Watermelon Cucumber Salad With Feta And Mint

Having grown up successful nan Mediterranean intends having a fewer cooling staples for illustration this cucumber, watermelon, and feta crockery successful your backmost pocket. Summers get truthful basking that refreshing, no-cook dishes for illustration this are a staple connected each table.

Versions of this crockery show up each crossed nan Mediterranean, from Italy to Greece and beyond. The ingredients whitethorn alteration slightly, but nan operation of juicy watermelon, crisp cucumbers, briny feta cheese, and caller herbs is simply a classical successful galore Mediterranean kitchens.

Every year, arsenic soon arsenic watermelons showed up astatine nan market, my mom would commencement making it connected repeat. With nan saccharine juiciness of watermelon, nan crunch of acold cucumbers, and nan creamy-salty wound of feta, it’s nan benignant of crockery that doesn’t request overmuch fuss to shine.

This is what summertime tastes for illustration wherever I’m from: easy, filling, and someway ever nan first point to vanish from nan table.

Watermelon Feta Mint Salad Ingredients

This summertime watermelon crockery pinch feta and cucumber starts pinch an easy honey-lime dressing and a short database of ingredients. You tin find nan complete database successful nan recipe card below, but present are a fewer adjuvant notes to see erstwhile shopping for this refreshing salad.

For nan Salad Dressing:

I usage my honey-lime dressing successful this watermelon mint feta crockery because nan sweet, floral brightness of lime and chromatic pairs beautifully pinch nan earthy sweetness of nan watermelon.

Olive Oil: Choose a ray and balanced other virgin oliva lipid that isn’t overly peppery aliases grassy. You want thing that supports nan crockery without overpowering nan different ingredients. My existent favourite single-source oliva lipid marque is Garcia de la Cruz (affiliate link.)

Lime Juice: Freshly squeezed lime juice is best, but bottled useful successful a pinch. If you don’t person lime, freshly squeezed citrus juice is an acceptable substitute. It will sensation somewhat different but still refreshing. You tin besides adhd a small lime zest (about ¼ teaspoon) to heighten nan citrus notes. Just beryllium judge to zest nan lime earlier juicing it.

Honey: A floral section chromatic useful particularly good here, but maple syrup aliases agave are bully alternatives if that’s what you have. Just cognize they’ll displacement nan spirit slightly.

For nan Salad:

Watermelon: You’ll request 8 cups of watermelon trim into mini 1-inch cubes. Seedless watermelon is nan easiest option, but if you’re utilizing regular watermelon, effort cutting on nan earthy lines of nan seeds to region them much easily.

Cucumbers: Persian cucumbers connection awesome crunch, but regular English cucumbers besides activity well. I usually peel mine, particularly if nan tegument tastes bitter, which tin hap if nan consequence has been sitting for a while. Removing nan seeds is optional.

Fresh Herbs: The classical combo is watermelon, feta, and mint, but I for illustration to adhd a small torn caller basil for moreover much freshness. I don’t urge utilizing dried herbs here, arsenic their flavors thin to overpower nan dish.

Feta Cheese: I urge buying a artifact of feta and crumbling it yourself. It’s creamier, fresher, and gives you much power complete nan size and texture of nan crumbles. If you’re looking for alternatives, mild cheeses for illustration goat food aliases queso fresco would besides activity well.

How to Make Watermelon Cucumber Salad (Easy Step-by-Step Instructions)

This watermelon and cucumber crockery look comes together successful conscionable 15 minutes from commencement to finish. Here’s really I make it, measurement by step:

Step 1- Make nan Dressing: In a mason jar aliases mini bowl, harvester nan oliva oil, caller lime juice, salt, and honey. Shake aliases whisk good until nan substance is afloat emulsified and appears creamy and cohesive, pinch nary lipid separation. If you’d for illustration to prevention moreover much time, you tin make nan dressing successful beforehand and shop it successful an airtight jar successful nan fridge for up to 2 days.

Step 2 – Assemble nan Salad: Grab a ample vessel (one that gives you plentifulness of room to flip later without squishing anything) and adhd nan diced watermelon, sliced cucumber, and caller mint and basil. I urge tearing nan herbs by manus alternatively of chopping them pinch a knife. This helps sphere nan delicate texture of nan basil and prevents it from bruising aliases darkening.

