Watermelon Feta Salad Recipe with Grilled Steak
Published May 29, 2024. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This refreshing watermelon feta salad is served with cucumbers, pickled onions, balsamic vinaigrette, and sliced grilled flank steak. The combination of flavors is like no other and will quickly become your new favorite summer salad.
At least two or three times a week, I crave salads big time. My body needs those greens, and I feel much better when incorporating them into my weekly diet. If you want to make some great salads, check out my Panzanella Salad or Greek Salad.
Watermelon Feta Salad
Watermelon feta salad is a cold salad usually served in the summer. It consists of fresh watermelon, crumbled feta, and dressing. This seems like an odd combination of flavors, but it works well together. The fat from the feta compliments the watermelon to make some delicious flavors.
When you grill watermelon, the natural sugars come through even more intensely, making it tastier. In addition, when coupled with steak, it makes the beef even beefier. While it sounds different, I can attest it has wonderful flavors, as this was a sell-out salad every night at a restaurant I worked at.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Onions – You can use raw red onions, but pickled red onions enhance the salad’s flavor.
- Vinaigrette – I personally believe that balsamic vinaigrette is the best dressing to use for this salad.
- Lettuce Greens – I used a combination of butter leaf and spring mix. However, other greens that would work well are Romaine, iceberg, 50/50 blend, baby spinach, or arugula.
- Cheese – You can use crumbled or a block of feta that you crumble by hand.
- Watermelon – It’s best to use a ripe seedless watermelon.
- Vegetables – This part is subjective, but I used cucumbers, radishes, green onions, and tomatoes.
- Steak – The best steak is a Flank, skirt, sirloin, beef tenderloin, or New York strip steak. I used Flank steak, and it’s a fantastic cut of meat from the cow’s belly area just below the loin. It must be cooked quickly and served or cooked for long periods until it easily shreds apart.
How to Make a Watermelon Feta Salad with Steak
Prepare the pickled onions and place them covered in the refrigerator until needed.
Make the balsamic vinaigrette and set it to the side.
Prepare the vegetables and watermelon.
Coat the steak on all sides with olive oil, salt, and pepper and cook on a hot grill (450° to 550°) for 3 to 4 minutes on each side to reach a medium-rare internal temperature. Once cooked, remove from the heat and rest on a cutting board for 2 to 3 minutes before slicing.
Add peeled watermelon slices to the grill and cook for 20-30 seconds per side or until grill marks have formed. Place in the refrigerator until chilled, about 20 to 30 minutes before serving.
In a large bowl or platter combine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, Feta cheese, radishes, pickled onions, and green onions. Place on steak slices and serve alongside dressing.
Make-Ahead and Storage:
Make-Ahead: If you keep all the ingredients separate, you can make this up to 1 day ahead.
How to Store: Cover the salad undressed in plastic wrap for up to 2 days. This recipe will not freeze well.
How to Reheat: While I never recommend reheating steak, I realize you may not be able to eat it all. If you are reheating, you can quickly add it to a hot grill for 2 minutes per side or in a large pan with about ½ cups of beef stock, covered in foil, and cooked in the oven at 400° for 8 to 10 minutes.
chef notes + tips
- Reheating your steak will 100% cause it to increase in internal temperature most likely past medium and into medium-well.
- The ripest, most flavorful watermelon is round and has some yellow sunspots and brown webbing.
- Goats’ milk makes the most flavorful feta cheese; my favorite feta is Bulgarian if you can find it.
- You can add or remove ingredients from this salad list to your liking.
More Salad Recipes
Watermelon Feta Salad Recipe with Grilled Flank Steak
Ingredients
- 1/2 recipe for pickled red onions
- 1/2 recipe for balsamic vinaigrette
- 1 pound flank steak
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 cups of packed Spring Mix lettuce or desired lettuce blends
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes cut in half
- 1 sliced cucumber
- ½ small peeled and thickly sliced watermelon
- 2 thinly sliced radishes
- 1/2 cup sliced green onions
- 1/2 cup of Feta cheese
- sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
- Prepare the pickled onions and place them covered in the refrigerator until needed.
- Make the vinaigrette and briefly set it to the side.
- Preheat the grill to high heat, between 450° and 550°.
- prepare the watermelon, vegetables, and tomatoes.
- Add peeled watermelon slices to the grill and cook for 20-30 seconds per side or until grill marks have formed. Place in the refrigerator until chilled, about 20 to 30 minutes before serving.
- Coat the steak on all sides with olive oil, salt, and pepper and cook on a hot grill (450° to 550°) for 3 to 4 minutes on each side to reach a medium-rare internal temperature. Once cooked, remove from the heat and rest on a cutting board for 2 to 3 minutes before thinly slicing on a bias.
- In a large bowl or on a platter, combine the lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, Feta cheese, radishes, pickled onions, and green onions. Place on steak slices, season the salad with salt and pepper, and serve alongside the balsamic vinaigrette.
I brought this to a cookout today and had to give the recipe to everybody there they said it was delicious❤️
awesome!