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Home Greek

Greek Salad

By:Nagi
Published:11 Jul '16Updated:12 Jan '21
56 Comments
Recipe v

A bright, fresh, classic Greek Salad recipe with a homemade Greek Salad Dressing. Made properly – which means no lettuce leaves and a simple, beautiful red wine vinegar dressing!

A classic Greek Salad with plump olives and a beautiful homemade Greek Salad Dressing. recipetineats.com

Greek Salad with Homemade Greek Dressing - A classic recipe made properly. Simple, fast, bright and fresh!

Aussies love Greek Salad. If the local fish and chip shop sells one fresh salad, it’s probably a Greek Salad. That’s how much we love it.

Did you know……Greek Salad as most people know it (and the way I make it) is not actually the real-deal authentic Greek way. The way the Greeks make it, feta is served in a block on top of the salad rather than chopped into cubes, and the salad is dressed with just plain extra virgin olive oil (Greek olive oil of course!), not a vinaigrette. I learned on this when I saw this Perfect Greek Salad from my friend Helen at Scrummy Lane (who is obsessed with all things Greek).

Crucify me if you wish, but I prefer Greek Salad made the more common way – with feta cut into cubes (easier to eat) and with a vinaigrette rather than just olive oil (I find just olive oil too rich). But I have no doubt that if (when!!!) I get to Greece, I will be converted to the traditional way.

A classic Greek Salad with plump olives and a beautiful homemade Greek Salad Dressing. recipetineats.com

A classic Greek Salad with plump olives and a beautiful homemade Greek Salad Dressing. recipetineats.com

Though perhaps I stray from the strictly authentic Greek salad, I am a stickler for a few other “rules” that I believe in to make a classic Greek Salad:

  1. No lettuce – by all means, throw lettuce in if you want, but a traditional Greek salad does not have either lettuce in it;

  2. Best produce you can get – of course it goes without saying, especially for simple recipes like this, please get the best quality produce you can afford; and

  3. Plump juicy black Kalamata olives with a deep almost black colour – jarred is fine, but if you go jarred, please get a good quality one! I made a Greek salad while I was in LA in May, and I made my friend Meggan from Culinary Hill drive me to 3 grocery stores before I finally found olives I was happy with!! Not kidding! I finally found these Delallo Kalamata Olives from Ralph’s. 🙂

Greek Salad with Homemade Greek Dressing - A classic recipe made properly. Simple, fast, bright and fresh!

Though this is not a strictly authentic Greek Salad recipe, it is the way it is served at restaurants in Western countries.

Arguably one of the brightest and fresh salads around, it also happens to be one of the fastest to make because there’s no tedious chopping – I love that everything is cut into big chunks!! – Nagi x

A classic Greek Salad with plump olives and a beautiful homemade Greek Salad Dressing. recipetineats.com

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A classic Greek Salad with plump olives and a beautiful homemade Greek Salad Dressing. www.recipetineats.com

Greek Salad with Homemade Greek Salad Dressing

Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats
Prep: 15 minutes mins
Total: 15 minutes mins
Salad
Greek
4.95 from 17 votes
Servings4 -6
Tap or hover to scale
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A fresh, classic Greek salad with a homemade Greek Salad Dressing. Bright zesty and fresh, this is a classic recipe everyone should know!

Ingredients

Salad

  • 3 tomatoes (size of a tennis ball)
  • 4 Lebanese / Persian cucumbers (about 8"/20cm long)
  • 1/2 small red onion (size of a tennis ball)
  • 1 small green capsicum / bell pepper
  • 8 oz / 250 g feta block
  • 5.5 oz / 125g black kalamata olives (Note 2)
  • 1 tsp dried oregano

Greek Salad Dressing

  • 1 garlic clove , minced (about 1/2 tsp minced garlic)
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/4 tsp salt (or 1/2 tsp Kosher salt)
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (preferably Greek!)

