Greek Salad
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This is the Greek salad you’ll crave on repeat—crisp veggies, briny feta and olives, and a few smart twists that take it up a notch. It’s quick to throw together and pairs perfectly with grilled meats, seafood, or Mediterranean mains.
The classic Greek Salad, also known as a “Horiatiki Salad” or “Greek Village Salad,” is a colorful combination of tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, red onions, feta cheese, and Kalamata olives, all tossed in a simple vinaigrette. Unlike the American Greek salads that usually include romaine, an authentic Greek salad doesn’t have any lettuce.
With its crisp vegetables, briny feta and olives, and tangy pickled red onions, this salad is full of bold, refreshing flavor. It pairs well with a wide variety of main dishes—from souvlaki to grilled chicken to lamb kofta—and even better, it’s incredibly simple to prepare.
While the ingredients are similar to Greek salad recipes you’ll find elsewhere, I’ve got a few tricks that make this version truly exceptional. For starters, I quick-pickle the red onions in a blend of red wine vinegar and water, a little trick that tames their sharpness, lends a gorgeous pink hue, and introduces a delicious pickled crunch. Additionally, I toss in some fresh dill, which adds a lovely herby flavor. This is the Greek salad that will keep you coming back for more!
“This is the best salad that I’ve made in a very long time – full of flavor, fresh, visually beautiful, easy to make, and about as tasty as it gets!”
What You’ll Need To Make This Greek Salad REcipe
- Red Onion: Adds a sharp, tangy flavor and vibrant color to the salad. Avoid swapping it for another type of onion when possible.
- Red Wine Vinegar: Breaks down the raw onion’s sharpness and infuses it with tangy, pickled flavor. Additionally, it provides a base for the dressing, adding acidity and depth of flavor.
- Honey: Balances the acidity of the vinegar in the dressing by adding a touch of sweetness.
- Garlic: Adds a subtle aromatic flavor to the dressing. Always use fresh garlic in salad dressing.
- Dried Oregano: Adds earthy notes to the dressing. I don’t recommend using fresh oregano as it can be a bit bitter.
- Extra-Virgin Olive Oil: Provides richness and smoothness to the dressing, and also bind the ingredients together. Use a good quality olive oil and avoid making substitutions with other types of oils.
- English Cucumber: Adds crispness and freshness to the salad. English cucumbers are also known as hothouse cucumbers; they do not need to be peeled, have fewer seeds, and a crunchier texture than regular cucumbers.
- Bell Peppers: Contribute sweetness and crunch, along with a pop of color. You can use red, yellow, or orange peppers. Choose just one color or use a combination of any colors.
- Cherry or Grape Tomatoes: Offer bursts of juicy sweetness and vibrant color. They hold up very well in this chopped vegetable feta salad.
- Kalamata Olives: Provide a briny and savory flavor, characteristic of Greek salads.
- Fresh Chopped Dill: Infuses the salad with a fresh herb flavor.
- Feta Cheese: Adds creaminess and a tangy, salty flavor.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How to Make Greek Salad
Gather all your Greek salad ingredients, bowls for mixing, cutting board, and knife to get started. There are three parts to the recipe but it all comes together very quickly.
Step 1: Make the pickled onions. Place the sliced red onions in a small bowl and cover with the vinegar and water. Leave them to sit while you prepare the rest of the salad.
Step 2: Make the Greek dressing. Combine the vinegar, salt, pepper, honey, garlic, and oregano in a bowl. I like to use a large bowl so I can add the rest of the salad ingredients right into the dressing. Slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl while whisking vigorously. This will form an emulsion that holds the oil together with the other ingredients.
Step 3: Add the veggies. Add the cucumber, peppers, tomatoes, olives, and dill to the bowl with the dressing.
Next, drain the red onions and add them to the salad.
Step 3: Toss with the feta. Add the feta to the bowl and toss all the ingredients together. Be sure to give it a taste and adjust the seasoning, if it’s needed. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 3 hours. Let the salad sit out at room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving.
What to serve with Greek Salad
In addition to the mains mentioned above, this salad pairs well with my Greek-style lamb burgers, chicken kabobs, or with this Greek shrimp saganaki.
For a lighter meal or easy brunch or lunch, it pairs perfectly with this spinach and feta polenta pie or a bowl of avgolemono soup.
You can also serve it with a variety of small dishes like hummus, tzatziki sauce, or whipped feta dip. For parties, this hummus board is always a crowdpleaser.
More Mediterranean Salads You May Like
Greek Salad
Want to make the best-ever Greek salad? A few simple tweaks to the classic recipe make this version second to none!
Ingredients
For the Pickled Red Onion
- ½ medium red onion, halved and thinly sliced
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- ¼ cup cold water
For the Dressing
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ¾ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
For the Salad
- 1 English or hothouse cucumber, seeded, cut into ¾-inch chunks
- 2 bell peppers (red, yellow, or orange), cut into ¾-inch chunks
- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
- ¾ cup Kalamata olives
- 3 tablespoons fresh chopped dill
- 8 oz feta cheese, diced
Instructions
- Make the pickled onions: Place the red onions in a small bowl. Cover with the vinegar and water; let sit for 15 minutes while you prepare the rest of the salad.
- Make the dressing: In a bowl large enough to hold the salad, whisk together the vinegar, salt, pepper, honey, garlic, and oregano. Whisking vigorously, slowly pour in the olive oil to form an emulsion.
- Assemble the salad: To the dressing, add the cucumber, peppers, tomatoes, olives, and dill.
- Drain the red onions and add them to the salad along with the feta. Toss to combine, then taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Serve or refrigerate for up to 3 hours. Let the salad sit out at room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (6 servings)
- Calories: 320
- Fat: 28 g
- Saturated fat: 8 g
- Carbohydrates: 11 g
- Sugar: 7 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 7 g
- Sodium: 609 mg
- Cholesterol: 34 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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Amazing! Followed recipe but saved time and bought Primal Kitchen Greek Salad dressing w/ avocado oil and it was a huge hit! Everyone loved it at my party!
This is a fantastic salad! It’s very fresh and has a great mixture of textures with the crunchy vegetables, tomatoes and the soft feta. We served it with the Middle Eastern-style Grilled Chicken Kabobs and it was fabulous.
Can I substitute balsamic vinegar for the red wine vinegar?
Hi Paula, it wouldn’t be my first choice for Greek salad, but you can get away with it.
So delicious! Having had experience with how much family likes the acid content in salads, I adjusted the amount of red wine vinegar to taste. Everyone loved this salad and all was gone!