This Gluten-Free Vegan Watermelon Salad with Vinaigrette is an easy and healthy recipe made with clean, real food ingredients. It's the perfect plant-based salad made with fresh ingredients and is ready to enjoy in under 10 minutes!
Here's Why This Recipe Works
My top 3 favorite reasons:
- Serving Size Can Be Adjusted - The dressing, Watermelon Vinaigrette, makes about (2) cups, so you have enough dressing for multiple salads - perfect to save for a salad the next day!
- Ready In Under 10 Minutes - The entire recipe, including the vinaigrette, can be made in under 10 minutes for a quick lunch!
- Made With Clean, Real Food Ingredients - Healthy ingredients such as mixed greens, watermelon, walnuts, chia seeds, hemp seeds, avocado oil, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, Medjool dates, and Himalayan pink salt.
My healthy plant-based salad and dressing are both raw, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, paleo-friendly and contain no refined sugar!
Expert Tips + Ingredient Substitutions
Here are some expert tips to make this recipe perfectly:
Salad Greens. I used an organic "Deep Green - Power" salad blend by Earthbound Farms which contains baby kale, chard, and spinach and it was perfect for this salad. However, feel free to use your favorite salad greens for this recipe.
Avocado Oil. Can be substituted with organic extra-virgin olive oil.
Himalayan Pink Salt. This is my salt of preference, however, it can always be substituted with sea salt.
Serving Size. This recipe will make approximately (2) small salads, but if you need a bigger one or more servings, just increase the number of mixed greens, watermelon, hemp seeds, chia seeds, and walnuts. The vinaigrette recipe will make approximately (2) cups so you will have plenty of extra to use or save for later.
Toppings. I added the hemp seeds, chia seeds, and walnuts as a topping for extra nutrition, but feel free to omit one or all or even substitute with something else if you prefer.
Want More Healthy Plant-Based Salad Recipes?
Check out these:
- Blueberry Mango Salad with Tahini Ginger Dressing
- Wilted Kale Salad with Creamy Chipotle Dressing
- Roasted Artichoke Salad with Sesame Seed Vinaigrette
- or my CLEAN EATING Cookbook with 72 plant-based recipes made with clean, real food ingredients just like this one that you will love!
Gluten-Free Vegan Watermelon Salad with Watermelon Vinaigrette
Equipment
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 4 handfuls organic mixed greens
- 1 cup organic watermelon (diced into cubes)
For the toppings:
- 2 teaspoon organic hemp seeds
- 2 teaspoon organic chia seeds
- 2 teaspoon organic walnuts (chopped)
For the vinaigrette:
- 2 cups organic watermelon (large chunks)
- ¼ cup 100% pure avocado oil
- 2 tablespoons organic apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons organic maple syrup
- 2 organic Medjool dates (pitted)
- 1 pinch Himalayan pink salt
Instructions
Prepare the vinaigrette:
- Add all ingredients for the vinaigrette into a Vitamix and blend until well combined.
- Taste and adjust the seasonings to your preference.
Assembly:
- Divide the salad greens and watermelon cubes between two serving dishes.
- Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad then sprinkle the hemp seeds, chia seeds and walnut on top.
- Store the extra vinaigrette in an air-tight BPA-free container in the refrigerator and stir before using because it will separate.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Information
Copyright Notice
The instructions, notes, and photographs for this recipe by Karielyn Tillman of The Healthy Family and Home™ website are copyrighted material. This copyrighted work is protected and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 International License and the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) and cannot be legally used without my written permission.
Hannah says
Hi, Karielyn. I'm wondering if water can be substituted for the oil in this recipe? I typically try to avoid oil, as I notice an increase in acne when I consume oil. Thanks!
Karielyn says
Hi there Hannah! I've never tried to substitute with water but I added the oil to give it a "vinaigrette" texture/taste. I would try it and see...maybe add a little extra seasonings to it for more flavor.
You could also try to make a "creamy" type dressing and use maybe a 1/2 cup of soaked cashews (you would need a Vitamix, or other high speed blender) instead of the oil. That's what I do when I make "creamy" dressings instead of "vinaigrette" dressings.
Thanks for the question and I hope you enjoy the recipe 🙂