The most refreshing watermelon arugula salad with feta & pistachios! Sweet watermelon, peppery arugula, sharp feta cheese, lots of basil and mint, and crunchy pistachios make up this beautiful, delicious salad. Some other fun ingredients like radishes, lime, honey, and red pepper flakes make this a little bit more interesting than your average watermelon salad!
watermelon arugula salad with feta & pistachios – the details
Really excited to share this watermelon arugula salad with feta & pistachios because it’s a unique version of the classic watermelon and feta salad. I added a few special touches to make this recipe exciting and different, but nothing too crazy. It’s still really simple to make and can be eaten alongside pretty much any summer meal.
You’ll toss the watermelon together with some scallions for an onion bite, very thinly shaved radishes, that delicious (somewhat salty) crumbled feta cheese, fresh basil, fragrant mint, lime juice, olive oil, and honey.
This is the main salad mixture that gets arranged over top arugula. The arugula is key in my opinion because it’s nice and peppery…the perfect balance for the sweet watermelon.
The finishing touch is a mixture of roasted pistachios, lime zest, and red pepper flakes to give the salad a lot of texture and crunch. While you of course can just add these ingredients to the main mixing bowl and toss them with everything else, I like the visual aspect of having the pistachios separate. Plus, I think the flavors of the mixture are more apparent this way.
Using lime juice and zest (versus lemon) in this watermelon arugula salad is also an easy way to keep things interesting, and the flavor really works well with the honey and subtle kick of red pepper.
If you’re looking for more summer salad recipes, here are a few to try:
Orzo Salad with Prosciutto & Parmesan Vinaigrette
Pan-Fried Paneer Salad with Toasted Grains
Summer Garden Green Goddess Salad
Watermelon Arugula Salad with Feta & Pistachios
a refreshing watermelon arugula salad with feta cheese, pistachios, basil & mint…all tossed together with olive oil, lime juice, and honey
servings: 4-6
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs cubed watermelon (approximately ½” cubes)
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
- 4 radishes, thinly shaved on a mandolin
- ¼ lb feta cheese, crumbled
- 10 basil leaves, roughly torn
- 6 mint leaves, roughly torn
- ¼ cup fresh lime juice
- ¼ cup + 2 tbsp olive oil, plus more as needed
- 1 tbsp honey
- kosher salt
- freshly cracked black pepper
- 4 cups arugula
- ½ cup chopped salted, roasted pistachios
- 2 tsp lime zest
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Combine the watermelon, scallions, radishes, feta, basil, mint, lime juice, ¼ cup of olive oil, and honey in a mixing bowl. Gently toss to combine. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
- Arrange the arugula in a salad bowl. Lightly drizzle with olive oil. Mound the watermelon mixture over top.
- In a small bowl, stir the pistachios, lime zest, red pepper flakes, and remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil together. Spoon this over the salad. Garnish with any extra herbs and more black pepper.
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