Persian Watermelon Salad
on Aug 06, 2022, Updated Oct 27, 2023
Make this refreshing Persian Watermelon Salad using juicy watermelon, cucumber, baby spinach, pomegranate arils, Feta cheese, and other simple ingredients.
Here are some more salad recipes you may like: Hawaiian Macaroni Salad, Sumac Onions, Healthy Broccoli Apple Salad, and Amish Broccoli Salad.
About Persian Watermelon Salad
Persian Watermelon Salad with Cucumber and Feta is a refreshing and healthy dish popular in Persia.
It is made with fresh watermelon, crunchy cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions and is seasoned with salt, pepper, and lime juice.
This salad is perfect for hot summer days as a side dish or main course.
Ingredients
Watermelon – Choose a medium-sized seedless ripe watermelon.
Cucumbers – This salad is traditionally made using Persian or English cucumbers. They are much more flavorful than regular cucumbers and have fewer seeds. If they are not easily available, you can use any variety of cucumbers.
Pomegranate – Pomegranate arils add a nice crunch to the salad.
Baby Spinach – You can replace baby spinach with other salad greens like peppery arugula, lettuce, etc.
Others – You will also need red onions, fresh mint leaves, pistachios, extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, and Feta cheese.
Try to use creamy Persian feta, but you can use any creamy feta cheese if that’s unavailable. Feta cheese can also be replaced with goat cheese.
Mint leaves can be replaced with fresh parsley or basil.
You can substitute pistachios with almonds, pine nuts, cashew nuts, or pecans.
You can also replace extra virgin olive oil with grapeseed oil or avocado oil.
Dress the salad with honey lime dressing. Just add a tablespoon of honey to the recipe.
How To Make Persian Watermelon Salad
Preparation
Peel the watermelon and cut it into small cubes. We need 1 pound of cubed watermelon. Refrigerate it for 3-4 hours.
Wash 3.5 oz (100 g) of baby spinach in a colander under cold running water and remove any damaged or wilted leaves. Shake and pat dry with a towel or spin dry using a salad spinner.
Cut a small Persian cucumber into bite-sized cubes. Chill for 3-4 hours.
Remove the arils from a medium pomegranate. Chill for 3-4 hours.
Gather the remaining ingredients.
Make The Salad
Add the following ingredients to a large bowl.
- 3.5 oz of baby spinach
- 1 small chilled Persian cucumber, cubed
- 1 pound of chilled watermelon cubes
- 1 cup of chilled pomegranate arils
- ½ cup thinly sliced red onions
- ½ cup mint leaves (packed)
- ¼ cup roughly chopped pistachios
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice (or lemon juice)
Season with salt and pepper then very gently toss the salad until well combined.
Transfer the salad to the serving platter and crumble 3.5 oz (100 g) of feta cheese on top.
Serve immediately.
Pro Tips By Neha
To make this watermelon salad recipe for your Christmas table, cut the watermelon using a star-shaped cookie cutter.
You can use a melon baller to make small watermelon balls to make it fancier.
You can add berries like raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, etc to this salad recipe.
Make sure to chill the ingredients beforehand.
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Persian Watermelon Salad Recipe (With Cucumber And Feta)
Ingredients
- 3.5 ounces baby spinach (100 g, rinsed and dried. You can spread them on a kitchen towel or spin dry in a salad spinner.)
- 1 small chilled Persian cucumber (cubed, peeled or unpeeled)
- 1 pound chilled cubed watermelon
- 1 cup chilled pomegranate arils
- ½ cup thinly sliced red onions
- ½ cup mint leaves (packed)
- ¼ cup roughly chopped pistachios
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
- salt and pepper (to taste)
- 3.5 ounces Feta cheese (100 g)
Instructions
- Add spinach, cucumber, watermelon, pomegranate arils, onions, mint, pistachios, olive oil, and lime juice to a large mixing bowl.
- Season with salt and pepper then very gently toss the salad until well combined.
- Transfer the salad to the serving platter and crumble feta cheese on top.
- Serve immediately.
it is a great recipe.
the taste was awesome.