Fruit salad doesn’t have to mean a staid grocery store mix of softening cantaloupe and sad honeydew. It’s summer time, which means watermelon season, cookout season and fruit salad season! This Summer Watermelon Berry Salad with Lime Mint Dressing is a refreshing, flavorful spin your guests will thank you for at your next outdoor BBQ.
Start with the perfect watermelon
There’s nothing like spotting the first watermelons of the season. Slicing into a crisp, cold melon on a hot summer day is pure joy.
Our family always struggles to cut watermelons in a civilized way–it always ends up hacked to pieces as various family members spot it on the counter, slice themselves a random sliver and keep coming back for more. At the end of the day, we’re always left with a scraped-out rind.
Note: watermelon rind is great for your compost pile, just cut it into smaller pieces for faster composting.
If you’re not like us and can restrain yourself around a juicy melon, or you can store half of your melon in the fridge for this berry salad, we promise you’ll be glad you did!
One of the best parts of this seasonal fruit salad is how it makes the most of summer produce with an especially attractive color palate. We couldn’t resist complementing fresh watermelon with juicy red strawberries, raspberries and cherries.
And while slicing and pitting cherries takes a bit of time, the result is a fruit salad unlike any your friends have seen-or tasted-before.
And the color isn’t just aesthetically pleasing. Red fruits and veggies like raspberries, strawberries and cherries are packed with antioxidants like vitamin A and C, manganese, and fiber. Read: easy on the eyes and good for the body.
Bring it together with zesty mint lime dressing
I think fruit salads get such a bad rap because everyone forgets that salads, even those made of berries, need dressing! You’d pass on an undressed green salad, so who can blame you for overlooking plain fruit salad?
Luckily, this one is far from plain.
The mint lime dressing on this watermelon berry salad is key to it’s unexpectedly bright flavor. The dressing is just five ingredients, including water. You can whip it up in a minute to elevate the already delicous summer produce to new heights.
Top it off with a minty garnish
Finally, toss your watermelon and berries in the mint lime dressing and sprinkle with a few fresh mint leaves. The result is a show-stopping fruit salad perfect for your next summer get-together.
Don’t stop with one outstanding fruit salad!
Try these other fruity favorites:
- Citrus Fennel Avocado Salad
- Vegan Grilled Peach Caprese Salad
- Berry Spinach Salad with Raspberry Salad
- Summer Produce and Wild Rice Salad
- Tomato and Mango Salad in Aquachile from Bon Appetit
Watermelon Berry Salad with Lime Mint Dressing
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
- Category: Salad
- Cuisine: Summer
Description
This Watermelon Berry Salad with Lime Mint Dressing is a refreshing, flavorful spin your guests will thank you for at your next outdoor BBQ.
Ingredients
- Half of a medium-sized watermelon, cubed
- 1 1/2 cups strawberries, sliced into rounds
- 1 cup raspberries
- 1 cup cherries, pitted and halved
- 4 tbsp agave nectar
- 4 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1 1/2 tsp lime zest
- 2 tsp finely chopped mint
- For garnish: mint and basil
Instructions
- Whisk together agave, water, lime juice, lime zest and mint.
- Prep fruits and place in a large bowl. Drizzle dressing over top and lightly toss.
- Serve with torn mint and basil.
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