This Greek Salad is a classic salad of cucumbers and tomatoes loaded with feta cheese and olives. Perfect as a side dish or as a meal on its own and ready in just 10 minutes!
Greek Salad
That’s one delicious salad there! Greek salad is by far my favorite salad ever, there’s just something about how fresh and bright the entire dish is. We’ve got salty, crumbly feta that marries well with our vinaigrette, juicy plump tomatoes, and tender savory olives, what more could you ask for?
Whether you’re looking to pair this alongside a delicious entree or curl up with a big bowl of it all on its own, this recipe will become your new favorite!
What Is Greek Salad?
If you’ve somehow never heard of Greek salad, all it is is a super simple recipe common in Greek cuisine! It’s traditionally made up of tomato, cucumber, onion, olives, feta cheese, and Greek oregano. Usually this dish is just dressed with olive oil but I’ve made a delicious dressing for us to toss this with today.
Ingredient Notes
Salad
- Veggies – English cucumber, cocktail tomatoes, red onion, and green bell pepper are the base of our salad. All chopped up.
- Olives – Kalamata olives, you can also use French black olives or Gaeta olives.
- Cheese – There really is only one cheese for this recipe and that is feta. Use both cubed feta and crumbled feta, believe me it makes all the difference in the world when it comes to Greek Salad.
Dressing
- Garlic – Use as much or little as you like.
- Vinegar – Red wine vinegar is what we’re using today, apple cider vinegar can also be used in its place.
- Olive oil – We want a nice neutral tasting oil here. Feel free to bring out the nice olive oil if you’ve got some lying around for this Greek Salad.
- Lemon juice – Fresh squeezed lemon juice is a must! We want some bright acidity in our salad.
- Seasoning – Black pepper and dried oregano are all we need.
- Sugar – Yes sugar, it’ll help cut through the acidity we’ve got going on here and balance out our dressing.
How To Make Greek Salad
- Prepare the dressing: Add all the dressing ingredients to a small bowl and whisk well. Alternatively you can place them all in a blender and blend until for about 30 seconds until well combined. Another option is to place all the ingredients in a jar and shake well.
- Toss everything together: Add the cucumber, tomatoes, bell pepper, onion, olives and feta cheese to a large bowl and pour the dressing over. Toss everything well together and serve immediately.
FAQs
This salad goes so well alongside many a dish, especially a nice well cooked protein. Have some fun with it and try as many combinations as you like! Chicken Shawarma, Gyros, Roast Chicken, Lamb, Beef Brisket.
They are a smaller variety of tomatoes, larger than a cherry or grape tomato but pack a very juicy bite. However, any tomatoes will work in this salad.
You can do a quick pickle by placing the sliced onion in a bowl with 1 tsp sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 cup vinegar or apple cider vinegar, stir them all, cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. These are great to use on sandwiches or other salads.
Some Tips
- Try to incorporate both cubed Feta and crumbled Feta in your Greek salad. You’ll get nice bites of feta as well as small pieces of crumbled Feta that coat each veggie!
- Use nice quality ingredients, this really makes all the difference in the world especially when you’re making a really simple dish like this Greek Salad. I use cocktail tomatoes because they pack a lot of flavor, so keep this attitude in mind when you’re in the produce section.
- If you find your dressing is lacking a little salt you can add a bit of Feta brine!
- Fresh dill is a nice addition to this salad if you’re looking for ways to use some up!
Make Ahead
This salad can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 days. Unfortunately you can’t freeze Greek Salad as the integrity of the veggies will be completely gone when it thaws, resulting in a big bowl of mush. I recommend making this recipe at least a few days before you want to eat it!
Craving More Greek Dishes? Try These Recipes:
- Greek Lamb Burgers
- Chicken Gyros
- Chicken Souvlaki
- Skillet Braised Greek Chicken Thighs
- Greek Meatballs
- One Pot Greek Chicken Orzo
- Greek Flatbreads
- Greek Pasta Salad
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Greek Salad
Ingredients
- 1 English cucumber cut in cubes
- 1 small red onion roughly chopped
- 1 green bell pepper chopped
- 2 cup cocktail tomatoes cut in half or quarters
- 1½ cup feta cheese crumbled or cubed
- ¾ cup kalamata olives pitted
Dressing
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 1 tablespoon oregano dried
- ½ teaspoon pepper ground
- 1½ teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- Prepare the dressing:Â Add all the dressing ingredients to a small bowl and whisk well. Alternatively you can place them all in a blender and blend until for about 30 seconds until well combined. Another option is to place all the ingredients in a jar and shake well.
