Watermelon Feta Salad with Kale & Avocado

Nothing beats this cooling watermelon feta salad in the summertime. With a bright dressing & lots of crisp veggies, it's a yummy, refreshing lunch.

Watermelon Feta salad on a platter

I love kale, and I love summer… therefore this might be my perfect salad.

The temps aren’t too high here just yet but with all of the crazy rain we’ve been having, the humidity makes it sweltering to say the least. This watermelon feta salad is as refreshing as it gets – cool, crisp watermelon, fennel, and cucumber are mixed with creamy avocado and feta cheese. It’s pretty much everything I love tossed into a bowl.

How to make a watermelon feta salad

This is a greener version of this spicy watermelon salad that I love. The kale idea came from a salad that I regularly get at Snap Kitchen, a healthy take-away place in Austin. (If you’re in Austin, go check it out… you’ll probably see me grabbing lunch there).

Watermelon Feta salad ingredients

Watermelon Feta Salad Serving Suggestions

This salad is a great choice for a weekday lunch. When you’re prepping it in advance, keep the avocado separate until you’re ready to serve it (otherwise it can become brown and slightly bitter). If you’re going to store it longer than a few hours, I might keep the watermelon separate too so that it doesn’t get too watery at the bottom of the bowl or container.

Want to serve this salad as part of a summer dinner? It would be excellent with veggie burgers, black bean burgers, or jackfruit sandwiches.

Watermelon Feta Salad with Kale & Avocado

If you love this watermelon feta salad…

Make this spicy watermelon salad, this kale salad, or this couscous salad next! 

4.8 from 5 reviews

Watermelon Feta Salad with Avocado & Kale

 
Prep time
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This bright watermelon feta salad is one of my favorite lunches on hot summer days. The combination of creamy avocado & cheese with crisp veggies makes it satisfying and refreshing.
Author:
Recipe type: Salad, side dish
Serves: 2 as lunch, 4 as a side
Ingredients
  • one small bunch of curly kale
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice, more to taste
  • 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
  • 1 small fennel bulb, very thinly sliced
  • 1 small cucumber, very thinly sliced
  • 3 small radishes, thinly sliced
  • 2 scallions, chopped
  • ½ avocado, pitted and cubed
  • ¼ cup crumbled feta cheese
  • 4 cups cubed watermelon, seeds removed
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
  1. Remove the coarse stems of the kale and tear the curly leaves into small pieces. Place them in a large bowl with a drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon and white wine vinegar. Use your hands to massage the kale leaves until they’re soft and tender. They should shrink down to about half the amount that you started with.
  2. Add the sliced fennel, cucumber, radishes, scallions, avocado, feta and toss. Add the watermelon and toss again. Taste, and add more salt, pepper, lemon and/or olive oil as you like.

 

19 comments

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  1. Kristen
    06.28.2016

    Fresh, colorful and delicious. Thanks!

  2. What a pairing! And a double bonus that it results in a gorgeous, colorful salad!

    And, by the way, I too love kale. All those naysayers… I just don’t get it. Kale is wonderful!

  3. SuziCat
    07.14.2015

    This was REALLY GOOD. I made it last night – I have been growing kale and I had a watermelon in the fridge and thought the two needed be married. I’m so glad I found your recipe – it is delish!
    I will definitely make it again. Thank you.

    • SuziCat
      07.14.2015

      PS – I am vegan and did not use the feta. I didn’t even miss it! The salad stands well on its own without the cheese. I almost forgot it was an ingredient until I just wrote this comment!! 🙂

  4. I love how bright and colorful this salad is; it looks so inviting and delicious!

  5. oh i also love kale and watermelon. i just made a kale and strawberry salad for the blog today but as soon as there are watermelons available (i.e. the local ones) i am making this beauty. xo

  6. This looks and sounds wonderful – especially as the weather is really getting very hot where I live (Ohio) and the availablity of watermelon is widespread!

    I am so glad I stumbled across your site!

  7. Paige from gilkeyrestaurantconsulting.com
    06.18.2015

    I’ve never tried watermelon on a salad before but it sounds refreshing. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

  8. I adore watermelon on my salads and I’ve never thought to add avocado. This looks lovely and delicious!

  9. Adina from whereismyspoon.co
    06.18.2015

    I love the simple watermelon and feta salad, so I will definitely have to try this version.

  10. This is the ultimate summer salad to me. Juicy, sweet, creamy, crunchy, and still refreshing…the works! Will definitely be making this this summer.

  11. Thanks for mentioning Snap Kitchen. I live in Wimberley, so I’m in Austin all the time, and I hadn’t heard about it. It’s also in Dallas and Houston. Progress!

    • jeanine
      06.18.2015

      It’s really good – my favorite healthy quick lunch spot 🙂

  12. Wow, what a colorful summer salad! I love the combination of juicy watermelon with creamy avocado – I’ll have to try this and let you know how it turns out.

  13. Eileen from hampiesandwiches.blogspot.com
    06.17.2015

    Such a beautiful salad! I love the idea of combining super-summery watermelon with hearty kale.

A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.