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Healthy Home Economist / Archives / Recipes / Appetizer Recipes / Salad Recipes / Cultured Watermelon & Mint Salad

Cultured Watermelon & Mint Salad

by Sarah Pope / Affiliate Links ✔

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Fermented watermelon and mint salad that can be enjoyed alone as a tasty cultured snack or presented in a serving bowl as an appetizer for the main meal.

cultured watermelon salad with mint leaves in glass bowl

Watermelon is not a food I typically would consider as a candidate for fermentation.

However, my husband loves watermelon but eating it right out of the rind does not digest too well for him.

So, I developed this simple cultured watermelon and mint salad as a dish that he can enjoy without discomfort later.

The key is to cut up the watermelon fresh!

Buying pre-cut chunks from the supermarket does not work well as the watermelon tends to sour before it cultures.

Fresh watermelon chunks can lightly ferment for a day on the counter such that they will retain the lovely sweetness.

The tartness of the mint leaves balance out the effect of the lactic acid. At the same time, mint adds additional digestive benefits and flavor complexity to the dish as a whole.

If you have trouble digesting fresh fruit, try this easy cultured salad. Perhaps the light fermentation will allow you to enjoy it once again!

This dish also makes a great after school snack for kids with a glass of farm fresh grassfed milk!

fermented watermelon and mint salad in glass serving bowl
5 from 2 votes
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Cultured Watermelon and Mint Salad

Fermented watermelon and mint salad that can be enjoyed alone as a tasty cultured snack or presented in a serving bowl as an appetizer for the main meal.

Course Appetizer, Salad
Cuisine American
Keyword easy, fermented, healthy
Prep Time 15 minutes
Fermentation Time 1 day
Total Time 1 day 15 minutes
Servings 6
Calories 46 kcal
Author Sarah Pope

Ingredients

  • 4 cups watermelon chunks freshly chopped and seeded
  • filtered water
  • 2 Tbl raw honey
  • 2 Tbl liquid whey
  • 4-6 fresh mint leaves coarsely chopped
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt

Instructions

  1. Gently mix cubed and seeded watermelon and chopped mint in a medium-sized bowl. Transfer to a wide-mouth mason jar. Include any watermelon juice in the bowl.

  2. Mix liquid whey, raw honey, and sea salt in a small bowl. Add a few tablespoons of filtered water as needed to mix thoroughly.

  3. Pour the whey/honey mixture over the watermelon and mint in the mason jar.

  4. Carefully drizzle in enough additional filtered water to just cover.

  5. Secure the mason jar lid and very gently turn the jar twice to fully mix the fruit, mint, water, and whey/honey blend.

  6. Open the lid and place a glass fermentation weight inside the jar to keep the watermelon chunks fully immersed in liquid as needed.

  7. Re-affix the lid and leave it on the counter for 24 hours.

  8. Refrigerate immediately.

  9. To serve, drain off the liquid (use in smoothies) and place fermented watermelon and mint salad in a serving bowl garnished with a few fresh mint leaves. Alternatively, remove just a few watermelon chunks at a time from the mason jar and enjoy alone as a tasty cultured snack.

  10. Refrigerated, this delicate cultured salad will remain fresh for eating for up to one week.

Nutrition Facts
Cultured Watermelon and Mint Salad
Amount Per Serving (0.5 cup)
Calories 46
% Daily Value*
Carbohydrates 11g4%
Protein 0.5g1%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
fermenting watermelon in a mason jar with mint leaves
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Category: Salad Recipes
Sarah Pope

Sarah Pope MGA has been a Health and Nutrition Educator since 2002. She is a summa cum laude graduate in Economics from Furman University and holds a Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

She is the author of three books: Amazon #1 bestseller Get Your Fats Straight, Traditional Remedies for Modern Families, and Living Green in an Artificial World.

Her four eBooks Good Diet…Bad Diet, Real Food Fermentation, Ketonomics, and Ancestrally Inspired Dairy-Free Recipes are available for complimentary download via Healthy Home Plus.

Her mission is dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. She is a sought after lecturer around the world for conferences, summits, and podcasts.

Sarah was awarded Activist of the Year in 2010 at the International Wise Traditions Conference, subsequently serving on the Board of Directors of the nutrition nonprofit the Weston A. Price Foundation for seven years.

Her work has been covered by numerous independent and major media including USA Today, ABC, and NBC among many others.

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Reader Interactions

Comments (4)

  1. Allie

    Aug 30, 2022 at 11:53 pm

    5 stars
    Your recipe looks great. I am very sensitive to milk. Is there something other than whey that I can use to culture the watermelon?

    Reply
    • Sarah Pope

      Aug 31, 2022 at 9:00 am

      You can try a vegetable starter. It might work. I have not tried it with one. https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/go/vegetable-starter-culture

  2. Geri

    Aug 30, 2022 at 10:00 pm

    5 stars
    This is like a watermellon kvass!! Wow, my grandma used to make it out of different kinds of berries with some salt and cinnamon. I never did taste it but my cousins told me…I’m going to try to make this one and the berry one too. Thanks all your inspiration Sarah!!
    ~ Geri

    Reply
    • Sarah Pope

      Aug 31, 2022 at 9:01 am

      Wow, that is amazing! I had no idea this was a traditional thing! I was just trying to make watermelon that my hubby could actually eat and not feel miserable later!! Thank you for sharing! I am so excited to hear this!

5 from 2 votes

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