Watermelon Feta Salad is the best summer side dish! Sweet, juicy watermelon and cool cucumber on a bed of fresh lettuce, topped with creamy feta, fresh mint, crunchy walnuts, dried cranberries, and pumpkin seeds, all drizzled with a simple maple balsamic vinaigrette. It's refreshing, beautiful and great for parties, but made easy in just 15 minutes!
- "The Tammy Salad" - We were at an end-of-the-season pool party for my son's soccer team and our friend Tammy brought this salad. The rest of the menu was pizza and a pot luck of side dishes, and this salad was the talk of the mom's table! The flavors are so interesting and surprising, I just had to recreate it!
- Mint & Maple Balsamic - The mint and the maple balsamic dressing are the unexpected touch that ties everything together. And since it's summer, they add that little sweetness that is so perfect with the watermelon. This salad works great for any summer holiday or party, or as a bbq side dish!
- Love Summer Salads? Try this Strawberry Cucumber Salad or all our favorite 24 Summer Salad Recipes!
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Ingredients & Substitutions
Fresh summer watermelon and cucumber, plus a bunch of crunchy salad toppers, crumbled feta and fresh mint make this salad unique, colorful, and perfect when you need something to bring!
- Lettuce - Use any baby lettuce or spring mix.
- Watermelon - The star of the show! If you can manage to choose a perfectly ripe and sweet summer watermelon, that's of course the best! You can carefully cut it into cubes, or use a melon baller to make little spheres (like Tammy did!).
- Cucumber - Adds a cool, refreshing crunch that pairs well with the watermelon.
- Feta cheese - Crumbled feta adds a salty, creamy contrast to the sweet fruit. I like to buy a good quality block of feta that comes in a tub of brine and crumble it myself.
- Fresh mint - This is a strong and pleasantly surprising flavor in this salad, don't skip it! When I needed mint for this salad, I bought a little mint plant at the grocery store for the same price as the little box and just planted it in a pot! Now I have mint growing to make this all summer! Don't plant it in your garden, mint will spread and take over!
- Walnuts - Adds a little crunch and richness that makes this salad feel more substantial. I just added them raw to make things easy, but toasting them lightly in a dry pan would be even better.
- Dried Cranberries - A pop of chewy tartness!
- Pumpkin Seeds (pepitas) - Adds a delicate crunch, nice green color, and a boost of nutrition. You can buy them a lot of ways (raw, roasted, salted) and really anything is fine here.
- Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette - Use real maple syrup, or honey if you don't have it. The savory dijon and balsamic vinegar with the sweet syrup balances all the elements of the salad.
See recipe card below for full quantities.
Instructions
This salad is really quick and easy, just a bit of chopping and tossing everything together!
Step 1 - Add all the ingredients for the dressing to a jar with a lid and shake well to emulsify.
Slice the cucumber, chop the mint, and cut the watermelon into cubes.
Step 2 - Add the lettuce to a salad bowl along with HALF of each ingredient and a bit of dressing.
Toss well and add to a serving bowl.
Step 3 - Top the salad with the remaining half of each ingredient and another drizzle of dressing so everything is colorful and doesn't fall to the bottom!
Recipe Notes & Tips
- Toss with Half, Top with Half - This is always my top tip in salad making! Only toss half your ingredients with the lettuce and dressing. Add it to a serving bowl, then sprinkle the other half of the ingredients over the top with a bit more dressing. This makes for a beautiful presentation without your colorful ingredients getting buried at the bottom of the salad bowl!
- Serve on a Platter not a Deep Bowl - A wide, shallow serving platter or dish lets you see all the ingredients and layers in this Watermelon Cucumber Salad.
- Watermelon - You can choose to cut it into cubes or use a melon baller to get little balls. Either way, try to handle it minimally so it doesn't lose too much juice.
- Storage - Leftovers do not keep well so try to finish this salad the day it's made!
Recipe FAQs
The dressing can be made a day ahead and refrigerated, just let it come to room temperature before using. You can slice the cucumber, crumble the feta, and chop the watermelon earlier in the day and store them separately in the fridge. The watermelon will lose juice the longer it sits, which is ok, just pour it out. Measure out the nuts and dried cranberries and keep them in a container on the counter. Then just assemble and dress the salad right before serving.
A little trick I use is to grab a little handful of lettuce, what you think 1 person would eat, and toss it in your bowl. Count out the number of people you're serving with a little handful each. Then adjust your toppings up or down to look abundant! If you're serving more than 4 people, you can easily double the dressing. Extra dressing will keep in the fridge for a month, so don't worry about making too much.
Look for a watermelon that feels heavy for its size, which indicates high water content and sweetness. Check the field spot, the creamy yellow patch where the watermelon rested on the ground. A deep yellow or orange field spot means it ripened on the vine longer and will be sweeter. Tap it with your knuckles, a ripe watermelon sounds hollow rather than dull. And don't buy a pre-cut watermelon for this salad, it will get too watery.
More Summer Salad Recipes!
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Watermelon Feta Salad with Mint and Maple Balsamic
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Print Pin RateIngredients
- 5 ounces spring mix lettuce
- 1 cup cucumber sliced
- 2 cups watermelon cubed or use melon baller
- ½ cup feta cheese crumbled
- ¼ cup walnuts chopped
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- 1 Tablespoon fresh mint leaves chopped
For the Dressing
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 8 grinds fresh black pepper
- ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 Tablespoon maple syrup
- 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients for the dressing to a jar with a lid and shake to emulsify.
- Slice the cucumber, chop the watermelon into cubes, and chop the mint.
- Add the lettuce to a mixing bowl with HALF of each ingredient and a bit of the dressing and toss well.
- Add to a serving platter and top with the remaining half of the ingredients arranged over the top so they are colorful and beautiful! Drizzle with more dressing and serve!
Notes
- Watermelon can be carefully cut into cubes so it doesn't lose too much water, or scooped with a melon baller into little spheres.
- Feta - It's best to buy a block of feta in the brine and crumble it yourself, although any feta will work.
- Walnuts and Pumpkin Seeds are fine raw, roasted with salt, or toasted yourself.
- Amounts don't need to be exact - If you love feta, add more, sprinkle with the amount of nuts and seeds that seems right to you! Nothing needs to be exact.
- Dressing - You may not use all the maple vinaigrette, extra can be stored in the fridge and used for any salad.
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