- Toss everything together: Add the cucumber, tomatoes, bell pepper, onion, olives and feta cheese to a large bowl and pour the dressing over. Toss everything well together and serve immediately.
Video
Recipe Notes
- Feta Cheese: I added 1 cup cubed feta cheese and about 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese.
- Why Kalamata olives: Kalamata olives are best for a classic Greek salad. They’re a large black or brown olive that’s very meaty and they’re usually preserved in wine vinegar or olive oil. I really recommend using Kalamata olives for this salad, they make all the difference.
- Try to incorporate both cubed Feta and crumbled Feta in your Greek salad. You’ll get nice bites of feta as well as small pieces of crumbled Feta that coat each veggie!
- Use nice quality ingredients, this really makes all the difference in the world especially when you’re making a really simple dish like this Greek Salad. I use cocktail tomatoes because they pack a lot of flavor, so keep this attitude in mind when you’re in the produce section.
- If you find your dressing is lacking a little salt you can add a bit of Feta brine!
- Fresh dill is a nice addition to this salad if you’re looking for ways to use some up!
- Leftovers: Store leftover salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Greek salad is one of the few salads that will actually still taste good the next day, if not better because the tomatoes and cucumbers will marinate in the dressing and all the flavors have a chance to develop.
Can’t find a Greek Salad in South Alabama at Restaurant. Then I found your recipe and its fabulous. I had to double the dressing just isn’t enough for me
I have been making this salad for years, but relied on bottled dressing. Yours looks so much better, I will be trying it. Thanks!
Let me know how you like it!
I love your newsletter and have enjoyed making several of your recipes. I notice that you always say that 1 1/2 teaspoons of minced garlic in a jar is equal to 1 garlic clove. I buy minced garlic in quart jars (I love the stuff) and those jars state that 1/2 teaspoon minced is equal to 1 clove. Do you wish to comment?
This is the real thing! Authentic Greek salad has NO lettuce of any kind in it! This was the salad I so enjoyed in Greece & Turkey!
What is an English Cucumber please?
I would have used Lebanese Cucumber but want to try your recipe.
English cucumbers are longer cucumbers and are seedless. You’ll find them at the supermarket, they are usually wrapped in plastic. Any cucumber should be fine though.
Where’s the Dil????l. Lots of fresh dill. I use white wine vinegar, and orange/yellow peppers instead of green. Delicious!
Dill would be nice as well, though I don’t think I’ve had any Greek salads with dill in it, but I’m all for it. Huge fan of dill.
Being Greek allow me a few well-intended comments: Of course this is a wonderful salad. But it’s not a classic one; classic (traditional) Greek salad doesn’t have lemon, and also has green pepper slices (bell peppers). Also the feta is in one large chunk (a thick slice) on top.
Not trying to be a ‘purist’ here, just giving you the Greek version of the Greek salad (Horiatiki):) Of course, OF COURSE your salad is also very tasty! Don’t get me wrong:)
Great feedback Dimitris. We totally agree. That’s a delicious salad but not a traditional (Horiatiki) one. Jo knows better though and does not add any green leafs (like lettuce) like most people do abroad and actually makes a wonderful salad!
Great work Jo!
Thank you! 🙂
On weight watchers. How do I get the nutritional info for these receipes. Carbs,fat,fiber,protein. They all look so good
Sorry, not on weight watchers, but I know you can use http://caloriecount.about.com/ to get all the nutritional information, basically you just plug in the recipe ingredients and it’ll show you. I did this one for you, here is the info based on 4 servings:
calories: 231
fat:18.9g
fibre:3.6g
protein:5.2g
Hi Jo,
I just made this to accompany our dinner on Saturday night and it was fantastic. My husband asked for seconds so I know it was a big hit with him. I loved that the flavours shone through and how simple it was to throw together. Keep up the great work with your blog! Your recipes are great!
Cheers, Sandra
Thanks Sandra, so glad you guys loved the salad!
I love Greek flavors– the salad looks beautiful!
Thanks Morgan! 🙂
I am going to try this salad..Yum..I love Greek salad, and OLIVES..Well I could sit and eat a jar by myself!
Hope you get better quickly..I have to go and get my flu shot too, but have been putting it off, as don,t like the after effects!
I know what you mean about the olives, I can eat a whole jar too!!! I hope you’ll be fine after your flu shot!
Hi Jo!
This is a fantastic salad. Here in Greece we eat it all the time, especially during the summer 🙂
Really glad to see that you’ve posted the authentic recipe!
Thanks Ermioni!