This easy traditional Greek Salad recipe (Horiatiki) has classic ingredients like real feta cheese and kalamata olives for the best Mediterranean flavor!
When I was traveling in Greece, the first time they sat a Greek salad down in front of me, this American girl was a bit surprised. Then I realized I was staring at a big block of feta cheese swimming in luscious olive oil and determined that I was actually in heaven.
In most cases, there is no lettuce in a traditional Greek salad, just big chunks of vegetables and cheese. Eating one is a sensory experience, cutting and chopping and pairing the ingredients in different combinations on your fork. Let's make one!
When you're craving more Mediterranean salad recipes, try my Garbanzo Bean Salad with Tomato and Cucumber or this Ottolenghi Green Bean Salad.
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Traditional Greek salad ingredients
If you're wondering what goes in a Greek salad the answer is: not much! Just a few simple, fresh ingredients. This list includes what you'll find most often throughout Greece, but see the variations section below for other regional ingredients.
- Feta cheese: The traditional way to serve Greek salads is with a large block of feta cheese in the center on top of all the other ingredients. It's really the star of the show. Use a block of real Greek feta cheese, not crumbled feta, but you can cut it up into smaller cubes to make things easier to serve if you like as I did here.
- Cucumbers: I like to use English cucumbers because their skin is thinner and you don't have to peel them at all. Regular garden cucumbers or Persian cucumbers also work just fine.
- Kalamata olives: If you order a Greek salad in Greece, you'll get olives with the pits in them. I don't mind the pits but you can also buy pitted Kalamata olives.
- Tomatoes: Any kind of ripe summer tomato will work here, try tomatoes on the vine, cherry tomatoes, or heirloom tomatoes.
- Green bell pepper: Green bell peppers are the most traditional one to serve in a Greek salad, but if you want to sweeten things up, you can add or substitute red and yellow peppers. I definitely had some in Greece that had red pepper in them.
- Red onion: Don't fear the red onion, I'll teach you a trick to mellow the sharpness.
- Greek oregano: Yes, please use Greek oregano to give the salad dressing the best flavor possible. It's so good and it does have its own unique taste!
- Extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar: This is all we need for the salad dressing, use a Greek olive oil if you can find one!
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper: Just a little salt in the dressing, the feta cheese will take care of most of the saltiness here.
How to make a Greek salad
Step 1: Slice the onion and soak in water
Slice the onion thinly and soak in a bowl of cold water. See expert tips below.
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Step 2: Make the traditional Greek salad dressing
In a large mixing bowl, combine the olive oil, red wine vinegar, Greek oregano and salt. Whisk together and set aside.
Pro tip
Letting the dressing sit for a few minutes allows the dried oregano to bloom in the olive oil, so it will soften, and its flavor will permeate the dressing.
Step 3: Chop the vegetables
Use a good chef's knife and slice the cucumber into โ -inch rounds, slice the tomatoes into wedges (or in half if using cherry tomatoes), and cut the green pepper into wide strips or rings.
Step 4: Assemble the salad
Drain the onions. Add the cucumber, onion, and green pepper to the bowl with the Greek salad dressing and toss to coat. Transfer to a serving plate. Reserve the remaining dressing in the bowl.
Arrange the tomatoes and olives on the plate with the other vegetables, then top with a block of feta or cubes of feta if you prefer. Drizzle the salad with the remaining Greek dressing, top with freshly ground black pepper and serve!
Expert tips
- Soak those onions: This is one of the best secrets I learned from working in restaurants for 20 years. Soaking the onion in water allows the flavor to mellow while you prep the rest of the ingredients.
- Leave the vegetables chunky: The fun part about a traditional Greek salad is that the ingredients are in big chunks! It's an interactive experience breaking up the feta, deciding if you'll slice off some green pepper to go with some tomato or grabbing a crisp cucumber to pair with the briny bite of a Kalamata olive!
- Don't toss the tomatoes in dressing: The tomatoes are too delicate to get tossed in the dressing with the other vegetables, and they'd get their seeds and juice all over everything. Just add them to the serving plate, then drizzle dressing on top.
- Serve on a cold plate or in cold bowls: A Greek salad should be crisp and crunchy! Serving it in a cold bowl keeps all the veggies cold so they maintain their crisp texture. And it's so refreshing!
What to serve with traditional Greek salad
You can serve a classic Greek salad with almost any main course, but why not make it a whole Greek meal with these Greek recipes?
- Greek Stuffed Peppers were one of my go to dinners when traveling in Greece. Stuff them with any ground meat or make them vegetarian!
- Sheet Pan Greek Chicken and Potatoes has the side dish built right in!
- Pan Seared Lamb Chops are easier to make than you think and they're ready in 25 minutes.
Greek salad variations
This Greek salad recipe represents what you will commonly find throughout Greece, but of course there are variations depending on the region. Try these ideas.
- Swap out the tomatoes for watermelon.
- Substitute mizithra cheese for feta.
- Add some salty, briny capers.
- Top with freshly chopped parsley.
- Up the protein with some black-eyed peas!
A traditional Greek salad packs a lot of Mediterranean flavor with just a few ingredients!
- No lettuce, just let the other vegetables shine!
- Real feta cheese = real Greek flavor.
- Leave the veggies big and chunky for an interactive experience.
- Serve as a light vegetarian main course or a starter for any meal.
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Recipe
Traditional Greek Salad Recipe
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Ingredients
Traditional Greek salad dressing
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Greek oregano
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Greek salad
- 1 red onion
- 1 English cucumber
- 2 green bell peppers
- 2 large ripe tomatoes
- 1 cup Kalamata olives
- 8 ounces feta cheese in a block
Instructions
- Slice the red onion thinly, transfer to a bowl of cold water to soak while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. See note.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the olive oil, red wine vinegar, Greek oregano and salt. Whisk together and set aside.
- Slice the cucumber into ⅛-inch rounds, slice the tomatoes into wedges (or in half if using cherry tomatoes), and cut the green pepper into wide strips or rings.
- Drain the onions. Add the cucumber, onion, and green pepper to the bowl with the Greek salad dressing and toss to coat. Transfer the vegetables to a serving plate. Reserve the remaining dressing in the bowl.
- Add the tomatoes and olives to the plate with the other vegetables, then top with a block of feta or cubes of feta if you prefer.
- Drizzle the salad with the remaining Greek dressing, top with freshly ground black pepper and serve!
Notes
-
- Soak those onions: This is one of the best secrets I learned from working in restaurants for 20 years. Soak the onion in water while prepping the rest of the ingredients and the sharp flavor will mellow.
-
- Leave the vegetables chunky: The fun part about a traditional Greek salad is that everything is in big chunks! It's an interactive experience breaking up the feta, deciding if you'll slice off some green pepper to go with some tomato or grabbing a crisp cucumber to pair with the briny bite of a kalamata olive!
-
- Don't toss the tomatoes in dressing: The tomatoes are too delicate to get tossed in the dressing with the other vegetables, and they'd get their seeds and juice all over everything. Just add them to the serving plate, then drizzle dressing on top.
-
- Serve on a cold plate or in cold bowls: A Greek salad should be crisp and crunchy! Serving it in a cold bowl keeps all the veggies cold so they maintain their crisp texuture. And it's so refreshing!
- Try some ingredient variations: This recipe is what you'll commonly find throughout Greece, but ingredients can vary by region. Add capers, swap tomatoes for watermelon, or top with fresh parsley.
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