Ready in 30 minutes, this vegan spicy watermelon salad with no cheese is perfect for enjoying in the warm months! It’s made with a selection of 12-ish simple ingredients, like diced watermelon, red onion, avocado, tangy cherry tomatoes, fresh lime juice, basil, ground chilies, loads of black pepper, and finely ground corn nuts to finish. The watermelon is juicy and sweet, perfectly complimenting the spicy lime dressing and salty corn nuts on top. Filled with freshness (just like my summer salad) and easy to make!
Watermelon salad is a winner in the summertime! I wanted to come up with a recipe without feta, but still loaded with flavour and texture. This version is made of diced watermelon, red onion, cherry tomatoes, creamy avocado, and fresh basil. Ground up salted corn nuts on top give us salt and crunch! It’s all capped off with a chili, lime and black pepper dressing that we apply in two layers. Sweet, spicy, fresh, salty, juicy perfection!
For the watermelon salad dressing, I have you heat the oil before pouring it over ground chilies and a healthy amount of black pepper. This helps infuse the oil with toasted spicy flavour, almost in the style of making chili crisp. While the oil is still warm, we add lime zest, lime juice, maple syrup, Tamari, and a bit of salt. I love using a combination of Guntur Sannam Chilies and Silk Chili here.
It’s really important to get salted corn nuts here (also known as toasted corn). Once they’re ground up, I recommend sprinkling them on top immediately before serving. We want to maximize the crunch factor! The salty toasted corn flavour contrasts so well with the sweet watermelon, lush avocado, sharp red onion, and tangy tomatoes.
Enjoy this spicy watermelon salad with:
While I was testing this one, I could not get enough of the toasted spice of the chilies and black pepper with the watermelon. Just the dressing and watermelon alone is incredible. But with all the extra goodies? It’s salad heaven in the summer. Enjoy!
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Spicy Vegan Watermelon Salad with Corn Nuts and Basil
This spicy vegan watermelon salad is loaded with flavour from a fresh lime, chili and black pepper-infused dressing. Ground up salty corn nuts on top bring crunch and highlight the sweet watermelon. Ready in 30 minutes and no cheese needed!
Servings 6 -8
Ingredients
Dressing
- ¾ teaspoon ground chilies (see note)
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup avocado oil
- 1 teaspoon lime zest, plus extra
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon Tamari
- sea salt, to taste
Salad
- ½ cup salted corn nuts (also called toasted corn)
- 7-8 cups chopped watermelon (bite sized pieces)
- flaky salt, such as Maldon
- ⅔ cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- ½ small red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 ripe avocado, pitted and diced
- 1 small Fresno chili, very thinly sliced (optional)
- ¼ cup fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
Notes
- I use a mix of Guntur Sannam Chilies and Silk Chili for my ground chilies. Gochugaru would also be excellent here.
- Top with the corn nuts right before serving! They can get a little sticky if they sit too long.
- I find that one of those small/individual sized watermelons gets you the perfect amount for this salad.
Instructions
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Place the ground chilies and ground black pepper in a small bowl. In a small skillet or saucepan, heat the avocado oil over medium-high heat. Once it’s hot, pour it over the chilies and pepper. Give it a little stir. Let it cool for 5 minutes. Then, add the lime zest, lime juice, maple syrup, Tamari, and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside.
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In a food processor, grind up the corn nuts until they’re finely chopped. Set aside.
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Build the salad. Arrange the chopped watermelon on a large platter. Drizzle half of the dressing over the watermelon and sprinkle a bit of flaky sea salt.
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Over the watermelon, scatter the halved cherry tomatoes, red onion slices, diced avocado, sliced Fresno chili, and sliced basil. Drizzle the remaining dressing over top and season with flaky salt again. Finally, sprinkle the ground up corn nuts over top and finish with some more lime zest if you like. Enjoy immediately!
