Jun162020

Watermelon Berry Feta Salad

Name: Watermelon Berry Feta Salad
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 20 min
Cuisine: summer
Ingredients: 8 cups cubed seedless watermelon; 1 cup fresh blueberries; 1 1/2 cups halved strawberries; 6-7 large mint leaves, chopped small; 4 ounces of feta, crumbled; 2 tablespoon fresh lime juice (about 1 whole lime); 3-4 tablespoon honey (if your fruit is super sweet, use less); pinch of sea salt; 1 tablespoon tequila *optional; HIGH QUALITY thick Balsamic Vinegar *optional but it’s AMAZING in this salad

Find the recipe card at the end of the post. Make sure to read the content as it contains chef tips, substitution options, and answers to FAQs to help you succeed the first time around!

Say HELLO TO SUMMER YUM with this Watermelon Berry Feta Salad! Watermelon, strawberries, and blueberries mixed into a refreshing & delicious salad topped with fresh mint, feta cheese, and a honey-lime glaze. Kick it up a notch with a balsamic drizzle too!

This has been one of my all-time favorite summer salads! It’s light, refreshing, and definitely, one that’s perfect for a hot and humid day!

It’s the salad that quenches your thirst!

Keep an open mind!

This is one of those fruit salads that is anything but ‘typical‘. Honestly, the only that makes it not typical is the feta cheese.

I know, I know it’s weird but trust me. it’s AMAZING!

Don’t act like Mr. Fantabulous and refuse to try it as it’s not normal.

Let’s Talk Ingredients

Fruit – Fresh watermelon, blueberries, and strawberries
Cheese – Feta either in the block that you crumble or pre-crumbled
Mint – Mint adds a fresh and bright flavor to the dish. It can be strong so you can always use less to start with
Honey – Taste your fruit first. If it’s super sweet, add less. You can always add more if you need to later on
Lime Juice – use a fresh lime as I find it has a better flavor
Salt – you need a little bit of salt to help balance out the sweetness and help elevate the flavors
Balsamic Vinegar – I, personally, love this addition to the salad. It adds such depth of flavor. But it has to be a HIGH QUALITY thick balsamic vinegar like this one!
Tequila – it’s totally optional but just a splash or two of tequila helps liven up the drizzle

This is one of those try it, you might like it recipes.

Okay, if you don’t like feta cheese then you may not like it but you can totally use a different cheese.

Honey Lime Drizzle with (tequila)

The booze is totally optional but I really liked the tequila undertone in it. It added some great warm notes.

This drizzle you can tailor to your liking for sweetness.

If your fruit is super sweet, you can cut back on the honey. Mine was sweet but because the lime was super sour, I added 3 tablespoon of honey.

The drizzle you can make ahead of time, same with the fruit salad itself.

However, I wouldn’t add the drizzle to the salad until right before serving.

How to Serve

Immediately – If you’re serving this immediately, pour the drizzle over and serve right away.
Later – do not add the drizzle to the fruit and put away in the fridge or set out. Store the salad without the drizzle in a covered bowl in the fridge. When you’re ready to serve, strain the salad for any fruit juices given off and discard or serve in a punch. Add the drizzle then serve.

When you cut fresh fruit, it starts to automatically start to create juices. If you were to add the drizzle to the cut fruit and not serve it right away, the fruit would start to give off more liquid making the salad watery.

It would also dilute the drizzle.

Adding Balsamic Vinegar

To add or not to add… honestly, it’s totally your call. Sometimes I add it, sometimes I don’t. It’s equally delicious either way.

Two things are important when adding the balsamic vinegar:

Use a HIGH quality thick balsamic vinegar. It has to be thick, almost syrupy. This is my absolute FAVORITE brand!
Add it right before serving or put it on the side for folks to add themselves.

Balsamic vinegar with fruit helps bring out the natural sweetness of the fruit. The contrast of the zing adds refined flavor.

Every time I see this salad or make it, I can’t help but smile.

It just reminds me of summer. It’s so cool and refreshing.

Plus it’s AMAZING!

As I said, my husband refused to try it!

I love this salad but apparently, in the million years we’ve been together he’s never seen me eat it. This to me is the best summer salad as it has watermelon, blueberries, strawberries, feta, mint, a tequila lime honey glaze, and balsamic vinegar (sometimes I add, sometimes I don’t).

His face, when I put the feta and balsamic on, was PRICELESS!

It was as if I could hear his thoughts of “OMG what the hell are you doing??? You’re ruining it!!! That’s just not right! Wait! Did she do it to all the fruit????” as he proceeded to get up, open the fridge to check then sigh a relief. He then just walked away, shaking his head.

Recipe Substitutions

Fruit – watermelon is a must. Other than that, you could add blackberries, raspberries, even peaches
Herbs – if you don’t like mint, you can omit it or add fresh basil
Cheese – not a feta fan? Go with goat cheese, queso fresco or tofu
Honey – date paste, agave nectar, maple syrup or any keto-friendly syrup

Salad Enhancements

Want to turn this into a meal?

Add greens – arugula or spring mix greens
Add a protein – grilled skirt steak, chicken or shrimp
Add veggies – cucumbers, red onions, peppers
Add acid – olives or capers work really well

Looking for more Summer Recipes?