By: Jill Mills Posted: Jun 27, 2022 Updated: Jul 11, 2022

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This refreshing watermelon salad with basil, crunchy cucumbers, and creamy feta cheese is the only salad you’ll want to make this summer! It’s quick, easy, and perfect as a BBQ side dish.

This cool watermelon salad with fresh basil, cucumbers, feta cheese, and homemade dressing is the only salad you'll want to make this summer!

Refreshing Watermelon Salad with Feta

Summer is watermelon season! And if there’s one side dish you’ll want on your table this summer, it’s this cool and crunchy watermelon salad. The juicy watermelon flavors go so well with fresh cucumber, creamy feta cheese, and savory basil, or you can make it with mint. It takes a few minutes to dice up the fruits and veggies, pour on the homemade honey vinaigrette dressing, and toss. Truly, it’s super quick. Everyone at your next BBQ will be asking for the recipe!

Why You’ll Love This Watermelon Salad Recipe

Fresh flavors. What’s not to love? This salad has sweet in-season watermelon, salty feta, and crisp red onions tossed with crunchy cucumbers in an easy homemade dressing. The flavors are cool and tangy, perfect for summer!
Quick. I love making this salad as a last-minute side dish for cookouts, picnics, you name it. It’s ready in 10 minutes and never disappoints.
Adaptable. Change up the herbs to make this watermelon feta salad with mint, use your favorite dressing, or add in more veggies to make this recipe your own.

Looking for more easy summer salads? Try my loaded potato salad and this creamy grape salad.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Here are some quick notes on the ingredients in this watermelon salad with cucumber. For a printable ingredients list, scroll to the recipe card below the post.

Watermelon – Choose a ripe watermelon that’s smooth to the touch. Ripe watermelons will be a little faded on top, with a “field spot” (white or yellow spot) on the belly. Chop your watermelon into bite-sized cubes.
Cucumbers – Diced up. If your cucumber has a lot of seeds, you can remove them. Or you can use English cucumbers which are smaller, sweeter, and have fewer seeds.
Red Onion – Or another mild onion, thinly sliced.
Feta Cheese – Crumbled feta, or cubed. Feel free to adapt the amount of feta in this recipe to taste.
Chopped Basil – You can use mint here if you prefer, or both! Whatever you do, make sure to use fresh herbs, not dried herbs.
Olive Oil – Choose a nice quality olive oil to use as a base for the dressing.
Red Wine Vinegar – You can also use white wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or even balsamic.
Honey – Or a touch of agave or sugar, for sweetness.

How to Make This Watermelon Salad

The perfect watermelon salad comes together in 3 quick steps! Here’s how to make it. Scroll to the recipe card for printable instructions.

Overhead view of watermelon salad ingredients combined in a glass bowl, next to a bowl of feta and chopped basil on a cutting board.

A hand pouring dressing over a watermelon salad from a small ceramic pourer, with watermelon slices on a cutting board in the background.

Prepare the ingredients. First, cut and dice up your watermelon and veggies. I always cut the watermelon into chunks but you can cut smaller, bite-sized pieces if you’d like.
Combine. Combine your ingredients in a large bowl with the feta and basil.
Add the dressing and toss. Meanwhile, whisk together the oil, vinegar, and honey for the dressing. Drizzle the dressing over the salad ingredients and toss.

Tips & Variations

Feel free to get creative with this salad and change up the ingredients to make it perfect for you. Here are some final tips, plus some of my favorite variation ideas that you can try:

Add some kick. If you’re a fan of spice, nothing rounds out the fresh flavors in this salad better than spicy jalapeños or serrano peppers. Dice them up finely and stir them in before you add the dressing.
Strawberries. Use juicy strawberries in place of watermelon to make a strawberry salad instead.
Crunch. Sprinkle in some chopped pecans, walnuts, or cashews for extra crunch. You could also add seasoned croutons.
Different cheese. In place of feta cheese, make this salad with crumbled goat cheese or shaved parmesan. Pretty much any sharp cheese works here!

Close up of watermelon feta salad drizzled with dressing.

What to Serve With Watermelon Salad

This watermelon salad was made for warm summer days. Pair it with corn on the cob and a BBQ beef sandwich, with more cookout sides like pasta salad. For a light and easy dinner outdoors, enjoy this salad with grilling recipes like grilled chicken skewers and a pitcher of Southern peach iced tea. And you can never go wrong with a classic appetizer of chips and guacamole!

How To Store

This watermelon salad lasts in the fridge for 3-4 days. Make sure to keep it tightly covered or stored in an airtight container.

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