Honeydew Melon Salad combines the glorious sweetness of ripe melon with bright mint, zesty lime, and a hint of boldness from Moroccan spice. It’s a light and healthy recipe that works beautifully as a salad, side dish, or even dessert.
Whether you're cooling down on a hot day or adding a touch of something unexpected to your table, this salad is a deliciously juicy way to celebrate fresh flavors.
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You'll love that this recipe calls for fresh mint, which is cooling and often grows abundantly in backyard gardens!
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Ingredients
- Honeydew melon
- Fresh mint
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Lime
- Honey
- Garlic powder
- Ras el Hanout
- Red pepper flakes
- Pistachios
🍈Honeydew melon: Use sweet, white, yellow, or orange-fleshed honeydew, a newer variety. You could also choose another tender-fleshed melon, such as Canary, Casaba, or perhaps cantaloupe.
Keep reading for tips on how to select a perfectly ripe melon!
Fresh mint: Spearmint or peppermint—either tastes fine in this recipe. You could even substitute lemon balm if you have it growing in the garden. Dried mint works, too. Swap in a generous Tablespoon for the fresh herb.
Extra virgin olive oil: Choose an oil with a robust flavor, but steer clear of those that are overly acidic and assertive.
🍋🟩Lime: You'll want the juice and zest of a medium to large lime for this recipe. See the tips below to learn how to get the most juice out of your lime.
🐝Honey: White sugar tastes okay as a sub. Be sure to dissolve all the crystals so the dressing is not gritty. Agave nectar would be excellent in this recipe.
Ras el Hanout: (affiliate link) This Moroccan spice blend is warming and sometimes contains hot spices. Omit the red pepper flakes if cayenne pepper is part of the mix in your bottle.
See below for a DIY recipe you can use if you can't find this spice or would prefer not to buy it.
🌶️Red pepper flakes: These are optional. Aleppo pepper flakes (affiiate link) are generally well-tolerated and boost flavor, although they are not fiery.
How to Make
Wash your hands, lathering with soap and rinsing with running water for 20 seconds, before starting.
Start by washing and cubing your melon. You'll probably need half of a large honeydew.
For easy melon prep, watch Melon Hack You Didn't Know You Needed on my YouTube channel (@janileuschel5529). Watch how easy it is to remove the rind and cube a honeydew melon.
Place the melon cubes into a large bowl. Sprinkle the chopped mint over the melon cubes and let this sit while you make the dressing.
Place the dressing ingredients in a small bowl, measuring cup, or lidded container: EVOO, lime juice and zest, honey, garlic powder, Ras el Hanout, red pepper flakes (if using), and a pinch of salt (optional).
Whisk briskly or shake until the dressing is emulsified.
Pour over the melon and mint and toss until all the cubes of fruit are coated with dressing and have shreds of lime zest on them.
Note: The mint can be added after pouring the dressing over the cubes or before.
Before serving, top the honeydew salad with pistachios and torn mint leaves.
Note: You can also wait and add pistachios to individual servings rather than sprinkling them over the salad as a whole.
Find the complete recipe at the bottom of the post.
❄️Storage and serving ideas
This taste of the salad benefits from marinating in the dressing for a couple of hours. It's best to make it a little ahead of when you plan to eat it.
If you are making it in advance, wait until serving to sprinkle on the pistachios and torn mint leaves.
It will keep in the refrigerator in a storage container for up to three days. It does get very juicy, especially if your honeydew is very ripe, so use a slotted spoon to mix it and then scoop it out.
Enjoy this classic summer salad with anything grilled. Flank steak. Chicken (especially with barbecue sauce!). Salmon (ditto).
It would also be a welcome addition to plate featuring two or three different salads for lunch or dinner. It's perfect with this Pasta Salad with Greek Yogurt Dressing.
How to pick a honeydew
In my experience, the most important part of choosing a ripe honeydew is pressing on the stem end with your thumb. It should be a little soft, but not mushy, when you push.
The melon itself should not be soft or mushy. Sometimes, melons get frozen while being transported to market and this makes them mushy—yuck!
Tips for creating best melon salad ever
Choice of melon: This is all-important. Avoid any that are too hard or soft. If you can't find a ripe honeydew, try another variety of tender melon, such as Casaba, Canary, Crenshaw, or cantaloupe.
Juicing your lime: Limes can be stingy with their juice! To get the most out of your citrus, microwave it for a few seconds, until it feels warm and yielding.
Alternatively, roll it around with the palm of your hand on the counter or cutting board. This will break it down slightly on the inside and release more juice.
Use a citrus squeezer (affiliate link) after zesting (affiliate link) the lime.
➡️DIY recipe for Ras el Hanout
There is no standard recipe for this gutsy, earthy spice mix from Morocco or North Africa. The main spice players are cumin, ginger, and coriander. Sometimes this blend contains cayenne or white pepper, and often cinnamon is included.
Make your own mix from this recipe. Feel free to substitute or insert other spices. Cloves, allspice, or nutmeg would be agreeable to this blend.
