The Perfect Greek Salad Recipe
If you’re looking for a delicious way to serve your salad, then Greek salad is the perfect dish. It’s packed with protein and vegetables, so it’s great for any meal of the day. This recipe will make an easy weeknight meal or weekend party appetizer!
What is Greek Salad
Greek salad is a dish of raw vegetables, herbs and olive oil. It’s typically made with tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and feta cheese. Olives are also common additions to Greek salads. Greek salad can be served as an appetizer or side dish to many meals.
Ingredients
- 1 pound tomatoes, chopped (about 6 cups)
- 1 cup cucumbers, diced (about ½ English cucumber)
- 2 green peppers, seeded and chopped (about ½ cup)
- ½ red onion, finely chopped (about ¼ cup)
- 4 ounces feta cheese crumbles or crumbled feta cheese plus more for garnish if desired; cut into small pieces to fit in your salad bowl
Instructions
First, you’ll want to chop your vegetables: cucumbers, tomatoes, olives and feta cheese. Next up is making the dressing: mix together olive oil with lemon juice in a bowl until it’s combined well. Then add garlic and onion powder (or minced fresh garlic) to taste; salt and pepper if needed; add oregano leaves if you’d like more flavor in your salad as well as some dill weed if you’re feeling adventurous!
Next comes mixing everything together into a large bowl so that all of the ingredients are evenly distributed throughout each serving portion size before serving up some Greek salad goodness onto plates for everyone at once 🙂
Cooking Notes
- Olive oil. A good quality olive oil is essential for this recipe, as its flavor and aroma is what will make the dish.
- Feta cheese. The feta cheese adds a nice tang to the salad that complements the other ingredients well, but you can use any hard cheese here if you prefer not to use Greek feta (which typically has more salt content than regular American cheddar).
- Olives and tomatoes. These are two key ingredients in Greek salads; both should be ripe for maximum flavor intensity! If your tomatoes aren’t ripe enough for eating raw, try roasting them at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until they’re soft enough to slice easily—this process will also help them ripen faster after being harvested from their vines later on during summer months when they’re at peak ripeness anyway!
Tips
- Use a good quality olive oil.
- Use fresh ingredients.
- Add salt and pepper to taste. If you like it spicy, add some red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper; if you don’t want any heat at all, leave it out altogether!
- Consider adding fresh herbs like basil, parsley or mint for an added punch of flavor in the salad itself; however, these can also be used as garnishes on top of your finished dish after it has been served up to guests (they’ll love that!). You could also add them during assembly time if they’re not already there—for example: after adding chicken pieces into each bowl or plating up individual servings using a spoonful of dressing right before serving them up together with other ingredients such as cucumbers slices topped off with croutons etcetera.
Add-ins and Variations
- Add in cucumber, bell pepper, or olives.
- Add in feta cheese.
- Add in tomato and olive oil.
- Lemon juice or oregano can be added to create a lemony flavor profile of this salad. If you want something more zesty, try adding mint and basil as well!
Greek Salad is best to serve with
- Feta cheese. It’s a salty, crumbly cheese that adds a ton of flavor to any dish.
- Olives and other Mediterranean vegetables (I like to use red onion). These are great in salads because they’re full-flavored and slightly sweet, which helps balance out the saltiness from feta or olives.
You can make a delicious Greek salad in just a few easy steps!
Greek salad is a classic dish that has been around for centuries. It’s also one of the healthiest dishes you can eat! Greek salads are made up of many different ingredients, but they all come together to create a delicious and satisfying meal.
This salad is a wonderful one to prepare in advance for gatherings because it doesn’t contain any delicate greens. I prefer to keep a few fresh mint leaves to add just before serving if I’m preparing it ahead of time. Additionally, it makes a great supper side. Enjoy it with a pizza like this or this, pasta with pesto, pasta with roasted vegetables, or a large veggie lasagna.
I hope that you enjoyed reading about Greek salad and are ready to make some right now! It’s so easy to make, and the best part is that it tastes even better when made at home. Thanks for reading.