Watermelon Feta Salad

Watermelon Feta Salad is the ultimate fresh summer treat! Sweet melon with salty cheese is casual and perfect for the season.

Here’s the best recipe when the watermelon is in season, hands down: Watermelon Feta Salad! This classic combination of sweet melon and salty cheese is one of the great joys of summer. This summer salad has become hugely popular in recent years, and for good reason: It’s quick and easy to make, and has a lazy, laid-back vibe that calls out for flip-flops, pool parties, and picnics.

What is Watermelon Feta Salad?

Watermelon Feta Salad combines freshly diced watermelon with feta cheese and is often topped with olive oil or a quick dressing. The origin of this salad may be of Egyptian origin and is eaten in the Middle East and the Mediterranean.

Why does it work? A refreshing dish in hot weather, it showcases the pairing of sweet fruit with salty cheese, a centuries-old tradition in this cuisine. So even if you see it everywhere on Pinterest: No, it wasn’t invented by social media influencers!

Ingredients for Watermelon Feta Salad

This Watermelon Feta Salad recipe was it First Recipe we ever wrote for this website, August 2010. Of course so much has changed since then. But this salad recipe has exploded in popularity! You’ll often see this type of recipe at potlucks and summer barbecues. Some recipes use a quick dressing to dress the watermelon, but we like a simple drizzle of olive oil. Here are the ingredients for the Watermelon Feta Salad:

• ripe watermelon
• feta cheese
• Fresh herbs: basil or mint
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

The best thing about this concept is that you hardly need to measure. Dice the watermelon, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with herbs. It is so easy! We prefer the fresh bite of a feta, mint, and watermelon salad, but it’s almost as delicious with fresh basil.

How to Find a Ripe Melon (Important!)

Because this Watermelon Feta Salad is so easy, it’s important that you buy the finest ingredients. An unripe watermelon has a bitter and bland taste: not at all what is needed for this salad! How to choose a good ripe fruit:

• Shop during watermelon season. It’s the only sure way we’ve found to get good fruit.
• Look for the plot point. Most watermelons should have a spot at the bottom where they lay on the ground before being picked. If the spot is yellow, the watermelon is ripe (if it’s white, it’s not ripe).
• Look for a watermelon that feels heavy for its size. That means there’s a lot of juice in there! Honestly, this is hard to tell at the grocery store, but keep this in mind as you shop.

Buy the best feta cheese

Equally important is the feta cheese you buy. Skip the pre-crumbled stuff and grab a whole block of feta cheese. This type of feta has the best flavor and most closely resembles the feta served in Greece.

You should also avoid cow’s milk feta as it is not real feta. It crumbles more easily, which isn’t what you want. Feta cheese from Greece has amazing flavor if you can find it! We were able to find Greek Feta at our local grocery store.

Extended storage and preparation instructions

This Watermelon Feta Salad is best made fresh, so we have a few tips for preparing it:

• Cut the watermelon and keep it separately. Cut watermelon releases a lot of liquid. So, the best way to make this salad ahead of time is to dice the watermelon and store it separately. Then prepare the salad just before serving.
• Leftovers can be kept for up to 2 days. However, this salad is suboptimal as a leftover salad because it releases a lot of juice. It works, but it’s better for casual lunches than impressive guests.

Variations on Watermelon Feta Salad

There are many variations of watermelon and feta salad that swap out different cheeses, herbs, and dressings. Here are some options:

• Mint and Lime: This Mint Watermelon Salad is a favorite variation! Add the lime juice and mint, omitting the feta entirely.
• Cucumber: Add cucumber for watermelon cucumber salad. The refreshing vegetable goes well with melon.
• Onion: Add red onion slivers or chopped shallots for a touch of zesty spice
• Rocket: Add arugula for a fluffy texture

More watermelon recipes

Watermelon Feta Salad is one of our best ways to eat up that summery melon! But there are many other ways to use this summer fruit. Here are some of the best watermelon recipes to try next:

This recipe is…

Vegetarian and gluten free. Vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free head to the Mint Watermelon Salad.