Are you looking for a delicious summer salad that will leave you feeling full and satisfied without spiking blood sugar? Then this easy, high fiber watermelon salad over coconut rice will be your new go-to recipe!

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What could be more refreshing on a hot summer day than sweet, juicy watermelon salad with all the flavors and colors of the season? Not much, right? Unless, of course, you serve that delicious salad over a bed of fluffy, protein-packed coconut rice… all while knowing the meal is rich in fiber to help promote steady blood sugar levels. Oh yea, now we are talking!

Watermelon Salad with Coconut Rice on a plate

But I know what you are thinking, how can you make a watermelon salad – and add rice on top of it – without skyrocketing blood sugar levels? The secret is in the fiber! And by using a few key ingredients, you can amp up the fiber of this recipe while removing the refined carbs, making a blood sugar-friendly summer salad that may just be your new go-to recipe.

The must-have ingredients for high fiber watermelon salad with coconut RightRice

Ingredients for High Fiber Watermelon Salad with Coconut Rice

If you want to make a blood sugar-friendly watermelon salad over coconut rice, you need a few key ingredients. The first of course is watermelon. Now I know watermelon gets a bad rap for being high in sugar, but it really isn’t as high in sugar as you may think. Let’s take a look:

Watermelon: One cup of watermelon contains 9 grams of naturally occurring sugar. To put that in perspective, in a one cup serving, apples contains 13 grams of sugar, bananas 18 grams, and strawberries 8 grams. Which means per cup, watermelon’s sugar content is more similar to berries – a lower sugar fruit that is often recommended to people with diabetes – than even apples. Watermelon, however, doesn’t contain much in the way of fiber, protein, or fat – the trio of nutrients that slow down how quickly carbohydrates are converted into sugar in the body – so combining it with foods that contain these nutrients (like the ingredients in this high fiber watermelon salad recipe) can help to lessen its overall impact on blood sugar.

RightRice: When you hear ‘high fiber’ and ‘blood sugar-friendly’ in a recipe, you probably don’t expect that recipe to include rice. But when you swap out traditional rice for RightRice, you can enjoy all the taste you love with less impact on blood sugar. That’s because RightRice isn’t regular rice – it’s better. Made with 90% vegetables, this rice alternative tastes and looks just like rice with double the amount of plant-based protein and five times the amount of fiber. And because it contains over 30 percent fewer net carbs when compared to traditional rice, it allows you to add rice to your favorite recipes with less impact on blood sugar.

Vinegar: If you do a quick search of watermelon salad online, you’ll find many recipes call for making a homemade dressing that includes honey or added sugar. But in this high fiber watermelon salad, I opted to remove the added sugar for a few reasons. The obvious one is because added sugar increases the total carbohydrates that can send blood sugar soaring. But that isn’t the only reason. The watermelon in this recipe provides all the sweetness you need – added sugar really doesn’t enhance the taste. What does add a delicious, tangy flavor is creating a homemade dressing including a mix of vinegar and olive oil. I recommend using apple cider vinegar when you make this recipe due to the benefits it may offer for blood sugar, but you can also use red wine vinegar if you prefer and the recipe will come out just as great.

Feta (optional): The feta cheese in this high fiber watermelon salad recipe is entirely optional. If you wish to keep this recipe completely plant-based, you can skip it. If you do love cheese though (I personally can’t get enough) sprinkling some feta on top of this salad adds a delicious savory flavor as well as a source of protein. And since protein helps to slow digestion and stabilize blood sugar, this added boost can be beneficial for those looking to balance blood sugar.

How to make high fiber watermelon salad with coconut rice

I love this recipe because it is so simple to make and can be easily doubled (or tripled) to use in meal prep for the week as well. I recommend making the watermelon salad as the coconut RightRice is being prepared to save on time. Here’s how to do it:

Start by preparing your coconut rice. In a medium sauce pan, add coconut milk and water and stir to mix evenly.

Pouring coconut milk in sauce pan to prepare watermelon salad with coconut rice

Then, bring the liquid to a boil. Once the liquid is boiling, pour in the RightRice, cover the pan, and remove from the heat. Then, just let the rice sit for 10 minutes. Once it is done, all you have to do is fluff with a fork and it is ready to serve – it’s even easier to prepare than traditional rice!

Cooking rice for Watermelon Salad with Coconut Rice

While your RightRice is cooking, it’s time to prepare the watermelon salad. To do this, you’ll need to cube watermelon (2 cups), an English cucumber (1 cup), and slice ¼ of a red onion.