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Strawberry Watermelon Feta Salad is sweet, salty, a little spicy, and perfect for summer! Serve this refreshing and easy to make side dish at your next barbecue, pool party, or picnic.
Cold refreshing fruit salads are a must for me in the summer. Especially those that use berries or watermelon.
I love to pair something salty with fruit salads and in the case of today’s recipe, it’s feta. This Strawberry Watermelon Feta Salad is the perfect combination of sweet, salty, and spicy.
Unlike my watermelon salad with cucumber and feta, this strawberry watermelon salad has some southwest flavors added to it. Jalapeño for heat, chili powder for that distinct southwest flavor, and cilantro for freshness.
Ingredients For Strawberry Watermelon Feta Salad
Watermelon – When choosing a watermelon, look for one that is heavy for it’s size, has a creamy yellow spot on it’s underside, dull in color vs. shiny, and the stem if still attached should be brown and dry, not green. One of the mini seedless watermelons is the perfect size for this salad.
Strawberries – Look for strawberries that are dark red in color and don’t have any white or green on them. Smaller berries are often sweeter vs. larger ones that usually contain more water. Always pick up the container of strawberries and smell them. If they smell sweet, there’s a good chance they’ll taste that way too.
Feta – Salty, tangy, and a great contrasting flavor to the sweet fruit. Buy a block of feta cheese vs. pre-crumbled for the best flavor. I like to cube the feta instead of crumbling for a neater presentation and so that you have an equal amount of sweet and salty flavor in every bite.
Jalapeño – This is what adds the spiciness to the salad. If you’re sensitive to spicy food just leave it out. To minimize the spiciness of a jalapeño remove the seeds and white vein from the flesh. I always taste a small piece before adding it to a recipe so I know how spicy it is and can adjust the amount I’m using if needed.
Cilantro – Adds freshness to the salad and is a common ingredient in Southwest, Mexican, and Tex-Mex cooking. If you don’t like cilantro leave it out. I don’t recommend replacing cilantro with parsley, the flavors are nothing alike.
Lime – Fresh, tart, and citrusy. I find that it enhances the flavor of watermelon and strawberries.
Chili Powder – Not to be confused with the super spicy cayenne pepper also called ground red pepper. Chili powder that you often see at the grocery store is mild in regards to spiciness.
How To Make Strawberry Watermelon Salad
This is such a quick and easy salad to make! Start be cubing the watermelon. I find this is easiest if you cut the watermelon into half moon slices about an inch thick and remove the rind. Once the rind is off, simply cut it into approximately 1×1 inch cubes or slightly larger.
Hull the strawberries and either dice them or quarter them like I did. Remove the stem, seeds, and vein from the jalapeño and finely dice it. Cut the feta into cubes.
Add all of the ingredients to a serving bowl along with the chopped cilantro. Sprinkle on the chili powder, squeeze in the lime juice, and add in a couple pinches of salt.
Stir everything together and taste. Add just and add additional lime juice, salt, or chili powder if needed.
Variations and Substitutions
- Substitute feta with either queso fresco or cotija cheese. These are both mild cow’s milk cheeses that are similar to feta in texture and saltiness, but with out the briny flavor.
- Add pepitas (pumpkin seeds) for crunch.
- Omit the strawberries or replace them with blueberries.
- Add cucumber slices for additional fresh flavor and crunch.
Make Ahead and Storage
This salad is best made the day you plan to serve it. However, you can prep a lot of it 1-2 days in advance.
Cube the watermelon and feta, slice the strawberries, and chop the jalapeño. Store them in separate containers and then just combine everything the day you serve it.
The salad tastes freshest on the day it’s made, but will still taste good the following day. The watermelon will likely release a lot of water so you may want to drain some of that off the second day.
What To Serve With It
More Salads Using Fruit
- Strawberry Chicken and Spinach Pasta Salad
- Berries and Feta Salad
- Blueberry Peach Feta Salad
- Berry Pesto Pasta Salad
- Peach Tomato Caprese Salad
Did you make this Strawberry Watermelon Feta Salad? I’d love if you’d leave a recipe rating and review below.
Strawberry Watermelon Feta Salad
Ingredients
- 6 cups cubed watermelon
- 2 cups strawberries quartered or diced
- 1 jalapeño seeds and vein removed and finely diced
- 1/2 cup cubed feta cheese
- 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
- Juice of a lime
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Add the watermelon, strawberries, jalapeño, feta, and cilantro to a serving bowl. Sprinkle chili powder and a couple pinches of salt over the top and squeeze in the lime juice. Stir everything together and taste for seasoning. Add more lime juice, salt or chili powder if needed.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made this last night. It was really good. Will definitely make again.
I tried this but sprinkled Tajin seasoning also. Itโs really good!
I added tomatoes to mine and it was amazing.
great summer combination of ingredients, watermelon feta is a really nice pairing, very creative, thank you!