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!
This is a simple recipe for a watermelon feta salad that combines sweet watermelon with red onion and feta cheese. I added pickled daikon into the mix for a balance of sweet, salty, and a bit of tanginess, and although it can be left out, I highly recommend it!
Ingredients for Watermelon Feta Salad
- 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 with 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
- 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 them to the bowl
- 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.
- 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!
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.
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)
LOOKING FOR MORE SALAD RECIPES? TRY THESE!
- 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)
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Watermelon Feta Salad
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)
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
*Nutritional information is calculated using online tools and is an estimate*
zunok.hk says
The sharpness of pickled onions offers a pleasing contrast to crisp, juicy watermelon and salty, creamy feta cheese.
Joyce says
I totally agree! There's so much going on with flavours in this one 🙂
Josie says
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.
Joyce says
I'm glad you enjoy it! 🙂
Alison @ The Sunday Glutton says
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!
Joyce says
No waaaaay! I never heard of tajin but I am so obsessed with lime and chilli! I definitely need to try this out! 😀