Delicious Watermelon Salad for Summer

If you’re looking for the perfect summer salad that’s delicious and refreshing, you’ve got to check out my watermelon salad recipe. This watermelon salad only takes a few minutes and it’s perfect for barbecues, so let’s get started.

Easy Lime Dressing

Before we cut into this watermelon, let’s make this easy lime dressing. Cut one lime in half; we’re gonna get all the juice out into a smallish bowl—only about three tablespoons of lime juice—and do not use the bottled stuff for this, no no no. We’re going to add three tablespoons of olive oil and a little bit of salt and maybe pepper to taste, adding in a generous quarter teaspoon to my reckoning. Give it a mix; you could also make this in a little mason jar and shake it up—might be easier. I’m addicted to glass bowls, what can I say? Set that aside.

Preparing the Watermelon

Now it’s time to cut into our delicious watermelon. Cut the ends off of your watermelon. My grandfather was from Greece—so it’s not a huge watermelon country, I don’t think—but he loved watermelon, and we would have it with feta cheese and cucumbers and everything else. While it’s a popular recipe, this also reminds me of just being a kid with papou.

We’re slicing all the skin and a bit off. If you have any red bits, you can take a nibble. One thing that’s super important: make sure your cutting board is clean, clean, clean, clean, clean, clean. This is a watermelon salad, not a watermelon garlic salad or whatever else you are cutting on that board, so clean. Alright, let’s get rid of all of these scraps.

Now we’re going to cube this up—so satisfying. One watermelon about this size will give you eight-ish cups, but no one’s measuring out cups of watermelon, so just get a medium-sized watermelon and use as much of it as you like. This recipe is delicious, but it’s really about proportions, so just find a proportion that works for you. I found myself just adding so much feta to it because I’ve forgotten how much I love feta—that’s just me.

Right into a big bowl. The watermelon I just used was a little bit large, so this is extra. You guys don’t need that much; you can pack this away and the kids will love it, or you can too. Give yourself a couple minutes to snack on the extra watermelon, and then we’re going to get to cutting some more things for this recipe.

Cucumber & Red Onion

You could use an English cucumber or a regular one; I’m using a regular one today, and I don’t want all that peel, so just use a citrus peeler and take stripes off—it’ll look so pretty, and you won’t have all this waxy nonsense to deal with. Cucumber looks pretty.

We’re gonna slice it down the middle, cut the ends off, and then these seeds are a little bit too watery, so we’re just going to remove them with a teaspoon. You can save that for an amazing mask later on—treat yourself—or use it to make some spa water, some of my mom’s favorite things: a little cucumber, a little lemon juice.

Slice these up fairly thin—I would say maybe a quarter of an inch or less. This will give us a little bit of crunch, some nice lift, and just like a wonderful vegetable flavor. This is like such a refreshing thing to have on a hot day. In California, where I’m from, it’s been baking so hot, and we’ve had the weirdest, really really kind of cold, stormy summer so far.

Cucumbers into the bowl—look how pretty that is already; it’s gorgeous.

Our last bit of chopping is one red onion—about a third of a cup sliced thinly. Give it a thin slice; you can see I could read through that onion piece. It is a bit big, though, so give them one chop down the middle. This can go in here too, to sprinkle it over, and if you don’t love red onion, skip it—it’s totally fine without it. I do the salad both ways.

Feta & Mint

Cutting board’s done because I’m going to be crumbling and tearing the rest. We’re ready to crumble some feta on top of this salad. I like to crumble my own instead of getting the pre-crumbled ones because it’s a little bit softer and nicer—needs to sit in that brine. We’re adding about a cup and a half, but you could add a little bit more or a little bit less if you like things more or less salty. The combination of the salty cheese with the sweet watermelon, the cucumbers, and the red onions—it’s really nice, so refreshing and satisfying.

Nice. Last step: mint leaves. We’re taking a bunch and I’m just going to tear them. If you want, you could give them a chiffonade or even just leave them whole if they’re small—it’s totally up to you. A little bit of mint goes a long way, so it’s going to add a nice aroma and just like a general lift to the whole salad.

Finishing Touches

Pour that dressing all over the top—it smells really, really nice. Now give it a gentle toss. I’ve eaten my weight in this salad already, but for you I’ll take a bite.