A truly traditional Greek Salad with ripe tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, onions, and creamy feta cheese; plus tips and a step-by-step video. I’m sharing everything I learned from my visit to Greece!
Greek salad (Horiatiki), is an iconic Mediterranean recipe that is dressed simply with a splash of Greek extra virgin olive oil and a little red wine vinegar (or lemon juice).
I was lucky enough to visit the Greek island of Patmos and Kos a few years ago and I fell in love with the local shops and hole-in-the-wall restaurants. I loved observing the Greek life and partaking of the simple, finger-licking Greek food.
In a small, family owned restaurant in Kos, I enjoyed a Greek Salad that opened my eyes to what a truly traditional, uncomplicated Greek salad should be! And, that’s exactly what I have tried to re-create with this simple Greek Salad recipe.
Horiatiki: Greek Village Salad
In Greece, Horiatiki, or Greek village salad, is served most often from early spring to the early part of fall. Best use of the season’s quality produce including juicy tomatoes, cucumbers, green bell peppers, and onions.
Quality Greek kalamata olives and creamy feta cheese, made from sheep’a milk, are a must in a traditional Greek salad. And the cheese is never crumbled, but served in large chunks or blocks crowning the salad. And the dressing is as simple as they come, a splash of good extra virgin olive oil and citrus.
Ingredients
This villagers’ Greek salad is super simple, with no shortage of flavor, BUT it begins and ends with the quality of ingredients used. If you go to Greece and end up ordering Horiatiki, here’s what you’ll find
- Tomatoes – Choose Perfect ripe tomatoes (somewhat firm but yielding slightly to the touch; glossy skin; fragrant
- Cucumbers– choose firm, smooth-skinned cucumbers. I prefer English cucumbers, which are seedless and tend to be sweeter in taste. choose firm and smooth looking green bell pepper and onions.
- Red onions- choose firm and smooth looking onions
- Kalamata Olives– I love Greek kalamata olives.
- Green Bell peppers– choose firm and smooth looking green bell pepper. No other colored bell peppers are used in a traditional Greek salad.
- Dried oregano
- Kosher Salt
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil For authentic and best tasting Greek salad, I like to use this Early Harvest Greek extra virgin olive oil. It’s an exquisite cold extracted and unfiltered oil with a perfectly balanced complexity— rich green, fruity and pungent with a peppery finish.
- Red wine vinegar- You can also use another citrus option like fresh lemon juice or white wine vinegar
- Creamy feta cheese – made from sheep’a milk and served in large chunks or blocks crowning the salad (not crumbled).
- No lettuce or any leafy greens
- No additional fillers
- No fancy dressings
What about the dressing?
With this Greek salad recipe, you don’t need to do the work of making a dressing. Traditional Greek Salad is served with a splash of citrus and extra virgin olive oil, very basic and elegant.
No fuss presentation
If you’re wondering how to put Greek salad together, it could not be any simpler. How do they serve it over on the Greek islands?
The base ingredients of tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers and onions are typically cut in large slices or chunks and served in salad bowls.
Sometimes, the oil and vinegar are set aside for each person to add whatever amounts they need. I really like this idea because I feel like I could always use an extra drizzle of good olive oil!
Feta cheese is always served in large blocks on top of the salad, never crumbled like you might see here in the States.
No extra garnishes or fillers needed.
Serve Greek Salad with
This vibrant salad full of color and flavor will easily compliment just about any entree you’ll find on this site. Here are some ideas:
- Chicken Gyros
- Chicken Souvlaki,
- Greek burgers
- Lamb Chops
- Fish: Baked Cod, Grouper, Lemon garlic Salmon, or Salmon Burgers
- Vegetarian Entrees: Spanakopita, Greek Green Beans, Mediterranean Three Bean Soup
How to Make Traditional Greek Salad Video:
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Traditional Greek Salad Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Yield: serves up to 6
Description
A truly traditional Greek Salad with ripe tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, onions, and creamy feta cheese; plus tips and a step-by-step video.
Ingredients
- 4 Medium juicy tomatoes, preferably organic tomatoes
- 1 Cucumber, or 3/4 English (hot house) cucumber preferred, partially peeled making a striped pattern
- 1 green bell pepper, cored
- 1 medium red onion
- Greek pitted Kalamata olives
- Salt, a pinch
- 4 tbsp quality extra virgin olive oil (I used Early Harvest Greek olive oil)
- 1–2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- Blocks of Greek feta (do not crumble) a good amount to your liking
- 1/2 tbsp quality dried oregano
Instructions
- Cut the tomatoes into wedges or large chunks (I sliced some and cut the rest in wedges).
