Like all Mediterranean dishes from Cyprus to Santorini, traditional Greek salad is a celebration of quality ingredients, prepared simply, so that every flavor shines.
And best of all, Greek Salad is easy to make, no matter the season. As long as you find some good-looking grape tomatoes at the store, the rest of the ingredients are always available year-round.
Making easy Greek salad for a crowd, or just a small family dinner? Just click and slide the number next to “servings” on the recipe card below to adjust the ingredients to match how many you’re feeding—the recipe does the math for you, it’s that easy.
Traditional Greek Salad ingredients:
- Cucumber. Peeled, seeded, and chopped.
- Red onion. Red onion is a little sweeter than yellow or white onions.
- Grape tomatoes. If summer’s tomatoes are looking fantastic, you can opt for chopped tomatoes.
- Bell pepper. Green bell peppers are traditional, but use red, yellow, or orange peppers if you prefer.
- Kalamata olives. Pitted Greek olives are the way to go, here.
- Feta cheese.
For the Greek Salad Dressing:
- Olive oil.
- Red wine vinegar. Good red wine vinegar smells great.
- Lemon juice. Freshly squeezed, please!
- Garlic.
- Dried oregano. Dried is preferred over fresh in this recipe.
- Salt and pepper.
Optional ingredients:
- Sliced caper berries. Capers, the little pickled flower blossoms, actually mature into berries, which have a firmer texture but a similar taste. If you’re lucky enough to have a jar in your pantry, put it to work in this salad.
- Avocado. Some cooks add avocado to everything, even Greek Salad.
- Romaine lettuce. Chopped Romaine makes the salad extend in order to feed larger groups, but wilts in the salad if not served immediately.
How to make the Greek vinaigrette:
For exact recipe amounts and proportions, please see the recipe card below.
The vinaigrette is super easy to make. You can whisk the ingredients together in the same big bowl you’ll eventually toss the salad in.
Or to make ahead, add everything to a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid and give it a gentle shake to mix the dressing up.
- First, whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, and salt and pepper together.
- Then place the measured amount of dried oregano in your palm and rub your palms together, grinding the dried herb between them. This wakes up the oregano, activating the oils and making the oregano more pungent. Add the oregano to the dressing and whisk again.
How to make Greek Salad:
Seriously, the chopping and prep work is the most time-consuming part of making the salad—and it’s not even all that difficult, either. You can get it ready in just a few minutes.
- First, peel, de-seed, and chop the cucumbers. Then slice the grape tomatoes in half.
- Next, slice the red onion. Then remove the stem from the peppers, and shake out the seeds. Slice the peppers into chunks, slices, or rings.
- Then slice the red onion and cut the feta cheese into cubes. That’s all there is to it!
- When you’re ready to assemble the salad, add the onions and the cucumber to the salad dressing in the bottom of the bowl. Give them a gentle toss, and let them marinate for about 20 minutes by themselves.
- Next, add the pepper and tomatoes. Toss again, then sprinkle the feta and the pitted olives over everything.
What to serve with Greek Salad:
- Chicken. Simple rotisserie chicken, grilled chicken breasts, or Chicken Gyros.
- Grilled meats. Greek salad makes a perfect side salad with just about anything fresh of the grill. Plus it’s mayo-free, so it is safe to serve outdoors at barbecues and picnics.
- Rice or potatoes. Lemon Rice Pilaf, or Greek Roasted Potatoes especially. Or any pasta salad at all.
- Fish. Swordfish steaks, shrimp skewers, or fresh salmon.
Greek Salad Recipe
For the salad dressing:
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- salt and freshly ground pepper
For the salad:
- 1 cucumber peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, and sliced into 1/4-inch slices
- 1/2 red onion thinly sliced
- 1 pint grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 medium green bell pepper stemmed, seeded, and diced
- 3/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives
- 4 ounces feta cheese crumbled or cubed
- In a large bowl, whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste (I like 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper).
- To the salad dressing, and the cucumber and onion and allow to marinate for 20 minutes.
- Add tomatoes and green bell pepper and toss to combine. Sprinkle with olives and feta cheese.
