This arugula watermelon salad with feta has so many flavors going for it – peppery greens, sweet watermelon, salty feta, and a hint of heat. Just like my super popular napa cabbage slaw, the watermelon salad with arugula is dressed with a homemade vinaigrette, which absolutely elevates it in the best way. It’s nice enough for entertaining, but also easy enough (ready in 10 minutes!) for weeknight dinners.
If you like fruit in your salads, be sure to try my kale pomegranate salad, kale apple slaw, and spinach goat cheese strawberry salad next time.
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Table of Contents
What You’ll Love About Arugula Watermelon Salad
- Nutritious and delicious
- Perfect summer salad
- Has ALL the flavors
- Just 10 minutes prep time
- Made with simple ingredients
Ingredients
This watermelon and arugula salad is made with basic ingredients:
- Olive oil – Use a high quality olive oil for best flavor.
- Balsamic vinegar – Use a high quality balsamic vinegar for best flavor.
- Dijon mustard – Be sure to use dijon and not yellow mustard, this helps emulsify the dressing and blend it together.
- Shallot – The shallot gives great flavor to the dressing, but you could also use a clove of garlic or red onion if you don’t have any shallots.
- Arugula – Use fresh baby arugula without any yellowing. You could also use a blend of romaine with endive or radicchio to help give the peppery arugula flavor.
- Watermelon – Look for ripe, seedless watermelon that isn’t mushy.
- Feta cheese – I have strong feelings about feta cheese. PLEASE use block feta in brine, crumbly feta just doesn’t have as much flavor!
- Flaky sea salt, aleppo pepper, freshly cracked pepper
How to Make Watermelon Arugula Salad
This arugula and watermelon salad may seem fancy, but it’s SO simple to make:
- Mix balsamic vinaigrette. In a small bowl (or jar) whisk together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, shallot, sea salt, and black pepper.
TIP: Add dressing ingredients into a small jar, cover, and shake until it’s emulsified. Double it and save for other salads.
- Dress salad. In a large salad bowl or individual plates, drizzle balsamic vinaigrette and toss with arugula.
- Assemble salad. Top greens with watermelon cubes, feta cheese, and a sprinkle of aleppo pepper, flaky sea salt, and freshly cracked pepper to taste.
Storage Instructions
This salad is best served immediately so the arugula doesn’t get soggy or wilted.
You can absolutely prep the components ahead of time so that all you need to do is toss together and eat.
How to Serve Watermelon Feta Arugula Salad to the Whole Family
I get it, feeding kids can be tough! But following the Division of Responsibility and knowing your job and your child’s job makes it SO much more enjoyable. You’ll be able to feed your kids any meal, which will help ensure that they are eating a variety of nutritious foods – with plenty of play food sprinkled in. 😉
I get it, this salad may not be the most kid-friendly salad, but I’m on a “let’s make salad inviting” kick and this method can definitely be applied here.
Instead of serving everything together, deconstruct the salad and let everyone make their own salad. They may only eat the watermelon – and that’s ok! Eventually, they may sample the other ingredients, and maybe someday they will eat it all together!
All of my articles on feeding kids can be found here and if you want a FULL list of all of the videos I have with hacks, tips, scripts, and ideas for feeding kids, check out my instagram or tiktok page.
What to Serve with Watermelon Salad with Arugula
This arugula feta watermelon salad makes a great side salad for simple meals like these:
More Easy Salad Recipes
If you like this watermelon arugula feta salad, you might also like some of these other easy salad recipes:
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Helpful Tools to Make Watermelon Salad with Arugula
- Flaky Sea Salt – A must for SO many dishes, but it adds great flavor and texture to salads like this arugula salad with watermelon. It’s a finishing salt, so you don’t use it for cooking, just right before serving.
- Aleppo Pepper – If you are new to aleppo pepper, get ready! I love this Mediterranean spice that has a mild heat and enhances the flavor of whatever you put it on. (Try avocado toast!)
Arugula Watermelon Salad with Feta Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: No Cook
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This arugula watermelon salad has peppery greens, sweet watermelon, salty feta, and a hint of heat. It’s a fabulous summer salad!
Ingredients
For dressing:
- 4 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- 2 tsp. dijon mustard
- 2 Tbsp. finely minced shallot
- 1/8 tsp. salt and pepper
For salad:
- 5 oz. arugula
- 3 cups cubed watermelon
- 4 oz. block feta cheese, crumbled
- flaky sea salt, aleppo pepper, freshly cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
- Make balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Whisk together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dijon, shallot, salt, and pepper until emulsified.
- Assemble salad. In a large bowl or individual plates, layer lettuce on the bottom. Toss arugula with dressing and layer into individual plates or a salad bowl. Top with watermelon and feta cheese. Drizzle with dressing. Top with freshly cracked pepper to taste.
Notes
- Adjust how much dressing to use according to your preference, all of it may be too much
Keywords: watermelon arugula salad, arugula watermelon salad, watermelon feta arugula salad, watermelon salad with arugula
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Photo Credit: All photos in this post were take by Loren at Sweet Rustic Bakes
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