Traditional Greek Salad with Homemade Greek Dressing

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Every bite of this authentic Greek salad conjures up feelings of sunshine and summer with fresh vegetables and a bright citrus Greek vinaigrette. The best part about this recipe is that it is so easy to put together.

Greek salad in wooden bowl with side bowl of fresh ingredients

While Greek cuisine varies quite a bit from region to region, I found this traditional Greek salad recipe repeated consistently throughout my travels. In Greece, this salad is called Horiatiki Salata or village salad. It always has tomatoes, cucumbers, green bell pepper, kalamata olives, onion, and feta. The dressing from place to place varies a bit as people adapt the dish to their taste.

In the United States, ordering a Greek Salad will usually get you all of the traditional ingredients and a red wine vinaigrette served with romaine lettuce.

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Ingredients

Instructions

FAQs

Diana's Tips for Success

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Traditional Greek Salad Recipe

Ingredients

Dressing Ingredients

Dressing Instructions

Greek Salad Instructions

Make this Recipe!

The big upside of serving this delicious Greek Salad in the traditional way, is that it will last for a few days in the fridge. Tomatoes and cucumbers take up more flavor and don’t break down in the dressing the way lettuce does, so it is a great salad for healthy meal prep. If anything, it gets better as it sits. The tomato juice mixes with Greek salad dressing and is delicious soaked into a slice of fresh bread.

It is very simple salad to prepare, and all of the ingredients are readily available all year long.

The Greek dressing is made with red wine vinegar, lemon juice, and olive oil spiced with very simple garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. It is perfect for the salad, but it also makes an awesome pork and chicken marinade.

Ingredients

Cucumbers- There are two common types of cucumbers that you will find in the grocery store in North America. The first is the English Cucumber. It does not need to be peeled or seeded. The other is the Garden Cucumber and it does need to be peeled and seeded. Either will work very well for this salad, just make sure to clean them appropriately.

The most important thing to remember when buying Greek salad ingredients is to seek out very fresh produce.

Instructions

Step 1

Combine the olive oil, red wine vinegar, fresh lemon juice, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper in a small mixing bowl and stir.
Wash tomatoes, cucumber, and green bell pepper by rinsing under cool water. Rub them gently as you rinse to remove any dirt and pat dry on a paper towel or clean dish towel.
Cut cucumbers into thin half-moon pieces.
Cut grape tomatoes in half.
Remove the seeds and ribs from the green bell pepper and slice into thin strips.
Peel onion and cut into very thin half circles.

ingredients washed, sliced, and displayed on cutting board

Step 2

Place the tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, onions, and drained olives into a large bowl.
Next, add dressing. Toss the salad until everything has a nice even coating of Homemade Greek Dressing.
Crumble feta or place large chunks of cheese to the top of the salad to finish.
Place in the refrigerator to chill for 15 minutes before serving.

Serve Traditional Greek Salad cold alongside Mediterannean Chicken Kebabs and Easy Rice Pilaf for a simple but delicious Greek Dinner. Add crusty bread to soak up the dressing and the juicy tomatoes.

FAQs

What ingredients are traditionally in Greek Salad?

You will always find crisp cucumber, fresh tomatoes, red onion, green bell peppers, briny olives, and creamy feta cheese in a traditional dish. Extra Virgin olive oil, a splash of red wine vinegar, lemon juice, and Greek oregano make up the Greek Salad dressing.