Mint and Melon Salad
The Mint and Melon Salad recipe I have for you today is utterly delicious in its simplicity. It takes just 10 minutes, has only 4 ingredients and is naturally gluten-free and dairy-free!
I originally shared this recipe on August 8, 2014. I have updated the images and some of the text today.
Table of contents
Why We Love This Recipe For Watermelon and Mint Salad
I’m sure you’ve heard of the acronym KISS—Keep it simple, stupid. Well, I had to keep reminding myself of this while I was working on this recipe. I had to almost literally slap my own hand as I reached for just one more ingredient to add to this melon salad.
But I’m telling you right now I’m so happy that I resisted. This minty melon salad is perfect. The honey and lemon juice create an amazingly light, sweet and tart dressing that pairs so well with the melon. Then the mint adds just the right amount of zing, freshness, color and texture.
This fruit salad would be absolutely lovely served at your next brunch. It would also serve as a great ending to a fun cook-out on a warm summer night, or even a perfect afternoon snack.
This melon salad was a great reminder for me that when you’re making food with fresh local ingredients at their peak of freshness you don’t need to over complicate things. Let them shine in their simplicity. Just sit back and KISS!
Key Ingredients For This Recipe
Honey
Melon is already fairly sweet in its simplicity, so you really don’t need too much. Taste the melon beforehand and if you feel like the melon you chose is already really sweet, you can even use less honey than what I did. This might depend on how in season the melon is that you’re buying, and how ripe it is.
Lemon juice
Any type of citrus juice is wonderful on melon. I used fresh lemon juice, but if you only have pre-squeezed lemon juice that’s fine too. You can also use lime juice (if you must).
Melon cubes
I did decide to use a mix of melons (watermelon, cantaloupe and honey dew) because I thought the different colors would make it even prettier. And I wasn’t wrong. After I tossed it and put it in the bowl it was a thing of glory. Simple, stunning and yummy. What more can you ask for?
Fresh mint
Fresh mint can usually be found at most grocery stores in the produce section. I’d recommend seeing if you can find organic mint to avoid any pesticides, but any mint is great. If you can only find dried mint, you can replace the ¼ cup chopped fresh mint with 1 tablespoon dried mint.
Step by Step Instructions to Make This Melon Salad
Step 1: Cut melon & make dressing
Making a melon salad takes very little time, and all the steps are really easy. You’ll first need to cube the melon (you can use just one type of melon, or a variety). Leave the melon cubes fairly large, and don’t worry about them all being perfectly even in size. This is home cooking, after all!
Once you’ve cubed the melon, stir together equal parts honey and lemon juice in a bowl.
Step 2: Assemble
Add in the melon and mint leaves and stir until the melon is evenly coated in the honey mixture. You can easily double this recipe for a larger crowd, and this fruit salad will keep well outside at a barbecue or potluck.
FAQs and Expert Tips
You can make this salad a day ahead and store it in the fridge. If possible, I recommend draining off some of the melon juice before serving. For an extra punch of minty flavor, sprinkle fresh mint on top of this melon salad each time you dole out another serving. (The mint that’s left on the salad will wilt a bit in the fridge, but it’s perfectly fine to eat). If you want to prep it further in advance (up to 3 days), just cut the melons, and store them in three separate containers. The dressing can be made in a jar. When you are ready to serve toss them all together with freshly chopped mint.
The best indicator of whether a melon is ripe or not is its color. Both watermelons, cantaloupes and honeydews should be bright in color and smell sweet (but not too strongly). Avoid choosing melons that are duller looking and have brown spots as they are most likely overripe.
The best time to buy watermelon and most other melons are between the months of May and September. They will taste fine no matter the month, but buying the melons (and making this recipe) within those months will ensure you get the best tasting salad you can get!
Additional Easy Brunch Recipes
- I can guarantee this Easy Veggie Quiche recipe will be the star of your next brunch table!
- These Whole-Wheat Crepes are so easy to make at home and can be filled with a wide variety of sweet or savory fillings.
- This Healthy French Toast Casserole is a deliciously easy breakfast, ready in under 30 minutes!
- My Morning Glory Muffin recipe is going to be your new favorite breakfast muffin to make. It is lightly sweetened with maple syrup and made with whole-wheat flour.
At Healthy Seasonal Recipes, we specialize in cooking with fresh veggies and creating weeknight meals. Sign up HERE to get more produce-forward dinner ideas for FREE! If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review. I would love to hear what you thought! Happy Cooking! ~Katie
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Melon Mint Salad
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 6 cups 1x
Description
The 4-ingredient Mint and Melon Salad recipe I have for you today is utterly delicious in its simplicity. It takes just 10 minutes and is naturally gluten-free and dairy-free!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 6 cups melon cubes
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
Instructions
- Stir honey and lemon juice together in a large bowl.
- Add melon and mint and stir to coat.
Notes
Make Ahead:
You can make this salad a day ahead and store it in the fridge. If possible, I recommend draining off some of the melon juice before serving. For an extra punch of minty flavor, sprinkle fresh mint on top of this melon salad each time you dole out another serving. (The mint that’s left on the salad will wilt a bit in the fridge, but it’s perfectly fine to eat). If you want to prep it further in advance (up to 3 days), just cut the melons, and store them in three separate containers. The dressing can be made in a jar. When you are ready to serve toss them all together with freshly chopped mint.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: Salads
- Method: Mixed
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 108.12 kcal
- Sugar: 25.27 g
- Sodium: 43.22 mg
- Fat: 0.53 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.14 g
- Carbohydrates: 26.47 g
- Fiber: 2.54 g
- Protein: 2.32 g
This salad was delish! The min and melon are such a great combo. I plan on making this again for the fourth!
That’s so great to hear! Yay!
Mint and melon is the best combination! SO refreshing!
I am so glad to hear you like this Fay!
This just sounds soooo yummy. I can’t wait for the good melons to be available in the store!
So delectable! That looks irresistible!
Healthy, simple, easy and even budget-smart. All my favourite ingredients! This is so beautiful, Katie, and I can taste the flavours already. Sharing this on FB! Thanks for a great recipe 🙂
What a great combo: melon and mint! It can’t be beat!!
Thanks so much Olivia and for coming by for a visit.
Simplicity at its best and finest! I totally love this melon salad with mint.
Thanks so much Angie. Simple is always a good thing isn’t it?
I love melon and have it available most of the time for snacking. I will have to try this.
If you can find it, the orange watermelon is so delicious. Thanks for the visit Carrie.
yum! looks delicious and so perfect for summer.. love it!
Thank you Thalia and I am so glad you dropped by.
lovely summer salad!
Oh so gorgeous! I love melons and fresh mint and have never put the two together. Simply summery salads like this are lots of fun! I want to make this, like yesterday!
Thanks so much Julia. I think you’ll love the flavor combo. We did!
Hooray for cool, crisp fruit salads! This is exactly the kind of thing I want to eat when it’s too hot to breathe. I’ve eaten both orange and yellow watermelon before, due to a FIL who is REALLY INTO growing a gardenful of all the melon in the land — just as delicious as the standard pink!
I would love to have a garden big enough to grow melon, but I have a hard time keeping up with my tiny one as is. Having a Father in law with a big garden sounds perfect. So glad you came by for a visit Eileen.