Watermelon Blueberry Salad

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This festive watermelon blueberry salad with raspberries, blackberries, basil, vegan mozzarella and a simple lemon vinaigrette is perfect for 4th of July celebrations or any hot summer day! It's refreshing, super easy to make and a serious crowd-pleaser.

close up overhead view of red white and blue fruit salad on a platter. — Using tiny star-shaped cookie cutters makes this fruit salad extra festive for July 4th!

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🥗 Why We Love This Recipe
🍓 Ingredients
📋 Ingredient Notes
🔪 Step-by-step Instructions
💭 Expert Tips and FAQs
🍽 Related Recipes
📖 Recipe
💬 Reviews

🥗 Why We Love This Recipe

Quick and easy: With simple fresh produce that requires minimal prep time and the easiest 5-ingredient lemon vinaigrette, this fruit salad can be prepped in no time.
Refreshing: there's nothing better than a watermelon fruit salad, but it's especially refreshing paired with tart berries, herbaceous basil and a tangy lemon vinaigrette.
So festive! This red white and blue fruit salad is perfect for July 4th, Labor Day & Memorial Day. That being said, you certainly don't need a special occasion to enjoy!
Allergy friendly: we use vegan mozzarella to keep this salad dairy free. If you don't have any dairy issues, feel free to use regular cheese. This salad is also naturally gluten free.

🍓 Ingredients

Here are the key ingredients you'll need for this watermelon blueberry salad:

The perfect use for freshly picked berries!

📋 Ingredient Notes

Vegan Mozzarella: we use this vegan mozzarella from Miyoko's. It's absolutely delicious, easy to find at many grocery stores and perfect for slicing into cubes! Of course if you're not vegan, this salad would also be great with regular mozzarella or even feta cheese.
Champagne vinegar: we use champagne vinegar in the vinaigrette, which has a very mild, light and slightly sweet flavor that pairs nicely with the fruit. If you don't have any, the next best option is white wine vinegar. To change up the vinaigrette, this watermelon blueberry salad would also be great with balsamic or red wine vinegar.
Berries: feel free to keep it simple with just blueberries and watermelon, but we love both the color and flavor variation you get by adding in raspberries and blackberries! You could also add in strawberries and/or cherries.
Basil: fresh basil really takes this watermelon blueberry salad to the next level. You can also sub with fresh mint if preferred.

🔪 Step-by-step Instructions

This watermelon blueberry salad couldn't be any easier to make.

Start by whisking together all ingredients for vinaigrette, including ¼ cup olive oil, 2 tablespoon lemon juice, 2 tablespoon champagne vinegar, ¼ teaspoon of salt and pepper to taste.

overhead view of lemon champagne vinaigrette in small mixing bowl. — Feel free to sub in another vinegar of your choice if you don't have champagne vinegar on hand.

Add 4 cups watermelon, 2 cups blueberries, 1 cup each of raspberries and blackberries, 8 large basil leaves, 8 oz cubed mozzarella and vinaigrette to a large bowl.

Toss well until evenly coated. Serve right away topped with more fresh basil, or refrigerate for 1 hour before serving if you'd prefer the salad to be chilled.

close up overhead view of red white and blue fruit salad on a blue plate. — Pro tip: this salad tastes best cold!

💭 Expert Tips and FAQs

We recommend eating this watermelon blueberry salad within a few hours after you make it. As this salad sits in the fridge, the fruits continue to release moisture, making the salad soggy and watery. It still tastes good, but the textures are best when served fresh.
We like making this salad in a big serving bowl or platter, and then serving it family style at the center of the table.
A simple balsamic vinaigrette would also be great on this fruit salad!
Not a fan of basil? This watermelon blueberry salad is also fantastic with fresh mint!

How do you slice watermelon into cubes?

Start by slicing the watermelon in half widthwise. Set on a cutting board flat side down. Slice the entire watermelon into strips about 1" wide. Rotate and slice the other way so you end up with 1" cubes. Remove each piece of watermelon and slice into cubes. Discard the rind.

How do you tell if a watermelon is ripe?

Look for a watermelon with a large yellow patch. This means it has been resting on the ground and is more ripe. The darker yellow the patch, the longer it was on the vine. Avoid fully green watermelons - though they look pretty, they're typically not ripe enough.

Tap/knock on the bottom of the watermelon. A ripe watermelon will have a satisfyingly deep, hollow sound.

Pick a heavy watermelon for its size. A heavier watermelon means there's more water, which means a juicier, more flavorful watermelon.

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