Thai Watermelon Salad
This refreshing Thai Watermelon Salad is perfect for summer! Chunks of watermelon are tossed in a light Thai inspired dressing and served topped with cashews, shallots and red chilies. The combination of sweet, salty and spicy is so good! This salad is Whole30 and Paleo and can easily be made Vegan.
Watermelon salad has been at the top of my recipes to make list all summer. It’s a salad that seems to be popping up on every restaurant menu, blog and magazine I have seen, but I wanted to try coming up with a more unique version and I definitely achieved that with this Thai Watermelon Salad.
To switch things up I created this Thai Watermelon Salad. Every bite is packed with salty, spicy, tart and sweet flavour.
Be warned that this salad is definitely for the more adventurous of palates. Some might struggle with the idea of Asian flavours and watermelon but it really is delicious.
Although you could use only cubed watermelon, I love the combination of crunchy cucumber and soft watermelon. You could also swap the cucumber for red pepper, tomatoes or radishes if you aren’t a fan of cucumber. This salad is super versatile so you can really play around with the ingredients and use what you prefer.
The longer the salad sits after being dressed, the more sauce the watermelon absorbs and the more flavourful it becomes.
I have made this recipe a few times, but only found a seedless watermelon on my final attempt. Seeds make eating this salad a lot less enjoyable, so I highly recommend using a seedless watermelon, or at the very least, one with very small seeds that you can eat.
I used a touch of orange juice to sweeten the dressing but if you are not on a Whole30, honey or maple syrup also works and helps to balance the tartness from the lime juice.
This is a fantastic salad for a summer barbecue, it’s so light and refreshing!
If you are vegan you can omit the fish sauce completely or swap it for this substitute which I think has a very similar taste to fish sauce but is made with coconut aminos, dried shiitake mushrooms and salt.
Here are a few other easy summer salads that you might enjoy:
- Creamy Cauliflower Faux-Tato Salad
- Pesto Zoodle Salad with Prosciutto & Pine Nuts
- Roasted Fennel & Green Bean Salad
- Grilled Zucchini & Asparagus Salad
- Carrot Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing
- Roasted Cauliflower, Date, Red Onion & Parsley Salad
If you make this recipe let me know in the comment section below, I would love to hear what you think or take a photo and tag me (@everylastbite_) on Instagram, I love seeing your photos!
Thai Watermelon Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups cubed watermelon
- 1 1/2 cups cubed cucumber
- 2 small shallots very thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup shredded fresh mint
- 1 Thai red chili, finely sliced
- 1/4 cup shredded Thai basil
- 1/3 cup chopped toasted cashews
Dressing
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 1/2 tsp lime zest
- 2 tsp lime juice
- 1/2 tbsp fish sauce (omit if vegan)
- 1 tbsp coconut aminos (or tamari/soy sauce)
- 1 tbsp orange juice
Instructions
- In a small bowl whisk together all of the ingredients for the dressing.
- In a large bowl or serving platter place the watermelon and cucumber. Top with the sliced shallots, cashews, sliced chili, mint and Thai basil.
- Pour the dressing overtop and gently tossed until well combined. Enjoy!
This looks so good! What a great combination of flavors!
I made and it was delicious I smashed three peppers and added honey to the dressing and it was delicious. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe
Fairly interesting combination of tastes.
Loved this and so did all my guests (even the ones who thought they didn’t like fish sauce). Thanks for another restaurant quality recipe.
thoroughly loved your salad and will make again! I didnt have the shallot, pepper or orange juice so left it out and was still delish, thanks for the recipe