Greek Salad

Greek Salad is easy to make and bursting with flavor. With only six ingredients — cucumbers, tomatoes, bell pepper, red onion, olives, and feta — it’s one of the best healthy salad recipes. 

This classic Greek salad highlights the beauty of the Mediterranean diet, where a few simple, fresh ingredients in their most natural form turn into a dazzling salad. Pair it with my homemade Greek salad dressing and you’re good to go! 

What I love most about this Greek salad recipe is that it’s veggie-packed and contains no leafy greens. That means all of the ingredients can be prepped ahead of time (as I showed in my summer meal prep), then tossed together when you’re ready to serve. So needless to say, it’s the perfect summer salad recipe that’s always on repeat. 

Greek Salad Ingredients

Since a traditional Greek salad is only made up of 6 simple ingredients – quality matters! For vegetables, pick the freshest ones out of the bunch. For cheese and olives, keep an eye out for quality brands you love. 

• Cucumbers: Make sure to use English cucumbers versus field cucumbers. The thinner skin is preferable with no peeling needed. 
• Tomatoes: In Greece, you’ll most often find large tomatoes used, but cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes are much easier to dice.
• Bell Pepper: Typically, a Greek salad uses green bell peppers. But you can switch it up and use yellow or red peppers. 
• Onion: Red onions are the ideal choice for that pop of red, and softer onion flavor. 
• Olives: Grab your favorite jar of kalamata olives. You can keep them whole in your salad, or slice them in half for even, bite-sized pieces. 
• Feta Cheese: When it comes to cheeses, I always buy a fresh block. It’s better quality and guarantees a fresher taste and texture. But for convenience, you can also use crumbled feta.

Find the printable recipe with measurements below.

This Homemade Greek Salad Dressing is Best

You’ll often find Grecian locals simply drizzling olive oil and red wine vinegar straight on top of the salad, with a sprinkle of dried oregano. Honestly, I also like to use this method for a quick and easy “dressing”.

But, I will say my homemade Greek salad dressing really gives this salad some oomph. All you need to do is whisk together a simple combination of olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, minced garlic, Dijon mustard, dried oregano, salt, and pepper. Plus, you can make it a few days in advance and store it in your fridge for easy access.

How to Make a Greek Salad

Once you’ve got all the ingredients, it’s as simple as slicing and dicing them to about the same size (large chunks are preferred over fine dice). Then, drizzle your salad with the dressing and give it a gentle toss. That’s all there is to it!

Add Protein to this Greek Salad

I love to amp up this salad into a full meal by adding slices of herb baked chicken breast on top (like in my Greek chicken salad). But here are a few other ways to elevate this fresh, Mediterranean recipe:

• Add chicken for a heartier meal. Use my Greek lemon chicken marinade to create a delicious baked chicken breast or grilled chicken! This would also pair beautifully with my Greek chicken kabobs or chicken souvlaki.
• Serve with Mediterranean appetizers. Complete the table with a big bowl of hummus, baba ganoush, and a platter of falafels with a tahini sauce. 
• Add chickpeas for a filling vegetarian salad. Instead of adding chicken to this salad, give it a protein boost with fresh or roasted chickpeas (like my Mediterranean chickpea salad) and diced avocado.

Storage Tips

It’s easy to devour this salad, especially on a summer day. But any leftovers will keep for 4 to 5 days in the fridge.

More Easy Summer Salads

Heat waves call for an endless list of salad recipes, and easy ones at that! 

• Ultimate Chicken Salad
• Classic Fruit Salad
• Shrimp Salad
• Caprese Salad
• Easy Cucumber Salad

Recipe originally published August 2018, but updated to include new information and tips.