared in both online and print publications over the years. Learn more about Jyothi Rajesh.
Comments & Reviews
Richardson Kimberly says
Flavorlicious. I didn’t hsve the herb, but still delicious. I added Fig Balsamic Vinegar and super wow.
Jyothi Rajesh says
Yay, so glad to hear you loved the recipe, thank you for sharing your feedback!
Verena says
This recipe is awesome! The flavours are distinguishable and meld so well together! Will be keeping this recipe for use anytime of year and will plant watermelon in my garden next year!
Jyothi Rajesh says
So glad you loved the recipe, Verena. Thank you for sharing your feedback!
JaneAnne says
The fresh basil and lime juice dressing are perfect combined with the watermelon and feta! This was so delicious and easy to put together! I have already passed this recipe to my children! Also, it was still yummy the following day.
Jyothi Rajesh says
Yay, I’m so glad you and your family loved the recipe Jane. Thank you very much for sharing your feedback with us.
Diane Roeder says
Hi,
This recipe looks wonderful and I’d like to try it.
But would you please explain what you mean by 2 lime juice?
Thanks!
Jyothi Rajesh says
Sorry for the confusion. I used juice of 2 lime in the recipe. I used 3 lbs watermelon. Please feel free to adjust quantity of lime juice as per your taste.
Kyla says
I didn’t care for the olive oil taste in this. I did use a quality oil but I just don’t think it worked here. If I make this again I’ll omit it..
Jenny says
Super delicious recipe, my family loved it! ❤️
Jyothi Rajesh says
So glad you and your family loved this salad Jenny. Thank you for sharing your feedback here
Shecon says
This was my biggest hit recipe of the summer. My husband was skeptical of a watermelon salad but then asked me to make it over and over. Doesn’t keep well for leftovers so make a suitable amount and eat it all up!
Jyothi Rajesh says
So glad you and your husband loved this salad Shecon. This is our favorite salad too. Thank you for sharing! Hope you come back here to try more recipes.
Tiffany W says
How much lime juice do you suggest? The recipe states 2 lime juice…2 whole limes or 2 tablespoons or…? thank you!
jyothirajesh says
I’ve used juice of 2 whole lime. Please taste test and adjust accordingly.
Julie says
The salty-sweet combination is so perfect! I’m so sad watermelon season is coming to an end.
Kelsey says
You nailed it when you named this refreshing! I cannot wait to try this out!
Kitty says
It’s August and I’ve not had a bite of watermelon yet! Something is wrong in my universe! Adding this salad to my Labor Day menu because I obviously need an extra push to make summer SUMMER!