Greek Salad
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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.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can I serve my Greek salad with?
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.
What are cocktail tomatoes?
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.
I don’t like raw onions, what can I do?
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
- Moussaka Recipe
- Greek Pasta Salad
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Greek Salad
Video
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
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- 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.
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.
Nutrition Information
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.