Refreshing watermelon, cucumber noodles, feta, pine nuts and a mint pesto make this watermelon salad recipe the perfect summer salad! So flavorful and delicious!
This is not your average watermelon salad. This is so much more! The title for this salad is a mouthful, but I couldn’t leave out any of the components because it would not do this salad justice. The beauty of this salad is how well everything goes together! The sweetness from the fruit, the fresh herby flavour from the mint pesto, the saltiness of the feta and the crunch of pine nuts! Perfection, in my opinion!
Watermelon is the ultimate summertime treat! It not only tastes wonderfully sweet, but it hydrates you and gives your body some much needed nutrients too. It’s something we consume often when the temperature starts to rise and we are looking for a sweet, after dinner treat.
It used to be that watermelon never made it into our actual meals (other than desserts, fruit salads or refreshments). But a main course? No way. We are no strangers to adding fruit to our salads and enjoying them with our meals, but for some reason, we had never felt inclined to do this with watermelon. Until we started making this watermelon salad, the idea of serving it alongside grilled chicken just didn’t seem to go. Fast forward to today, and we are all about this salad! And it sure does make its way into our main course!
Sweet and salty. Herby too. And just plain delish!
How to make Watermelon and Cucumber Noodle Salad with Mint Pesto, Pine nuts and Feta
This salad is pretty easy to put together and with the help of a food processor, the mint pesto is super easy to do too. To make this salad, you will need:
For the salad:
- 3 cups watermelon, cubed
- 1/2 cucumber, spiralized (you can chop them instead if you don’t have a spiralizer)
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 1/4 cup feta, cut into small pieces or crumbled
For the mint pesto:
- 1 1/2 cups mint
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- juice of 1/4 lime
To start, I place the pesto ingredients in a food processor and pulse them until it is well combined and smooth.
Then, I add all salad ingredients in a bowl and toss them with the pesto.
I spiralized my cucumber for this recipe but you can also leave them in small, bite sized pieces if you like.
If you are feeling a bit apprehensive about using mint pesto in this recipe, you can dress the salad with lime juice and olive oil instead. Serve the pesto on the side and let your family or guests use it if they like!
Hope you enjoy this refreshing salad! Bon appetit!
-Cathy
You may also like:
Radish Cucumber Salad
Mixed Berry Arugula Salad
Watermelon and Cucumber Noodle Salad with Mint Pesto, Pine nuts and Feta
Ingredients
For the salad
- 3 cups watermelon cubed in bite sized pieces
- 1/2 cucumber spiralized (you can chop them instead if you don't have a spiralizer)
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 1/4 cup feta cut into small pieces or crumbled
For the mint pesto
- 1 1/2 cups mint
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- juice of 1/4 lime
Instructions
- Place pesto ingredients in a food processor and pulse until it is well combined and smooth.
- Add all salad ingredients in a bowl, toss with the pesto and enjoy! **Alternatively, dress the salad with lime juice and olive oil and you can serve the mint pesto on the side for your family or guests to use as much as desired.
Note: Metric ingredient measurements are provided as a courtesy using a third-party calculator and are rounded to the nearest unit. The recipes provided on this site have not been tested with metric measurements and their accuracy cannot be verified.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is based on third-party calculations and is an estimate only. Accurate nutritional facts will vary based on the particular brands used, portion sizes, measurement accuracy and more.
