Watermelon Salsa
Updated May 30, 2025
Watermelon salsa or pico de gallo is made with great with cucumbers and a lime tajin dressing. Try it with chips, tacos, or grilled chicken
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Make salsa with Watermelon!
Instead of only using tomatoes to make salsa, I love making fruit-based salsas like this watermelon salsa and my peach salsa. This has all the essence of a regular tomato salsa recipe but made with sweet juicy watermelons instead! Some people call this watermelon pico de Gallo, but regardless what you call it, it’s a delicious refreshing dish to make during the summer when watermelon is in season. Try it on its own like a salad or serve it on top of grilled shrimp, grilled fish or grilled chicken.
Happy Cooking!
– Yumna
Watermelon Salsa Ingredients
- Watermelon: Depending on how much watermelon salsa you want to make, you can use a personal-sized seedless watermelon or half a large seedless watermelon.
- Cucumber: I like to use Persian or English cucumber because they are less watery than regular cucumbers and have smaller seeds.
- Jalapeño pepper: Remove the seeds from the jalapeño if you don’t want your salsa to be too spicy. If you like your salsa on the spicy side, add a second jalapeño.
- Onion: Red onion is less pungent than a white or yellow onion and more common in salsas, but you can also use green onions or shallots.
- Cilantro: For a tex mex inspired salsa, cilantro works really well in this recipe. However, fresh basil or mint also works really well with these flavors!
- Avocado: Chop it really small and make sure to add it right before you serve the watermelon salsa.
- Lime juice: Freshly squeezed lime juice is best, but you can also use bottled lime juice.
- Tajín seasoning: Tajín is a Mexican seasoning made with chili peppers, lime, and salt. It’s usually found in the Hispanic section of the grocery store. If you can’t find it, you can substitute it with chili powder.
How to Make Watermelon Salsa
Watermelon Salsa
Ingredients
- 4 cups seedless watermelon diced
- ½ English cucumber diced
- ½ red onion diced
- 1 jalapeño seeded and diced
- 1 avocado diced
- ½ cup cilantro leaves chopped
- 1 lime zested and juiced
- 2 teaspoons tajin seasoning
Instructions
- Place the watermelon, cucumbers, red onion, jalapeno pepper, avocado and cilantro in a large bowl.
- Add the lime zest and juice on top of the ingredients and sprinkle with the tajin seasoning. Toss gently to combine.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve with tortilla chips.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
If you try this Watermelon Salsa recipe or any other recipe on Feel Good Foodie, please rate the recipe and leave a comment below! It helps others who are thinking of making the recipe.
Recipe Tips
- Learn how to cut a watermelon properly. They can be intimidating at first, but my tutorial shows how to cut it in half and remove the rind easily so you can enjoy it as a salsa.
- Soak the onions. Even though red onions have a milder taste than regular white or yellow onions for the watermelon salsa, you can still soak them in water for 30 minutes or rinse them well to make their taste less potent.
- Use a chopper. I linked below my favorite chopper for making recipes like this salsa that require everything to be evenly and finely diced. You’ll chop much faster this way, and the result is a beautiful presentation!
- Eat it within 24 hours. You’ll notice that every hour after preparing the salsa, the watermelon will release more and more liquid. The avocado may start to brown after the first day as well, so enjoy it immediately for the best freshness and texture!
Serving Ideas
- Chips: Tortilla Chips are my favorite with this fruit salsa, but I like it with Pita Chips
- With Tacos: Try Fish Tacos, Grilled Shrimp Tacos or Salmon Tacos
- With Grilled Fish & Chicken: Add it on the side of Grilled Cod, Grilled Chicken or Grilled Shrimp Skewers
FAQs
This salsa is best enjoyed the day it’s made. However, if you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 24 hours. The watermelon will release more liquid as it sits so it won’t be as fresh after the first day.
I wouldn’t recommend making this more than a few hours in advance because the watermelon will release more liquid, and the avocado may start to brown. If you need to make it ahead of time, wait to add the avocado until right before serving.
Use these tips to pick a ripe watermelon. The watermelon should be heavy for its size and have a dull, not shiny, appearance. The more yellow on the ground, the riper it is. You should also be able to hear a dull thud when you tap on it. Avoid watermelons with bruising, cuts, or soft spots.
Comments
Looks delicious. Substituting the cucumber for celery so my husband will enjoy ❤️
Awesome, I hope you and your husband like the salsa! You’ll have to let me know how your substitution turns out.
Instead of tajin seasoning I’d use a little chaat masala. And I’d add feta to make it more of a salad than a salsa. I mean, who needs chips to enjoy this?
That sounds like a delicious twist!