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Greek salad served ready to eat.

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Greek salad

Yield
4 servings

Greek salad is ripe tomatoes, cucumber, onion, pepper and olives under a whole slab of feta, dressed with olive oil, a little vinegar and oregano. It has no lettuce and no whisked dressing, because the tomatoes make their own. It teaches you how salting and cutting shape a raw salad.

Ingredients
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Ingredients

Servings
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Batches and reset

4 servings · US measures · 1 batch

Batching

Assemble one batch in each serving bowl about 12 inches across; for a larger yield, use a second bowl. Salting, soaking and tasting cues do not multiply with ingredient quantities.

Original recipe: 4 servings.

The optional capers and crusty bread, black pepper and any extra salt or vinegar are excluded from the base nutrition scenario. Fine salt is the selected salt. Nutrition is incomplete because no Kalamata olive record is established.

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Before you start

  • Read through the recipe before you start. Gather the serving bowl, small bowl of ice water, knife, cutting board, peeler, strainer, paper towels and the measured ingredients.

Directions

Prepared vegetables, olives, capers and a feta slab sit beside an empty serving bowl and ice water.
1

Read and gather

For the whole recipe

Read through the recipe and gather the equipment. Use the ingredient lines to prepare and measure everything; rinse and dry the vegetables before cutting them, and fill the small bowl with ice water. Everything is prepared and measured before you start assembling.

Salted tomato wedges sit in a white bowl with pink juices pooling around their edges.
2

Salt the tomatoes

For each bowl of salad

Salt the tomatoes in the serving bowl: put in about 1 1/2 lb ripe tomatoes and sprinkle them with 1/4 tsp fine salt. Leave them to sit while the onion soaks, until juice starts to pool in the bottom of the bowl.

Thin red onion slices drain in a strainer and on paper towels beside a bowl of ice water.
3

Soak the onion in ice water

For each bowl of salad

Soak about 2 oz red onion in the ice water, separating the slices with your fingers, until a slice tastes sweet and crisp rather than hot and sharp, about 10 minutes. Drain it in the strainer and pat it dry with paper towels.

Glossy tomato, cucumber, pepper and onion mingle with olives and capers between two serving spoons.
4

Add the vegetables and dress the salad

For each bowl of salad

Add the onion, the cucumber, the bell pepper, about 1/2 cup Kalamata olives and 1 tbsp capers, if using, to the tomatoes. Drizzle with 1 tbsp red wine vinegar and then 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, and toss gently with your hands or two large spoons until everything is glossy.

A spoon holds tomato, cucumber and dressing beside the glossy salad, with a salt dish nearby.
5

Taste and adjust

For each bowl of salad

Taste a piece of tomato and cucumber with juice from the bottom of the bowl. Aim for bright, juicy and salty-sweet, a little peppery and a little sharp. If it tastes flat, add fine salt to taste and turn the salad once. If it is still dull after salting, add red wine vinegar to taste, a few drops at a time. The salad tastes bright and well seasoned.

An intact feta slab rests on dressed vegetables, glistening with olive oil and scattered oregano.
6

Set the feta on top and season it

For each bowl of salad

Set the about 8 oz feta on the salad as one slab. Rub 1 tsp dried oregano between your palms over the feta and vegetables, drizzle 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil over the feta and finish with black pepper to taste. The feta sits on top, oiled and seasoned.

Four plates hold Greek salad with broken feta chunks and pooled juices, beside sliced crusty bread.
7

Bring to the table and serve

For the whole recipe

Bring the bowl to the table and break the feta into chunks with a fork. Divide the salad among plates to make 4 servings, spooning some of the juices over each, and serve with crusty bread, if using, for mopping up the juice. Warn everyone about pits if your olives are whole. Refrigerate leftovers within two hours (one hour above 90°F). The salad is served with its juices.

About this recipe

Research preview: these details come from our sourced research and haven't been reviewed by our chef yet.

Why it works

Salting the tomatoes first draws out juice that becomes the dressing, and a short soak in ice water takes the harsh bite off the onion. Big, even pieces put a bit of everything in each forkful, and rubbing dried oregano between your palms releases its aroma over the feta.

Associated with

Greek and Cypriot

In Greek it is horiatiki, the village salad: tomatoes, cucumber, onion, feta and olives dressed with salt, oregano and olive oil, with no lettuce and the feta often laid on as a slab. It reflects what Greek farmers had to hand; lettuce versions are an adaptation abroad.

Taste

  • Sweet
  • Sour
  • Salty
  • Bitter
  • Savory
  • Heat

Salted tomatoes give up their juice, which becomes the dressing with the olive oil and a little vinegar., Feta and olives bring salt; raw onion and green pepper add bite. · juicy tomato, crisp cucumber and pepper, creamy, crumbly feta, meaty olives · room

Skill level

Easy

No cooking. The cues are tasting the tomato juices and soaking the onion until it tastes sweet and crisp.

You'll practice: Tame raw onion in ice water, Salt tomatoes to draw out their juice, Cut big, even pieces, Dress in the bowl, Rub dried oregano to release its aroma

Allergens

Contains: milk. The optional bread contains wheat.