Instructions

  • Place Greek Salad Dressing ingredients in a jar and shake until well combined. Set aside for 20 minutes to let the flavours infuse.
  • Tomatoes: Cut each tomato into 6 wedges, then cut each wedge into 3 or 4 pieces. If the tomato is watery, scoop out the watery seeds inside with a teaspoon.
  • Cucumbers: Slice the cucumber into 1/2cm / 1/5" thick slices. Or if they are thick cucumbers, slice the cucumber in half vertically, then slice.
  • Onion: Peel and finely slice the red onion. I keep it in rings - you could cut it in half then slice. (Note 2)
  • Capsicum: Cut into short strips.
  • Feta: Cut into 1cm / 2/5" cubes.
  • Place the tomato, cucumber, onion, feta and olives in a bowl, sprinkle with oregano then pour over dressing. Toss to combine. Serve immediately!

Recipe Notes:

1. Kalamata olives are the classic olives that go into a Greek salad. I personally like to use the ones with seeds inside them, I find it keeps the olives juicer. But you can use pitted if you want.
The blacker the olive, the better! Fresh black olives in olive oil purchased over the counter at delis are best, but otherwise, get a good quality olive pre packaged olives. Look for olives that look plump and are a dark black colour - you will notice that many in the jars have lost some of their colour.
When I was in LA, I drove my friend crazy going from store to store until I found olives I thought were good enough!! I finally found Delallo olives which are great quality pre packaged olives.
In Australia, good quality plump Kalamata olives can be purchased at all the main supermarkets.
2. If you don't like the rawness of red onion (noting that red onion is not as sharp as other onions), place the sliced onions in a bowl of water for 15 minutes or so. This will soften the sharpness of the onion.
3. Nutrition per serving, assuming 5 servings. If you use low fat feta, it reduces a bit down to 300 calories per serving.
Greek Salad Nutrition

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 415gCalories: 334cal (17%)Carbohydrates: 15.9g (5%)Fat: 28.4g (44%)Saturated Fat: 8.8g (55%)Cholesterol: 36mg (12%)Sodium: 790mg (34%)Potassium: 580mg (17%)Sugar: 8g (9%)Vitamin A: 1150IU (23%)Vitamin C: 24.8mg (30%)Calcium: 270mg (27%)Iron: 2.2mg (12%)
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @recipe_tin.

Make this Greek Feast!

Complete with Chicken Souvlaki with Tzatziki, Easy Soft Flatbreads (No Yeast), Greek Lemon Rice and this Greek Salad.

Chicken Souvlaki - Made with chicken marinated in lemon, garlic and oregano, it's so easy to make this Greek favourite at home! recipetineats.com

Previous Post
Easy Soft Flatbread Recipe (No Yeast)
Next Post
Chicken Souvlaki with Tzatziki

Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative!

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56 Comments

  1. Smita says

    December 3, 2023 at 11:09 pm

    5 stars
    AMAZING!! 🤩

    Reply
  2. Heidi Knoepfli says

    November 27, 2023 at 2:01 pm

    5 stars
    Hi Nagi

    i like everything about it

    Reply
  3. Chris says

    June 24, 2023 at 9:24 am

    Where do you manage to find red onions and tomatoes the size of tennis balls?

    Reply
  4. Nicki says

    March 1, 2023 at 11:21 pm

    5 stars
    Yum! So fresh, tasty and filling. I don’t think I want to give up the red wine vinegar in the dressing, but I did serve the feta as a block on top and broke it at the table – fun!

    Reply
  5. Glynis says

    June 13, 2022 at 11:54 pm

    5 stars
    Made your chicken gyros recipe … I’m no Nagi, but tasted really good!

    Reply
  6. Sweety says

    April 19, 2022 at 3:45 pm

    Hi Nagi…come to your page without a second thought when looking for a recipe.I am in India..can I substitute paneer (cottage cheese)in the salad?

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      April 19, 2022 at 6:43 pm

      YES! As long as it’s firm enough and I would sprinkle with a little salt 🙂 N x

      Reply
  7. LIVIO FALCONE says

    March 1, 2022 at 1:09 pm

    Hey Nagi,
    Im doing charcoal bbq and wanted this as side dish along with roast potato and rice salad.
    how much should i do per person

    Reply
  8. Brooke says

    December 25, 2021 at 5:32 pm

    This is such a delicious, simple recipe. If you get the right tomatoes and cut them into wedges as suggested, it all stays together beautifully. The dressing is also easy and goes perfectly. A light salad that was enjoyed by all at Christmas lunch today!