- 1 teaspoon of cumin
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ½ teaspoon coriander
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ cayenne (or black or white pepper
Is this salad healthy?
With its combo of melon, fresh herbs, olive oil, and lime juice, this salad has plenty to offer when it comes to your health!
Both honeydew and citrus are full of vitamin C, which our bodies cannot make on their own. One serving is an excellent source of this vitamin that assists with collagen formation and iron absorption.
Vitamin C is also renowned for promoting a healthy immune system (although its ability to help with colds is not proven).
Honeydew has an abundant supply of potassium, and this salad is a good source of this mineral, which helps regulate blood pressure and balances sodium (salt).
Mint has benefits for digestion and contains a fair amount of iron, manganese, and vitamin A.
Fresh herbs are rich in antioxidant nutrition, which helps safeguard your cells against damaging free radicals that trigger cancers and diseases associated with aging.
Other nutrition positives in the salad are calcium, for skeletal support, and folate, for healthy pregnancies and to lower the risk of heart disease.
Practical Dietitians gave this recipe top marks for bone health, especially when served as a side dish or a salad course. Eaten as a snack (think leftovers), it meets four out of five nutrition criteria for a bone-friendly recipe.
This salad can pinch-hit as dessert, especially on a hot summer day. It's hydrating and refreshing (especially when chilled). You'll taste sweet, sweet sugar, but most of that occurs naturally, so this dish is a very healthy dessert with few added sugars!
It's especially nice for a diabetes diet since it only has a single serving of carbohydrates (16 grams). Plus it's got healthy fats and a little fiber to slow digestion, which helps steady blood sugar rather than spiking it.
Each serving of salad is less than 300 calories, which is not bad!
Variations
You can change the flavor profile of the melon salad by adding other fruits and vegetables, cheese, and nuts or seeds.
Cucumbers: The refreshing and neutral taste of cucumbers is a natural with honeydew and other melons. Add two or three cups of salted and drained sliced cucumber.
Salting the cucumbers helps them stay crunchy!
Feta cheese: Crumbles of this sheep's milk cheese take the salad in a saltier, more savory direction.
Pumpkin seeds are a great swap for the pistachios. Other excellent choices for this salad are pine nuts and sunflower seeds.
Blackberries are a delicious color contrast to the honeydew and pair well with mint and lime.
FAQ⁉️
That depends on your view of calories and carbohydrates, but, yes, it is low in both. It has less than 300 calories per serving and only 16 grams of carbohydrate.
Although there is just enough in the recipe to give the salad some gutsy Middle Eastern flavor, it is thought to be especially helpful for digestion and immunity.
The ginger is good for nausea, and other spices in the blend may boost cognitive health. It also has abundant antioxidants.
Since it varies wildly between manufacturers (although cumin and ginger are in almost every brand), it's difficult to be certain about the nutrition.
Probably not. However, the spices are not overwhelming, and the melon is sweet, so it may be a nice dish for expanding a child's palate.
No. Although watermelon and mint complement each other, the dressing is not meant for the brighter flavor of watermelon.
Other seasonal salad recipes...
For a hearty, filling summer meal, try this uber-healthy Kale Salad with White Beans. It's dripping with delectable healthy fats in the form of seeds, olive oil, and avocado. The kale is massaged, so it's easier to chew.
Make a lunch out of Mediterranean Cucumber Salad by adding chickpeas to the classic combo of ripe tomatoes and cucumbers. You'll love the apple cider dressing!
🥕Got a bumper crop of zucchini? This Zucchini Carrot Salad bathed in a clean and pure lemon marinade is perfect for the hottest days of summer. (That's often when zucchini is at its best!)
Honeydew Melon Salad
Equipment
- Large bowl
- Small bowl or use a small measuring cup or jar with a lid
- Herb stripper optional
- Handheld squeezer, or another type of juicer
Ingredients
- 5 cups of cubed honeydew or other sweet tender-fleshed melon
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh mint, or a generous Tablespoon of dried
- 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons lime juice
- 2-3 teaspoons honey
- 1 teaspoon lime zest
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon Ras el Hanout
- ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- pinch of kosher salt
- 2 Tablespoons dry roasted pistachios
- Torn fresh mint leaves for garnish
Instructions
- Wash hands thoroughly, lathering with soap and rinsing with running water.
- Put the cubed melon in a medium bowl. Top with chopped mint.
- Starting with olive oil, combine remaining ingredients except for the pistachios and torn mint leaves in a small bowl, measuring cup, or jar with a lid.
- Whisk or shake the dressing vigorously until ingredients are emulsified. Pour a generous amount over the melon and mint and toss to combine. (If your lime is very juicy, you may not need all the dressing.)
- Sprinkle with pistachios and fresh mint leaves.
- Serve at room temperature or chilled.Keeps in the refrigerator for up to three days.
Jani H. Leuschel
Thank you! It is very refreshing. 🙂
Ruth Hall
Sounds wonderful!