This easy Asian Watermelon Salad is sweet, spicy and delicious! The cut fruit in the Thai-inspired dressing is so refreshing on hot days and the perfect picnic food idea for potlucks. One of our favorite low calorie, healthy 4th of July party food ideas, you can make it in 15 minutes for summer lunches or dinner. (You can also add mint leaves or cucumber for crunch!)
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🥘 Ingredients
You will need a few simple ingredients:
- fresh watermelon: we want the watermelon to be sweet so choose a ripe one. (After cutting, try a piece- if it's not sweet, add a touch of honey to the dressing.) Cut the watermelon into cubes so that the spicy, tangy sauce can infuse its flavor more quickly.
- fresh lemon juice: if you have unwaxed lemon, you can add a touch of lemon zest. Alternatively, you can substitute with fresh lime juice
- Fish sauce: fish sauce adds a touch of savory umami to the refreshing summer salad. Soy sauce may work as well but it won't have the same depth of flavor- I'll test it and let you know.
- Dried Chili flakes: the amount is just a suggestion as the recipe is very flexible. Add less if you can't take so much spice. Or iff you can take more, add some minced fresh red chilies. (I add 1 minced bird's eye chili, which is a spicier chili.) You can also make your own chili flakes at home.
Optional garnish: chop up some mint leaves and sprinkle them on the salad to make it look more attractive.
🔪 Step-by-Step Instructions
- Cut the watermelon into cubes, no bigger than 1 inch each. (Too big and the dressing won't permeate the fruit.)
- Mix the chili flakes, fish sauce, lemon juice, and minced red chilies (if using) then pour it over the fruit. Mix well so that every piece is coated.
- The salad is ready to eat now, or refrigerate it for an hour before eating for better flavour.
👩🏻🍳 Expert Tips
Tip: if you want to eat it straightaway, refrigerate your watermelon first- the fruit salad is more refreshing when chilled!
Tip 2: If prepping the salad in advance, toss 1 teaspoon of sugar with the watermelon and refrigerate for 30 minutes. This will draw out the water and prevent your salad from getting soggy, similar to salting cucumbers for cucumber salad. (Serious Eats tip!)
Tip 3: if you refrigerate the fruit salad for more than 1 hour, you may need to add a bit more dressing as the colder the salad, the more muted the flavors.
Tip 4: I've not tested this tip from Culinary Class Wars (a Korean cooking show on Netflix) but apparently if you're working with out-of-season (i.e. not sweet) watermelon, you can quickly sweeten it by mixing it with fresh vanilla and sugarcane syrup, then sealing it in a vacuum bag. (This was something a contestant did to get admitted to the next round!)
🥡 How to Store
Store extras in an airtight container in the fridge for 1 day.
🥗 Suggested Accompanying Recipes
Enjoyed this easy Spicy Watermelon Salad Recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟rating in the recipe card below! If you REALLY liked this dish, please consider supporting it by buying me a bottle of soy sauce! 🙂 (No obligation though!) Thank you and have a great day!
Sweet & Spicy Watermelon Salad
Equipment
- Knife & cutting board
- Salad Bowl
Ingredients
- 4 Cups fresh watermelon cubes Make sure it's a ripe watermelon. If not, you may need to add a touch of honey to the sauce.
For the spicy salad dressing
- ½ lemon
- ½ Tablespoon fish sauce
- ½ teaspoon chili flakes
- 1 bunch Fresh mint leaves (optional garnish)
Instructions
- Cut the watermelon into cubes, no bigger than 1 inch each. (Too big and the dressing won't permeate the fruit.)
- Mix the chili flakes, fish sauce, lemon juice, and minced red chilies (if using) then pour it over the fruit. Mix well so that every piece is coated. The salad is ready to eat now, or refrigerate it for an hour before eating for better flavour.Tip: if you want to eat it straightaway, refrigerate your watermelon first- the fruit salad is more refreshing when chilled!Tip 2: if you refrigerate it for more than 1 hour, you may need to add a bit more dressing as the colder the salad, the more muted the flavors.
Notes
Note: the nutritional information is an estimate automatically calculated using the WPRM recipe maker and I am not responsible for its veracity.
Nutrition
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Nancy Eller says
ingredients call for lemon,, instructions call for red chilies. I'm confused.
Zen says
Hi Nancy, thanks for pointing out the omission of the word lemon in the instructions. I've corrected it to make it clearer now. Regarding the chilies, it's listed as an optional ingredient so add it if you can take spice (or omit it otherwise.) Have a nice week!