    Reply
  9. Brenda Currier says

    August 4, 2021 at 10:06 am

    5 stars
    This is so simple, no secret ingredients, but my mind is BLOWN at how good it is. I could literally sit here and lick the bowl.

    New staple for work lunches!

    Reply
  10. Mike says

    May 1, 2021 at 2:25 pm

    4 stars
    i do this dish all the time but from an recipe that I picked up on one of the Greek island about 25 years ago – and the (admittedly slightly cranky) old Greek lady that gave it to said on no account should a Greek salad ever have capsicum in it – though perhaps that was just how they made in the islands. She also insisted the feta be crumbly so that’s how I still make it to this day. This is my “go to” salad – never ever get sick of it.

    Reply
  11. Heather Fox says

    April 2, 2021 at 11:58 am

    Hi Nagi
    I have fresh oregano growing. Can I use that instead of dried oregano or is the flavour wrong.

    Reply
  12. Radko says

    March 13, 2021 at 10:27 pm

    5 stars
    Delicious Greek salad. I’ve checked your friend Helen’s recipe too and decided to try her dressing of just olive oil and separately your dressing and both were delicious.

    At Xmas I’ve made a feast almost exclusively from your recipes.

    I have to say that every time I’m looking for a recipe I check your website first.

    Thank you for your work.

    Reply
  13. Sheila Regnault says

    January 26, 2021 at 3:53 pm

    The recipe, like all of your recipes, sounds perfect except there is no capsicum in a Greek salad, so I will skip that bit. I am looking forward to our greek bbq lamb and greek salad tonight.

    Reply
  14. Nabs says

    October 8, 2020 at 4:54 pm

    Hi Nagi, what’s a good substitute for red wine vinegar in this recipe? Preferably a non-alcoholic substitute?

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      October 9, 2020 at 9:10 am

      Hi Nabs, red wine vinegar is traditional in greek dressing, you could substitute another vinegar or even lemon juice if you prefer. N x

      Reply
  15. Al says

    July 20, 2020 at 12:48 pm

    Hi Nagi! I love your recipes and have been trying more and more lately!

    Do you think I can make the dressing a day or two ahead of time? Were going camping and I’d prefer to not bring everything individually.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      July 20, 2020 at 1:52 pm

      Hi Al, yes 100% – you can make ahead of time and store up to 4 days. N x

      Reply
  16. Gail says

    February 5, 2020 at 3:13 pm

    Hi Nagi, could balsamic vinegar be used in place of red wine vinegar?

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      February 11, 2020 at 11:36 am

      Hi Gail, you can if you prefer ☺️

      Reply
  17. Sue R says

    November 29, 2019 at 8:54 pm

    5 stars
    I can’t say the words h*lly …. you know the rest but wow I’m thinking it’s perfect as eating it right now. Ok it is going on my Greek feast Xmas menu for sure. xox

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      November 30, 2019 at 5:54 am

      Wahoo! I’m so happy you love it Sue!

      Reply
  18. Annie says

    November 21, 2019 at 2:50 pm

    Hi Nagi

    Are there any substitutes for the red wine vinegar? If I bought a bottle, I wouldn’t know what else to use it for as I already have rice vinegar and white vinegar.

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      November 22, 2019 at 6:01 pm

      Hi Annie, rice vinegar would be closest out of the two, white would be too sour unfortunately – N x

      Reply
  19. Steven says

    August 21, 2019 at 7:54 am

    Nagi …probably the 15th time I made this salad. ❤️❤️ Went out for Greek a few nights ago. Was delish but mine (yours) is better. 🙂
    Steven in flo

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      August 21, 2019 at 2:06 pm

      Wahoo, homemade is always better!

      Reply
  20. Nour says

    June 26, 2019 at 7:17 pm

    This was awesome! It was the first time my husband got excited about salad! We always order it when we eat out but now I can have it at the comfort of my own home! Thank you!

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      June 26, 2019 at 8:14 pm

      I’m so glad you loved it Nour!

      Reply
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I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative! Read More

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