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    Home » Recipes » Salads

    Watermelon Feta Salad with Pickles

    Sep 13, 2022 • Author: Joyce • 19 Comments • This post may contain affiliate links.

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
    5 from 7 votes

    Sweet and savory, refreshing watermelon feta salad recipe with a bit of a tang from the pickled daikon radishes and ends off with a salty note from the feta cheese. Great as a salad or as a side dish!

    A small bowl with watermelon feta salad garnished with green onions and black sesame seeds and served with a fork
    Table of Contents
    • Ingredients for Watermelon Feta Salad
    • How to Make Watermelon Feta Salad
    • How to Pick a Good Watermelon
    • What to Serve with Watermelon Salad
    • More Salad Recipes You May Like
    • Recipe Card

    This is a simple recipe for a watermelon feta salad that combines sweet watermelon red onion, feta cheese (salty), and pickles (for the tang).

    If you're looking for a refreshing summer salad with a balance of sweet, savory, and tart then you're in the right place!

    Ingredients for Watermelon Feta Salad

    Mise en place watermelon feta salad (watermelon, feta cheese, red onion, lime, pickled daikon radishes, green onions)
    • Watermelon - Try to use a ripe, sweet, and juicy watermelon.
    • Feta Cheese - Any type of feta cheese can be used for this recipe. You can even use cotija cheese as well which is a Mexican cheese that is very similar in flavor to feta.
    • Onion - I like to use sweet Vidalia or red onions for all my salads, alternatively you can also use shallots. For a more subtle onion flavor, you can soak the onions in cold water which takes the bite out of raw onions.
    • Lime Juice - For this recipe, use fresh lime juice from squeezing limes.
    • Pickled Daikon Radish - I use a quick and easy pickled daikon radish recipe for this recipe. Alternatively, you can also finely chop bread and butter pickles for this recipe as well but you won't get that crunch that the daikon radish has.
    • Green Onions - This is a great garnish but also adds a lot of flavor to the salad as well.

    How to Make Watermelon Feta Salad

    Watermelon diced, red onion finely diced and placed in a bowl from a cutting board
    1. Cut the watermelon into 1 ½ inch cubes (using a melon baller is a fun way to shape these as well) and set it in a bowl
    2. Cut the pickled daikons into ½ inch cubes and add them to the bowl
    3. Dice the onions finely and add them to the bowl. If you want to take the strong onion bite out of the onions, soak it in cold water in another bowl for a few minutes before using them.
    4. Remove the tips of the green onions and discard the roots. Finely chop the green onions, both greens, and whites, and place them in the bowl
    5. Crumble the feta cheese over everything in the bowl
    6. Cut the lime in half and squeeze out the juice and put it into the bowl
    7. Gently mix everything in the bowl together
    8. Top with black sesame seeds (optional)
    9. Enjoy as a salad, appetizer, side dish, or snack!

    How to Pick a Good Watermelon

    • Lift it Up - It should feel heavy for its size, pick up a few and compare which one is heavier and go with that. Heavy watermelons mean there's a lot of water in them, which means it's juicy.
    • Shape & Colour - Symmetrical and even-shaped watermelon with no bruises is always a good thing. Look for a nice dark green watermelon. Look for a yellow patch on the bottom side as well - the yellower the better. A whiter bottom means it was picked while it was still ripening while a yellow bottom means it sat under the sun in the same position for longer.
    • Bopping it with your hand - This method is a bit of a hit or miss but I generally just slap the watermelon with my hand and if it makes a deep 'thunk' hollow sound with a bit of a bounce-back (like a drum) then it has a lot of water in it. I find the method to find heavy watermelons to gauge juiciness more fool-proof though.
    A small bowl with watermelon feta salad garnished with green onions and black sesame seeds and served with a fork

    What to Serve with Watermelon Salad

    I like to pair this watermelon and feta salad with grilled meats from Grilled Lemongrass Porkchops, to Grilled Thai Coconut Chicken Skewers to Grilled Coconut Curry Chicken Wings. It cuts the greasy and heaviness of any type of grilled meat with its refreshing sweet watermelon and tang from the pickles.

    I also like serving this as an appetizer along with other grilled snacks like Grilled Halloumi, Chicken Satay, and Roasted Okra.

