Greek Salad

Ripe tomatoes, crisp cucumber, tangy onion, creamy feta, and golden extra virgin olive oil are what make the famous Greek Salad. In Greece, it is known as Horiatiki Salata (Village Salad) and if made properly, (this means no lettuce leaves), it will be the most delicious salad you will make! Let's go!

What is Greek Salad?

A traditional Greek Salad is simple but scrumptiously delicious! It combines ripe and juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumber, green capsicum, red onion, Kalamata olives, Greek oregano, salty and creamy feta, and finally, Greek extra virgin olive oil. In Greece, you can visit hundreds of restaurants and they all have these ingredients as the basis.

Watch How To Make It

How Do You Make Greek Salad

1. Chop up the salad ingredients into small chunks - not too large and not into small diced pieces. Place into a wide base bowl.

2. Using a fork, break up the feta into chunks and add to the bowl.

3. Whisk together the dressing ingredients, including the extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, and garlic.

4. Season with sea salt and Greek oregano and then pour the dressing over the salad. Toss well to combine and serve.

Helpful Tips

Feta

Making sure you use Greek feta from Greece is VERY important. In Australia we have quality Australian Made feta but it tastes NOTHING like the feta in Greece. In the case that you are dairy free, then, of course, a dairy-free alternative is used.

These are some of my favourite feta companies which you can find in most countries

Chelmos Feta: http://chelmos.gr/%cf%86%ce%ad%cf%84%ce%b1/?lang=en#

Dodoni Feta: https://www.dodoni.eu/en/feta-0

And my personal favourite:

Epiros Feta: https://www.epiros.eu/product-category/white-cheese/

DAIRY-FREE: If you are dairy-free then this is my favourite alternative to feta

(it is also made in Greece):

My Life Bio: https://www.mylifebio.net.au/my-life-bio-cheese-feta

Traditionally, the feta is served in a block on top of the salad and then a fork is used to break off pieces when serving yourself. Here is an example:

However, I personally prefer to break up the feta with a fork prior to serving as this allows the feta to combine in and amongst the salad, creating a juicy, full-flavoured taste. In saying this, the most important thing to understand is that the feta must not be cubed but naturally broken up with a fork. This simple process makes a whole lot of difference.

Tomatoes

Vine-ripened tomatoes are ideal but if you can't find any, buy what you can find and leave them to ripen on your kitchen bench for about 4-5 days. Buy enough so that you can make this Greek Salad a few days in a row (trust me, you'll want to). And more importantly, remember, tomatoes should never (and I mean never) be refrigerated (even in summer). They never taste the same once they go into the fridge and it is a fact that their taste and texture change (for the worst).

A side note: During the summer months I grow tomatoes in my garden and once picked, I can leave them on my kitchen bench in a wide base bowl for up to 2 weeks (away from any sunny area). That's without any refrigeration. Therefore, if you are able to grow tomatoes in your garden, or if you have a balcony, grow them in pots as it's definitely worth it, not only for the taste but because they last so long!

Kalamata Olives

Pitted or unpitted is perfectly fine but they must be Kalamata olives - not green olives or Spanish black ones - only Kalamata.

Capsicum

Traditionally only green capsicum is used but yellow, orange and red are fine too. In saying this, I often add 1/2 green capsicum and 1/2 yellow one as I love the colours in the salad.

Lettuce

It is important to point out that a traditional Greek Salad has NO LETTUCE. By all means, throw in lettuce if you want, but then it's not a Greek Salad.

What do I do with Leftovers?

Store it in an airtight container in the fridge and the next day you can create the following leftover lunch ideas:

• Pasta Greek Salad (stir through gluten free spiral or penne pasta)

• Quinoa Greek Salad (stir through gluten-free couscous, millet or quinoa)

• Potato Greek Salad (stir through boiled potatoes and add juice from lemon)

• Wraps (add chicken or beef and tzatziki along with leftover salad to a wrap

What do you serve Greek Salad with?

• your favourite protein eg. lamb chops, steamed fish, chicken souvlaki

• your favourite vegetarian meal eg. stuffed vegetables, vegetarian lasagna

• any Mediterranean pasta or rice meal

• on its own with crusty bread

What to serve alongside a Greek Salad:

Juicy Beef Kafta

https://www.createcookshare.com/single-post/juicy-beef-kafta

Crispy Tray Bake Gnocchi

https://www.createcookshare.com/single-post/crispy-tray-bake-gnocchi-with-bocconcini

Cheat's Ravioli Lasagna

https://www.createcookshare.com/single-post/cheat-s-ravioli-lasagna

Lamb Cutlets with Sage and Chickpeas

https://www.createcookshare.com/single-post/lamb-cutlets-with-sage-and-chickpeas

Greek Lamb Roast

https://www.createcookshare.com/single-post/2018/03/23/pull-apart-greek-lamb-roast-kleftiko-style

And now it’s time to start cooking!

As always, if you make any of my recipes, I would love to hear your feedback.

Don’t forget to save it on your Pinterest board as well! I have a board named CreateCookShare that you can follow and save. Can’t wait to hear from you!

Happy Cooking, Margaret x

Greek Salad

Serves 4-6 as a side

Prep 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS

For the Salad:

2 Lebanese cucumbers, halved lengthways and sliced

5 ripened tomatoes, cut into wedges

1 small green capsicum, sliced

1/2 small yellow capsicum, sliced

1 red onion, sliced thinly

¾ cup kalamata olives (optional pitted)

200g good quality Greek Feta (crumbled into thick chunks, not diced, or left as a whole slice over the top and broken up with a fork when serving

Optional: a tablespoon of capers

For the Dressing:

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons Greek oregano, dried

½ teaspoon sea salt

1 small garlic clove, finely grated (no more than 1/2 teaspoon)

METHOD

1. Whisk together with a fork the extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar and garlic.

2. Combine in a wide base bowl the salad ingredients and then sprinkle over the salt and dried oregano.

3. Pour over the salad the dressing, and using large serving spoons, combine well. Serve alongside the main meal and with bread to mop up all the juices!

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