My 5 Favorite Watermelon Recipes

It is that time of year to take advantage of the abundance of sweet, fresh and juicy watermelon! On a hot summer’s day, there is nothing more satisfying than biting into a chilled piece of this beautiful fruit. Here are my 5 favorite watermelon recipes for you to try. This is an oldie but goodie post but now has updated information.

Skinny Watermelon Jalapeño Margaritas

As an avid follower of Ambitious Kitchen, Monique’s recipes are made with fresh, healthy ingredients. These Skinny Watermelon Jalapeño Margaritas are naturally sweetened with watermelon juice and a splash of agave. Sliced jalapeños provide a nice kick for a sweet and spicy summer drink.

This is also a delicious recipe to share with neighbors or bring to a dinner party.

Here are the ingredients you will need:

• Silver tequila
• Fresh lime juice
• Watermelon: pick a nice sweet one
• Agave nectar: Agave helps to sweeten them up a bit, but feel free to omit if you find your watermelon sweet enough. Agave can be found here or in grocery stores
• Jalapeño: A few jalapeño slices adds a bit of spice, but you can adjust and/or omit if you’d like.
• Coarse salt & ice (I like to add Tajin to the rim too)

The instructions allow you to make one drink or a pitcher for 8 servings. See the recipe here.

Cucumber and Watermelon Salad with Hoisin-Lime Dressing

Here are two salads with completely different flavors. This recipe is a Vietnamese-style salad that makes a refreshing accompaniment to any kind of barbecue meat.  Originally, Cucumber and Watermelon Salad with Hoisin-Lime Dressing,  appeared in Bon Appetit in July 2002 in their Flavors of the World article.

By using 7 simple and fresh ingredients, you can make this simple, yet delicious salad.  Start with cubes of watermelon and English cucumbers. A quick dressing of hoisin sauce and lime juice and top with peanuts, fresh mint and cilantro. You can find hoisin sauce here or in the grocery store’s ethnic aisle.

Avocado, Watermelon & Cucumber Salad

This weekend I made this other fresh salad, again sourced from Ambitious Kitchen. Drizzle avocado, watermelon and cucumbers with olive oil and lime juice and sprinkle with freshly chopped cilantro. This very refreshing salad could not be easier to make and has amazing flavors and textures.

Isn’t this a visually appealing salad? And it’s healthy too! See recipe here.

Watermelon Gazpacho

My friend, Irma served this at her dinner party and I couldn’t get enough. You can serve this cold soup as a main course or side dish. And this is one recipe that gets even better the next day. See direct link to Taste of Home’s recipe here.

Shrimp, Tomato & Watermelon Salad

I am always looking for dinner salads during the summer months. From the July-August issue of Coastal Living, this “ready in 20 minutes” dinner salad is perfect for as a complete meal. Imagine the combination of fresh large shrimp, vine-ripened tomatoes, sweet watermelon, crisp arugula and a dressing of Dijon mustard, Balsamic vinegar, garlic and spices. See the link doesn’t seem to work any more, the recipe is below.

I must add a 6th recipe as I recently shared this with you in my blog post, 5 Tasty Healthy Summer Salads to Beat the Summer Heat. In this post, there is a super easy and delicious watermelon salad with mint and feta. The recipe is from Serious Eats and I made it this week, adding fresh baby arugula. Simply yummy.

Happy Wednesday and I hope this blog post finds you happy and healthy. We are enjoying all the glorious rain we are getting. A side benefit is the cloudy skies are keeping the heat away ~ it is such joyful weather to be having at the end of July.

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