    If you have extra watermelon you can also try using it to make tasty summer cocktails like Soju Watermelon Cocktail (Subak Soju)

    More Salad Recipes You May Like

    • Roasted Garlic Miso Blue Cheese Pasta Salad
    • Japanese Kani Salad (Japanese Crab Salad)
    • Curtido (Salvadoran Pickled Cabbage Slaw)
    • Lao Crispy Rice Salad (Nam Khao)
    • Crispy Garlic Lemongrass Tofu Buddha Bowl
    • Yum Woon Sen (Thai Glass Noodle Salad)
    A close up of two small bowls with watermelon feta salad garnished with green onions and black sesame seeds and served with a fork

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    Recipe Card

    A small bowl with watermelon feta salad garnished with green onions and black sesame seeds and served with a fork

    Watermelon Feta Salad with Pickles

    Sweet, refreshing watermelon feta salad with a bit of a tang from the pickled daikon radishes and ends off with a salty note from the feta cheese.
    Print Pin Share Email Rate Save Saved!
    Course: Appetizer, Salad, Side Dish
    Cuisine: American, Asian
    Prep Time: 15 minutes
    Cook Time: 0 minutes
    Total Time: 15 minutes
    3 Servings
    5 from 7 votes

    Recipe Notes

    • to remove the bite of raw onions, after you finished chopping them, soak them in cold water for 1 minute and then drain and rinse them out.
    • this salad is best enjoyed when it has freshly been prepared.

    Ingredients
     

    • ½ small watermelon (cut into 1 ½ inch cubes - approximately 3 cup)
    • 1 stalk green onion (finely chopped, both the greens and whites but discard the very end with the roots)
    • 1 lime (juiced - approximately 2 tablespoons)
    • 1 cup pickled daikon radish
    • ¼ cup feta (crumbled)
    • 3 tablespoon sweet Vidalia onion or red onion (finely chopped)
    • black sesame seeds (optional)
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions
     

    • Cut the watermelon into 1 ½ inch cubes (using a melon baller is a fun way to shape these as well) and set it in a bowl
    • Cut the pickled daikons into ½ inch cubes and add it to the bowl
    • Dice the onions finely and add it to the bowl. If you want to take the strong onion bite out of the onions, soak it in cold water in another bowl for a few minutes before using them.
    • Remove the tips of the green onions and discard the roots. Finely chop the green onions, both greens, and whites, and place them in the bowl
    • Crumble the feta cheese over everything in the bowl
    • Cut the lime in half and squeeze out the juice and put it into the bowl
    • Gently mix everything in the bowl together
    • Top with black sesame seeds (optional)
    • Enjoy as a salad, appetizer, side dish or snack!

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1Serving | Calories: 115kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 2g | Sodium: 102mg | Sugar: 18g

    *Nutritional information is calculated using online tools and is an estimate*

    Did you try this recipe?I'd love to hear from you! Let me know how it was and consider giving it a rating! Tag me on Instagram with @pupswithchopsticks to show me!
    Made with ♡ by Joyce | Pups with Chopsticks

    More Salads

    • Thai Lemongrass Larb Meatballs
    • Kani Salad Recipe (Japanese Crab Salad)
    • Easy Korean Cucumber Salad (Oi Muchim)
    • Yum Woon Sen (Thai Glass Noodle Salad)

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. zunok.hk says

      July 13, 2017 at 7:31 pm

      The sharpness of pickled onions offers a pleasing contrast to crisp, juicy watermelon and salty, creamy feta cheese.

      Reply
      • Joyce says

        July 17, 2017 at 11:54 am

        I totally agree! There's so much going on with flavours in this one 🙂

        Reply
    2. Josie says

      June 08, 2017 at 10:10 pm

      5 stars
      This dish is easy to make. Like watermelon is easy to buy in summer. Other ingredients we usually have at home in our daily cooking.
      Thanks.

      Reply
      • Joyce says

        June 09, 2017 at 4:14 pm

        I'm glad you enjoy it! 🙂

        Reply
    3. Alison @ The Sunday Glutton says

      May 17, 2017 at 9:17 pm

      This looks so elegant and delicious! It's going to be perfect this summer when watermelon is in season. I never put salt on it, but since moving to california, I've discovered putting tajin on fruits like watermelon and mango - it's essentially lime chili salt and it really brings out the sweet!

      Reply
      • Joyce says

        May 18, 2017 at 11:33 am

        No waaaaay! I never heard of tajin but I am so obsessed with lime and chilli! I definitely need to try this out! 😀

        Reply
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