- Cut the partially peeled cucumber in half length-wise, then slice into thick halves (at least 1/2″ in thickness)
- Thinly slice the bell pepper into rings.
- Cut the red onion in half and thinly slice into half moons.
- Place everything in a large salad dish. Add a good handful of the pitted kalamata olives.
- Season very lightly with salt (just a pinch). Pour the olive oil and red wine vinegar.
- Give everything a very gentle toss to mix; do NOT over mix, this salad is not meant to be handled too much.
- Now add the the feta blocks on top. Sprinkle the dried oregano.
- Serve with crusty bread!
Notes
- Leftovers? You can refrigerate leftovers for 2 nights or so.
- Recommended for this Recipe: Our Early Harvest Greek extra virgin olive oil (from organically grown and processed Koroneiki olives!)
- Visit our shop to browse our spices, olive oil bundles and more!
- Category: Salad
- Method: Mixing
- Cuisine: Greek
Keywords: Greek salad, Traditional Greek Salad, Greek salad recipe, horiatiki
*This post appeared on The Mediterranean Dish in 2019 and has been recently updated with new information and media for readers benefit.
I traveled a lot in Greece when I was younger (1970s). In the Cyclades, you can find many varieties of the Greek salad but my favourite of all omitted the peppers and had fresh basil leaves on top. The olive oil smelled like freshly mown grass and there was always plenty of bread to mop up the plate at the end. I stayed once in a tiny little pension on the back island of Schinoussa. Our host got most of the ingredients from her garden. She had pots of basil everywhere and the smell of sun-warmed tomatoes straight off the vine was heavenly. She preferred to use dry-cured olives which added a bit of intensity and home-dried oregano.
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Thanks so much for sharing, Marco! Sounds wonderful
This is a perfect potluck dish. Everyone always raves, and it can sit at room temp for so much longer than some salads!
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Thanks for sharing, Natalie!
Great recipe with perfect ratios of veggies and dressing. Made it a couple hours ahead and all the flavours mixed really well. I used to use different colours peppers but I do like it like this with just green ones – I might just do this from now on. Also soaked the onions in water for a bit before adding to remove the harsh bite – the ones we have are quite strong and not mellow like the ones in Greece (which are soo tasty!).
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Thank you so much for sharing, Dana! So glad you enjoyed it!
Loved it!
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Thank you, Joe!
Honestly the BEST Greek salad recipe by far!!! I went to Greece on vacation last year and had the most authentic Greek salads, this is right up there with the best of the best! And it’s homemade!!! I have made it a million times already and it never gets old(: Also, the sheep’s milk/block feta and Greek olive oil are GAME CHANGING decisions that you cannot go wrong with!
Quick nutrition question, does the info you provided for nutrition account for the feta cheese?
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So glad to hear it! We love this salad so much over here. Yes, it takes into account the use of feta cheese (a generous portion between 3 to 4 oz in total)
The absolute best Greek salad I’ve ever made!! Does the nutrition info include the feta and dressing?
So glad! Yes, the nutrition info accounts for all the ingredients in the recipe. It’s a best estimate, of course, so allow a bit of a margin.
Added Skyr yoghurt to the Greek salad and I was amazed at the increase in energy levels and mental alertness!
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That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing, Saravanan!
She wanted to reply to your feedback but forgot!
We’ve been eating Greek salads at least twice a week for a few years since coming back from a visit to Greece. Your recipe is spot-on. Excellent admonition about block vs. crumbled feta. Good job.
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Todd, I’m so glad to hear this! Thank you so much for sharing.
Such a colorful and cheerful salad. Light and refreshing, and filling enough for lunch. 🙂
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I agree! Thanks, Anita!
This is my favorite salad to order at my best lunch restaurant. BUT NOW I can make it at home. These flavors are even better than my lunch restaurant. Thanks for this awesome recipe!
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Thank you so much, Lisalia!
A Greek salad full of nutrition and health and loved by my family for the awesome combinations too.
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Awesome! Thanks, Veena!
This salad is SO good! Fresh and jam packed with flavor!
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Yes!! Thanks so much, Wilhelmina!
I love how fresh and colorful this salad is! The combination of cucumbers, tomatoes, and feta sounds totally perfect, especially with the fresh vinaigrette.
Thanks so much, Kait!
Fabulous colors and just the perfect salad recipe to make this time of the year. Healthy and delicious – just what I have been looking for!
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Awesome!! Thanks, Mahy!
I looooove Greek salads and this recipe is by far my favorite! Thanks so much for sharing it!
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So glad you love it, Jessica!!