Spicy Watermelon Salsa Recipe

Have you ever tried to make a savory salsa with watermelon? If not, you need to give this delicious watermelon salsa or watermelon Pico de Gallo a try. One of the easiest recipe ever to make with watermelon and I guarantee that you will not miss your tomatoes in this.

Watermelon, what can I say about this gorgeous fruit. We almost have a love-hate relationship with it.

Ok, hold on! Not the kind of disliking hate, but the kind where we run out of ideas to use the entire fruit we just bought. In our case it was even more hard because I had to figure out ways to use the watermelons we harvested.

You heard that right! We planted couple of watermelon plants this year and have been blessed abundantly from these two plants. We harvested watermelons back to back week after week. There was plenty to eat, share with our neighbors and still had more.

Then I started making drinks with the watermelon like this Watermelon Raspberry Lemonade and Spicy Watermelon juice. And that is when we had one large watermelon that we harvested which looked perfect but lacked the sweetness.

This is when I thought I am going to use it to make something savory. I had a bag of tortilla chips in the pantry waiting to be used up with Tomato Salsa. That is now the different story about having a lot of tomatoes to be used up and we will come to that later.

Focusing on the watermelon, I thought why not use this watermelon instead of tomatoes and make a spicy salsa.

Watermelon Salsa or Pico de Gallo?

Salsa to me is blended kind of dip. I would call this more as Watermelon Pico de Gallo but somehow naming it this way was not too much in rhythm. So I would call it watermelon salsa. A kind of chunky salsa where all the fresh ingredients are tossed together.

Why make this recipe?

• We all need a good dip for our chips right? This is just the right kind that you won't be able to stop with few.
• Excessive watermelon in hand. We all have that problem when we buy the whole fruit from store? This watermelon salsa is the perfect solution for that situation.
• Kids to adults, everyone will be taking bowl after bowl of this delicious salsa.
• And you won't even need chips to eat this watermelon salsa. You can eat a bowlful of this as a savory fruit salad and then feel good about eating healthy!
• This watermelon salsa works with sweet watermelon or also the not so sweet watermelon. Yes, this recipe is perfect to make with the watermelon that is not so sweet or bland.

Ingredients and substitutes

Check the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact measurements and printable detailed recipe.

• Watermelon - We will be using about 4 cups of finely chopped watermelon pieces. It needs to be chopped fine enough to be able to scoop on to a chip.

• Onion - I would absolutely recommend using red onion for Pico de Gallo as it adds the best flavor.

• Jalapeno - I use seeded and finely chopped jalapeno in my Watermelon salsa as we like spicy salsa. But if you want to keep it mild, substitute with finely chopped red or orange bell pepper.

• Cilantro - I need a good amount of cilantro in my watermelon Pico de Gallo. I love cilantro in everything and tend to use it a little excessive. Feel free to use based on your liking.

• Lime or lemon juice

• Salt and chat masala - I add a little bit of Indian chat masala in my watermelon salsa as it adds a lovely flavor. It is totally optional.

How to make Watermelon salsa?

• Watermelon that we planted is a seeded one. If using a seeded watermelon, remove the seeds, skin and rind and chop it into fine pieces. Chop the watermelon into tiny pieces so that we can scoop it onto a chip.

• Place the chopped fruit in a large bowl.

• Also chop onion, jalapeno and cilantro and place it in the same bowl as the watermelon.

• Add salt needed and squeeze the lime juice and toss everything together.

• Chill the salsa for couple of hours before serving as it helps enhance the flavors.

Expert tips

• Make sure to chop the watermelon in small pieces. It helps when scooping on to a chip.
• Use red onions for the best flavor.
• Add more vegetables like cucumber, bell pepper as per your preference.
• Chill the watermelon salsa for couple of hours for best flavors.

Frequently asked questions

More salsa and salad

Recipe Card

Spicy Watermelon Salsa Recipe

Have you ever tried to make a savory salsa with watermelon? If not, you need to give this delicious watermelon salsa or watermelon Pico de Gallo a try. One of the easiest recipe ever to make with watermelon and I guarantee that you will not miss your tomatoes in this.

5 from 19 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegan

Prep Time: 15 minutes

chilling time: 2 hours

Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes

Servings: 6

Calories: 42kcal

Author: Sandhya Ramakrishnan

Equipment

• ▢
  bowl
• ▢
  Cutting board
• ▢
  Knife

Ingredients

• ▢ 4 cups Watermelon finely chopped
• ▢ ¾ cup Red onion
• ▢ 2 Jalapeno seeded and finely chopped
• ▢ ½ cup Cilantro finely chopped
• ▢ 1 Tablespoon Lime juice
• ▢ to taste Salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Indian chat masala optional

Instructions

• If using a seeded watermelon, remove the seeds, skin and rind and chop it into fine pieces. Chop the watermelon into tiny pieces so that we can scoop it onto a chip.
• Place the chopped fruit in a large bowl.
• Also chop onion, jalapeno and cilantro and place it in the same bowl as the watermelon.
• Add salt needed and squeeze the lime juice and toss everything together.
• Chill the salsa for couple of hours before serving as it helps enhance the flavors.

Notes

Expert tips

• Make sure to chop the watermelon in small pieces. It helps when scooping on to a chip.
• Use red onions for the best flavor.
• Add more vegetables like cucumber, bell pepper as per your preference.
• Chill the watermelon salsa for couple of hours for best flavors.

Nutrition

Calories: 42kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 3mg | Potassium: 164mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 719IU | Vitamin C: 16mg | Calcium: 13mg | Iron: 1mg

Tried this recipe?Mention @Sandhya.Ramakrishnan or tag #MyCookingJourney!