Last Updated on February 16, 2022 by Anne-Marie

This easy watermelon tomato salad recipe is ideal for summer cookouts and potlucks.

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Why this recipe works

If you’re looking for the best watermelon salad recipe, you have to try Holly Clegg’s Easy Watermelon Tomato Basil Salad.

This watermelon salad recipe comes from her cookbook, trim&TERRIFIC Too Hot in the Kitchen.

This healthy and delicious salad uses an amazing flavor combination for summer – watermelon, tomato and basil with a hint of balsamic vinegar.

I love how this recipe for tomato basil salad is naturally gluten free, vegan, vegetarian, and dairy free.

Best of all, it can be made in 20 minutes. Perfect for busy summer evenings!

Not only does it check all the boxes for your guests on special diets, but even the kids will love a salad made with watermelon and cherry tomatoes!

You can find more of Holly Clegg’s trim& TERRIFIC® recipes at The Healthy Cooking Blog.

Check out Holly’s trim& TERRIFIC™ cookbooks on Amazon, too!

Tips when making Watermelon Tomato Basil Salad

This is such an easy watermelon salad recipe to make that you can get the kids cooking in the kitchen this summer by helping you cut the cherry tomatoes and scooping the watermelon into balls using a melon baller.

Make sure you buy cherry tomatoes and not grape tomatoes for this watermelon tomato salad recipe.

(Cherry tomatoes are much sweeter. The extra cost is worth it.)

While you could probably use any type of vinegar in this easy watermelon tomato salad recipe, balsamic vinegar adds a unique and special flavor.

Save the watermelon rinds to make Best Watermelon Rind Pickles.

Never had them? If you like sweet pickles or spicy pickles, you’ll adore them!

How to pick the right watermelon

Summer and fresh juicy watermelon go hand and hand.

Watermelon is usually available from early May to September but they are at their peak from mid-to late June.

I love to use watermelon in many of my recipes as it adds a sweet touch, and though water accounts for over 90% of it’s weight, it’s rich in potassium, and Vitamins A & C.

Here are some watermelon tips:

● Your watermelon should feel heavy for its size. Compare it to similar melons.

● Rind shouldn’t have any soft spots, gashes and should be dull and barely yield to pressure.

● A good melon has a symmetrical shape. It shouldn’t matter if it’s round or oval.

● Look on the bottom of the melon and you’ll find a discolored spot where the melon rested on the ground when it was growing.

If this spot is light green, the melon is not yet ripe. If the spot is a yellowish-white color, the melon is probably ripe.

● You can also test for ripeness by scratching the surface of a watermelon with your fingernail. A greenish-white color beneath the outermost layer of the rind indicates a ripe watermelon.

● If you are watermelon thumper-a ripe melon will sound as if the fruit is hollow. You don’t want to hear a thud or a tone that is high in pitch.