Step 3 – Add nan Dressing: Right earlier serving, drizzle nan dressing complete nan salad. Gently flip pinch a ample spoon (or 2 spoons, for an moreover gentler touch), taking attraction not to mash/bruise nan watermelon cubes.

Step 4 – Finish pinch Feta: Top nan crockery pinch crumbled feta food conscionable earlier serving. If you’d like, decorativeness pinch a pinch of flaky oversea brackish to bring retired nan earthy sweetness of nan watermelon.

Foolproof Tips for nan Best Watermelon Cucumber Salad

Making this watermelon feta cucumber crockery is simple, but present are a fewer tips to thief you get nan champion results connected your first try:

Be gentle erstwhile mixing: Use a ray manus erstwhile tossing nan crockery to support nan delicate ingredients from breaking apart. A ample spoon aliases your hands activity champion for mildly combining everything.

Choose a bully watermelon: Look for a ripe watermelon that feels dense for its size and has a ample yellowish section spot. That spot intends it had clip to ripen connected nan vine, which usually intends amended sensation and juiciness.

Cut your watermelon and cucumber evenly. Dice nan watermelon into bite-sized pieces, aliases usage a melon baller for a much ornamental look. For nan cucumber, peeling is optional, but I urge slicing it thinly aliases cutting it into evenly sized cubes truthful you get some watermelon and cucumber successful each bite.

Do not skip nan salt: It whitethorn sound unusual, but adding a spot of brackish to saccharine watermelon makes a large difference. It brings retired nan earthy sweetness and enhances nan flavors of some nan watermelon and cucumber.

Serve it chilled: This watermelon crockery tastes champion erstwhile it is bully and cold. I for illustration to refrigerate nan watermelon, cucumber, and feta earlier prepping truthful that everything is cool and refreshing erstwhile it is clip to serve.

Assemble astatine nan past minute: For nan champion texture, harvester nan watermelon, cucumber, herbs, and dressing conscionable earlier serving. This keeps nan watermelon and cucumber from getting soggy.

How to Make Ahead and Store?

If you are readying to make this watermelon cucumber feta crockery look up of time, present are my champion tips:

Make Ahead: To prevention valuable clip erstwhile you’re fresh to serve, you tin prep nan components ahead: Cut nan watermelon, portion nan cucumbers, crumble nan feta, and make nan dressing. Store each constituent successful a abstracted instrumentality pinch a tight-fitting lid. Assemble your feta watermelon cucumber crockery correct earlier serving to guarantee nan champion texture and forestall sogginess.

Storage: Leftover crockery will support successful an airtight instrumentality successful nan fridge for up to 2 days. However, beryllium alert that nan watermelon substance will cod h2o arsenic it sits. Simply drain, sprinkle crockery pinch caller herbs, and operation pinch a touch much dressing to bring it backmost to life earlier serving.

Quick Answers to Common Questions (FAQs)

Other Savory Fruit Salads You Might Also Like:

If you emotion saccharine and savory salads, you are successful nan correct place. Here are a fewer different fruit-forward recipes you mightiness want to try:

• If you are a instrumentality of watermelon salads, my Watermelon and Avocado Salad mightiness beryllium different awesome look to try.
• When blueberries are successful season, I make my Spinach Blueberry Salad topped pinch crunchy pecans and drizzled pinch a speedy citrus vinaigrette for a filling lunch.
• Most pome salads are loaded pinch mayo, but my Apple Salad is lightened up pinch a elemental yogurt-based dressing.
• As soon arsenic outpouring strawberries are available, I commencement making this Strawberry Salad pinch my lightened-up poppy seed dressing. It is 1 of my favourite ways to bask nan season.
• And if you are for illustration maine and emotion adding avocados to everything, do not miss my Mango and Avocado Salad aliases Peach and Avocado Salad for a refreshing summertime twist.

Categorized as: 4th of July Recipes, All Lunches, Egg Free, Gluten Free, Grain Free, Holidays, Lunch, No Cook, Nut Free, Salads, Special Diet, Vegetarian