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Grilled Halloumi Watermelon Salad is crispy, crunchy, and so refreshing! Salty halloumi cheese pairs beautifully with the sweet watermelon. And drizzled in a lime and hot honey dressing this salad is just so delicious!
I’ve got summer on my plate today!
Grilled halloumi cheese paired with crunchy, sweet watermelon topped with slices of crisp, cooling cucumber, spicy red onions, all dressed in a mint lime and hot honey dressing.
I’m day dreaming about throwing this together with a quick grilled chicken skewers for dinners on the patio before the weather becomes unbearably hot in Texas. This is also wonderful to take along with you on a picnic, or as a snack after a dip in the pool. May, June, and basically until the last day of September are all about outdoor living, and this watermelon salad tags along easily to cool you off for a good part of the year.
And if you think you won’t like hot honey and watermelon together, guess again! The subtle heat from the honey and the lime drizzle on top play up beautifully with the sweetness from the watermelon. The fresh mint leaves just cool everything down.
This is summer in a bowl, and it’s so dang delicious!
Ingredients for grilled halloumi watermelon salad
- Watermelon: You’ll want to start by picking a sweet watermelon. I’ve shared a bunch of tips below on how you can snag one that’s perfect.
- Halloumi Cheese: Halloumi is a goat and sheep milk cheese commonly eaten in Cyprus. It’s a great cheese to grill or fry in a pan because it maintains its shape because of its high melting point. It’s salty and great in salads, or with fresh herbs, sliced tomatoes and bread.
- Fresh Mint: My dad made me a little mint plant that hangs out in my backyard and it’s been steadily supplying me with all the mint that I need to put together a large platter (or rather platters) of this strawberry watermelon salad the last couple years. This year, I’m adding a new watermelon salad to the mix!
- Hot Honey: This is my absolute favorite hot honey. And I kind of discovered it accidentally! This happened to be the only brand they had at Costco one time. But honestly, the heat from the scotch bonnet peppers and habanero works so well with the watermelon. Reminds me of a spicy watermelon mocktail and ugh, I could blend it all up and sip on this all day long!
- Cucumbers: You just want to thinly slice these on a mandolin. They are supporting characters so we aren’t dicing or cutting them in thick slices.
- Red Onion: Use the mandolin again. You don’t want harsh chunks of raw onion in this salad.
- Lime Juice: I’m just using the juice of the lime, but feel free to add lime zest too if you’d like. It’ll amp up the citrus flavor even more.
- Kosher salt: Just the tiniest pinch for the dressing to enhance the sweetness. Remember, halloumi is quite a salty cheese, so you don’t want to add too much.
- Olive Oil: Just a bit to brush on the halloumi before we toss it on the grill.
Grilling Halloumi and Making Watermelon Salad:
- Make the dressing. Add the kosher salt, lime juice, hot honey to a bowl. Mince up about half of the mint leaves finely and add it to the dressing. Whisk tooombine and then set it aside for now.
- Slice the watermelon. Break down the water melon into cubes, triangles, or slices, whatever you typically prefer for your salad. You want to make the pieces about ½ inch in thickness that the halloumi and watermelon are roughly the same size.
- Grill up the halloumi. Slice the halloumi into thick slices. Preheat and indoor grill pan or an outdoor grill on medium heat. You want to brush or rub the cheese slices with olive oil to keep them from sticking to the grill grates. Cook the cheese fora few minutes on each side flipping cook on pot sides. Remove the cheese to a plate and cut into smaller bite sized pieces once cooled.
- Assemble the salad. Grab a large serving platter. Add the wedges of watermelon. Followed up the sliced cucumbers, red onions, and halloumi. Add more watermelon wedges on top and sprinkle with mint leaves. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and serve immediately. Enjoy!
How to pick a perfectly sweet watermelon
The yellow spot is called a ‘field spot’ and this shows that the watermelon spent plenty of time on the ground ripening in the warm field.
You don’t want this to be green. Again this shows that the watermelon spent more time rising on the vine, all signs that suggest you’ve picked a sweet melon.
The random welts and webbing on a watermelon means a bee pollinated the fruit. This one kind of seals the deal for me! The more character it has, chances are, the sweeter it’ll be!
Other summer salads to make:
- Berry Fruit Salad with Mangoes
- Pakistani Fruit Chaat (Sweet and Spicy)
- Strawberry Watermelon Feta Salad
- Refreshing Cucumber Melon Salad
- Mexican Fruit Salad
Grilled Halloumi Watermelon Salad with Hot Honey Dressing
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1-2 tablespoons hot honey
- Pinch of kosher salt
- ¼ cup fresh mint divided
- 8-10 ounces halloumi cheese chopped
- Olive oil for brushing
- 1 small personal watermelon preferably seedless (see notes)
- 2 Persian cucumbers thinly sliced
- ¼ cup red onions thinly sliced
Instructions
- WATERMELON: Remove the rind of from the watermelon and cut into large chunks or triangles. I typically slice the watermelon into a square or rectangle, slice it into ½ inch thick slices, and then cut triangles from the squares but any shape you like works here.
- MAKE THE DRESSING: in a bowl, combine the kosher salt, lime juice, 1 tbsp hot honey. Mince up ½ of the mint leaves and add them to the dressing. Whisk to combine; taste. Adjust with another tablespoon of honey if the watermelon isn't very sweet. If it has plenty of sweetness, skip the extra tablespoon. Set dressing aside for later.
- GRILL: Preheat an indoor grill pan over medium heat or an outdoor grill. Clean the grates before cooking. Cut halloumi into ½-inch thick slices. Brush or rub with olive oil. Cook the halloumi for 2-3 minutes per side until grill marks develop. Remove to a plate. Once cooled you can cut the halloumi into smaller bite-sized pieces if you’d like.
- ASSEMBLE: Arrange half of the watermelon wedges on a platter, top with the sliced cucumbers, red onions, halloumi cheese, and then the last of the watermelon followed by the mint leaves. Drizzle the prepared dressing over the salad. Make this all summer long!
Notes
- Watermelon: If you're making this with a larger melon, you'll need about 5 cups of sliced or cubed melon.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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