This refreshing Watermelon Feta Salad with Mint is perfect for summer. Sweet ripe watermelon salad combined with feta cheese and fresh mint is simply dressed with olive oil and lime juice. It’s a sweet-and-salty combination that looks just beautiful on the table for a backyard cookout, a potluck, or even a Sunday brunch!
My husband loves watermelon salad. During the summer, one of his favorite snacks is freshly sliced chilled watermelon with crumbly slices of feta. The saltiness of the cheese is a perfect compliment to the cool sweetness of the watermelon. He introduced me to the flavor combination, and now I’m hooked, too. Nothing says summer like fresh watermelon and feta!
A few weeks ago we had some friends over for dinner. The weather was just starting to warm up, so we decided to make it an outdoor dinner in our back yard. As I grocery shopped for the meal, my mind was on all the summery foods we’ve been missing. I browsed the produce section and noticed that ripe seedless watermelons were on sale. Of course, my mind went to watermelon and feta! I decided to create a simple summer salad with seedless watermelon chunks, crumbled feta cheese, fresh mint, and a homemade lime juice dressing.
After a little experimentation with the dressing, this is what I came up with! The salty citrus dressing really brings out the flavor of the watermelon, the mint is refreshing, and the feta adds a perfect touch of creaminess. Even those of you who don’t like sweet, fruity salads may appreciate this one– the flavor is truly unique. It was a big hit with our friends, and I’m guessing it will be making regular appearances on our summer menu. It would might just be the perfect side-salad for your 4th of July barbecue. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
If at all possible, try to find goat or sheep’s milk feta– preferably the larger chunks sold in delis or cheese markets. I personally prefer the flavor of block feta to pre-crumbled feta. Enjoy!
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Food Photography and Styling by Kelly Jaggers
Watermelon Feta Salad
Ingredients
- 8 pounds whole seedless watermelon, chilled (about 12 cups of cubed fruit)
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 whole limes, juiced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups crumbled feta cheese (sheep’s milk feta preferred)
Instructions
- Note: This salad is best made just prior to serving. Prepare one hour or less before your meal.Cut rind from the watermelon, then chop the fruit into 1 inch chunks. Place chunks in a colander to drain as your chop.
- In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, fresh lime juice, salt, and black pepper to create a dressing.
- Place watermelon in a large salad bowl. Pour dressing and chopped mint over the watermelon and toss gently to coat. Pour the crumbled feta into the salad bowl and stir gently to integrate the cheese into the salad. Serve.
Iresha says
I’ve made this before and it is so good. I’ve added kalamata olives in the past and found it really amps up the flavour.
Ken says
I agree Iresha … pitted kalamatta olives just top it off beautifully.
Harold Asikyan says
Very nice! When watermellon is has the proper taste,cool and crisp,there is nothing like this for a satifying treat!
a clean and nourshing snack.
Thanks.
Harold Asikyan.
Donna says
I LOVE this salad! The first time I made it, I made the quantity as written. The second time, I halved it, and halved the olive oil even more. The third time, I just eyeballed everything as I had a small amount of watermelon on hand. Each time it has been fantastic – the mix of flavors is so wonderful. This is going to be my go-to recipe for potlucks in the summer.
Lisa says
Do you use spearmint or peppermint?
ShellVan says
peppermint.
Booboo Peru says
Spearmint.
Judy says
I make a version of this watermelon feta cheese and a little balsamic vinegar it is so good
Lori says
This was a huge hit at my cookout. All that was left was a large bowl of oily juice.
Ishita says
Made this salad today, and I added some finely chopped celery… it was wonderful!
linda Wheeler says
This recipe is fantastic, very light and refreshing! Looking at the Nutrition information is confusing.
How big is a serving? The calorie count of 373 seems very high for 1/8 of the recipe. Also, I don’t know where the 29 grams of sugar comes from. The sugar in watermelon is a natural sugar. Just trying to figure how this works on a Weight Watchers program. Thanks for a great recipe!
Tori Avey says
Hi Linda! Thank you for the heads up. I have a new recipe input system on my site, but the nutritional info is sadly lacking. I am having to go through and manually update each recipe with more accurate information from a different nutrition calculator. I just updated this post, it seems more accurate now. Hope it helps!
Roxanne H. says
Excellent recipe! I did not follow exact measurements but I used all of the specified ingredients of the recipe and it turned out great! Thank you!
sls4ak says
In Alaska watermelons are unpredictable but rarely great. A favorite Pump station 7 Alaska Pipeline recipe is to take watermelon cubes, jalapeños, mint, and feta the jalapeños are seeded and the membrane removed to keep it mild, lemon juice, or sprite can be added depending on the melon. This salad does not keep long after adding the cheese but is good for several hours until cheese is added.
Sandy says
After having a watermelon salad at a nice restaurant a few days ago I decided to see if I could find an actual recipe for one. Thank you! Yours is very similar. I haven’t made it yet, but I’ll just comment (in case someone think the add-ons sound good, that the restaurant also added some field greens, red onions, kalamata olives, and pistachios.. They also dressed it in a white balsamic vinaigrette instead of the lime and olive oil.
Sandra says
I like to add a little rocket as well as some red onion thinly sliced as someone else suggested.
Colleen White says
What is rocket?
Adele E says
To answer Colleen White, rocket is another word (British) for arugula.
Lynn C says
You can place a small inverted saucer in the bottom of the bowl to catch the liquid so the salad doesn’t “stew” in it.
Sandra says
That’s a great tip! Thank you!
Lynette Fenical says
Awesome tip! Thanks!
Lisa says
Not sure how that works can you explain?? Would like it to not be mushy and that’s my concern. Thanks!!
Aashka shah says
This is a great receipe. Add black olives to it. It really adds to flavour.
Carol Devine says
I made this today to take to a summer party. I tasted it and found it to be wonderful!! I love all the different tastes and how they come together. Hope it is a hit at the party. Will let you know!
Carol Devine says
I even saved a sprig of mint to put on the top so it looks like the picture!!
Tim says
Substitute the lime and oil with a balsamic reduction. It’s thick sweet and slightly acid. It works prefectly with watermelon, feta, and mint.
Fran says
YES that’s the way I had it at the restaurant last week and will today! It was awesomeness!!! 🙂
Craig Lewin says
This recipe hit the spot tonight after a 100-degree, heat index day! We were able to use the fresh peppermint we had growing in our garden & we didn’t have limes, so we substituted 4 drops of Young Living’s Lime Vitality essential oil. It turned out great! Thank you for sharing this recipe Tori!
Carol Henton says
I love watermelon feta and mint salad, but this recipe calls for too much olive oil (3 tablespoons or so is better) and too much feta cheese (one cup of less sufficient). Also finely chopped red onion (1/3 cup or so) is a wonderful addition.
Ginny says
Another good addition is roasted pumpkin seeds. Gives a nice crunch.
Russ says
I do the exact same thing and add Avocados and a bit of Jalapenos. Yummm
Sandra says
Mmmm. Yes!! We add avacado and sweet Vidalia onions, which basically just add a nice crunch w/o overwhelming onion taste.
Mel says
In turkey and Greece people at dinner tables fight for the juice in that salad to dip their pita breads or literally to drink it even, while you are trying hard to avoid it on your plate. smh.. lime instead of lemon is quite of a modification and takes away the mediterrenean touch with its delicious yet too foreign taste. at least foreign to my eastern mediterrenean taste buds. so not sure about that one too.. but hey, i guess it doesnt have to be the way i know it.