This is one of the recipes that you want to keep traditional. The Traditional Greek Salad is so good and easy to make that you won't need to think about giving it a twist or slightly changing it. The only tiny twist that you will find on our recipe is the little bit of honey we add to the dressing, but the rest, we keep it simple and original.
Greek salad tastes way better when you prepare it in the summer. The first and most important reason is that all the vegetables used for the salad are in season in the summer so they are juicy and perfect at this time of the year. Secondly, all the vegetables contain a high amount of water meaning that you will feel totally hydrated after eating this salad, which is sometimes all we need during summer hot days. Tomatoes and cucumbers are 95% water, while green bell pepper are 94% water.
Traditional Greek Salad Ingredients
Feta Cheese. No feta cheese, no Greek salad. This is the key ingredient to your salad, a block of feta cheese, nice and salty. For a vegan greek salad, we recommend using the Violife Feta Cheese.
Fresh Tomatoes. When making a Greek salad, or any salad, we just look for the juiciest tomatoes available in the supermarket. Cherry tomatoes are always a great choice. They tend to be less acidic than big tomatoes but we have made this salad with any type of tomatoes, just choose the nicer and juicier looking ones.
Green Bell Pepper. Chopped green bell pepper just makes my mouth water. If I would allow you to change any ingredient on this recipe this would be it. You can change the green bell pepper for red bell pepper without killing the salad.
Cucumber. Is there something fresher than a cucumber? Cucumber is a key ingredient to bring the Mediterranean vibe into the salad.
Red onion. Red onions are the best type of onions to add to your salad. As well, this variety of onions are sweeter during the summer season, which is perfect for our salad. We finely slice the onion and leave it soaking in a bowl with 2 cups of water and 1 Tbsp of vinegar for 5-10 minutes to get rid of the strong after taste they have.
Black olives. Kalamata olives are the traditional olives used for Greek Salad. If you cannot find them, try finding Turkish black olives, which are similar in taste and saltiness.
Oregano. We use dried oregano for the salad.
Traditional Greek salad dressing. Extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar and honey are the three simple ingredients that you need to bring this salad together. If you are making this salad vegan, use maple syrup instead of honey. Choose the best olive oil that you have at home as it will define the flavour of your salad.
How to serve the Traditional Greek Salad
The traditional Greek salad can be served as a starter or main dish. When we make Greek salad we normally have it as a main, as we love it so much that we end up eating the whole salad!
The best way to eat a Greek salad is with some bread to get all the juice released from the fresh vegetables combined with the vinaigrette. We love baking our homemade pita bread when making this salad or have it with fresh sourdough bread.
If you want to make some other side-dishes to create a beautiful lunch try our Baba Ganoush, our Lemon and Rosemary Potato Wedges or our Beetroot Hummus.
How to make Vegan Traditional Greek Salad
To make a vegan Greek Salad all you need to do is change two ingredients: The classic greek feta cheese and the honey.
- Feta Cheese. Our favourite vegan feta cheese is the Violife Feta Cheese. This can be a great alternative when cooking for people with lactose intolerance or pregnant woman who cannot have unpasteurised cheese.
- Honey. To give the greek salad the slightly sweet flavour that we love, change the honey for maple syrup or simply add a handful of raisins. Both ingredients work perfectly and you won't be missing the honey.
Traditional Greek Salad
Ingredients
- ½ red onion finely sliced
- 250 g cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 cucumber sliced into half-moons
- 1 green bell pepper chopped
- 200 g feta cheese
- A handful of black olives kalamata
Vinaigrette
- 3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the sliced onion into a bowl with 2 cups of cold water and 1 tbsp vinegar to bring down the raw bite of the onion. Leave soaking for around 5-10 minutes while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
- Add into a salad bowl the halved cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumber, chopped green bell pepper and the finely sliced red onion after draining and rinsing it. Combine all the ingredients.
- Add the feta cheese and olives. Use your hands to divide the block of feta cheese into chunks before adding it into the salad. Add the drained onions.
- Prepare the vinaigrette mixing all the ingredients. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad, add salt and pepper to taste and mix all the ingredients together one last time so all the flavours are combined.
- Serve or keep it in the fridge if you want to serve the salad after a few hours or the next day.
Newsletter
Nutrition
| If you tried our recipe, please leave a comment or tag us on Instagram @Sixhungryfeet. We are always happy to see your creations! |
Ann Reid says
Love your salad recipe
Laura says
Thank you Ann!
Felicia A Kinsey says
Very good and quick
Laura says
Thank you Felicia!