Name: Refreshing Cucumber Watermelon Salad
Prep time: 15 min
Yield: 10 servings
Ingredients: 1 small red onion, halved and sliced into thin half-moons; 2 tablespoons lime juice, or more to taste; 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil; 1 seedless watermelon, cut into cubes; 3 baby cucumbers, seeded and cut into cubes; 1 cup crumbled feta cheese; 1/2 cup mint leaves, sliced thinly

Why it works: Lime and mint match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 846 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Refreshing Cucumber Watermelon Salad

10 servings

Prep15 min

Ingredients

1 small red onion, halved and sliced into thin half-moons
2 tablespoons lime juice, or more to taste
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 seedless watermelon, cut into cubes
3 baby cucumbers, seeded and cut into cubes
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup mint leaves, sliced thinly

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

349Calories

10 gProtein

23 gFat

29 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Feta Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Watermelon	1 cup diced (152g)	46
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Lime	juice of 1 lime (44ml)	11
Peppermint	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Lime + minttop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together846 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Cucumber + minttop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together884 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Lime + cucumbertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together649 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Olive + cucumbertop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,611 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
Olive + feta cheesetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,482 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lime, olive, cucumber, feta cheese, mint):

Lettucefits better
Tomatofits better
Spinachfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lime, olive, cucumber, feta cheese, mint. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.