Check the red wine vinegar label for sulfites and the bread label for egg and sesame.

Diets

Vegetarian: Depends on what you buy Pescatarian: Depends on what you buy Vegan: Doesn't fit as written Dairy: See the allergen lines Egg: See the allergen lines Gluten: See the allergen lines

Occasions

  • Lenten abstinence days (Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent) · fits the abstinence rule

    No meat is listed.

    Abstinence from meat on Ash Wednesday (Easter minus 46 days), Good Friday (Easter minus 2 days) and every Friday of Lent.

    Next: February 10, 2027 (expected)

    Next: February 12, 2027 (expected)

    Next: February 19, 2027 (expected)

    Next: February 26, 2027 (expected)

    Next: March 5, 2027 (expected)

    Next: March 12, 2027 (expected)

    Next: March 19, 2027 (expected)

    Next: March 26, 2027 (expected)

  • Orthodox Great Lent · fits only with changes

    Leave out the feta, and the olive oil on strict weekdays; olives and vegetables are allowed.

    Great Lent runs from Clean Monday (Orthodox Pascha minus 48 days) to Holy Saturday; strict days exclude meat, dairy, eggs, fish with a backbone, olive oil and wine, with weekend and feast relaxations. Practice varies by parish.

    Next: March 15, 2027 (expected)

Course: side-dish, main-dish · Technique: no-cook, soak · Time: 15-to-30-minutes

Serving and keeping

Best served: Right after the final taste, with the feta broken into chunks at the table From one bowl or on plates with the juices spooned over, with crusty bread for mopping up

Make ahead: Salt and dress the salad when serving.

Storage: Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours (1 hour above 90 °F / 32 °C), at 40 °F (4 °C) or below. The vegetables soften.

Leftovers: Leftover vegetables soften in the juices.

Food safety

  • Rinse and dry the vegetables before cutting, and scrub the cucumber with a clean brush.
  • Young children, older adults, pregnant people and anyone with a weakened immune system should use feta made with pasteurized milk.
  • Whole olives may contain pits; warn everyone before serving.
  • Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours (1 hour above 90 °F / 32 °C).

We make no statement about cross-contact in your kitchen or in packaged ingredients. Check the feta, vinegar and bread labels.

Nutrition notes

Most of the sodium comes from the feta, olives and capers. Using less of them and skipping the extra salt on the tomatoes keeps it lower.

Most of the saturated fat comes from the feta; the olive oil and olives carry most of the other fat.

The tomatoes, cucumber and green pepper bring vitamin C and fiber; the feta brings calcium and protein.

We don't show nutrition claims (like “good source of”) until our legal review is done.

Swap notes

  • feta · vegetarian

    Works with changes

    Use: feta labelled with microbial rennet

    What changes: No change to taste.

    Not a swap: Mild, rubbery cheeses such as mozzarella or Monterey Jack, which bring no salt or tang.

  • feta · halal.general

    Works with changes

    Use: halal-certified or microbial-rennet feta

    What changes: Use fresh lemon juice in place of the red wine vinegar if you avoid wine vinegar, and check the olive brine.

    Not a swap: A feta whose label says only "enzymes" or animal rennet.

  • feta · vegan

    Works with changes

    What changes: Leave out the feta, as in the Lenten style; the salad is sharper and brighter, without the creamy salt.; Choose a bread made without milk, butter, egg or honey.

    Not a swap: An enriched bread made with milk, butter, egg or honey alongside.

  • feta · orthodox.fast_strict

    Works with changes

    What changes: Leave out the feta.; On strict weekdays also leave out the olive oil and dress with vinegar, salt and oregano only; this is the traditional Lenten form.

    Not a swap: Any cheese, which is dairy.

  • feta · young children, older adults, pregnant people or a weakened immune system

    Works with changes

    Use: feta made with pasteurized milk

    What changes: No change to taste.

    Not a swap: Feta made with raw (unpasteurized) milk.

  • red onion · buddhist.five_pungent

    Works with changes

    What changes: Leave out the onion; the salad has less bite.

    Not a swap: Shallot or a sweet onion, which are onions too.

  • red wine vinegar · halal.general

    Works with changes

    Use: fresh lemon juice

    What changes: Brighter than vinegar.

    Not a swap: Balsamic vinegar, which turns the juices brown and sweet and is also made from grapes.

  • ripe tomatoes · tomatoes out of season

    Works with changes

    Use: ripe cherry or grape tomatoes, halved, by the same weight

    What changes: There is less juice in the bowl, so add another spoonful of oil.

    Not a swap: Pale, hard winter tomatoes, which stay dry and flavorless even after salting.

  • Kalamata olives · no Kalamata olives

    Works with changes

    Use: other brine-cured black olives, or green Greek olives

    What changes: Green olives are firmer and sharper.

    Not a swap: Mild California-style ripe olives, which have almost no brine flavor.

  • dried oregano · no dried oregano

    Works with changes

    Use: finely chopped fresh oregano, about three times the volume

    What changes: Fresh oregano is milder and greener.

    Not a swap: Dried basil in the same amount, which pushes the salad toward Italy.

  • crusty bread · passover.ashkenazi

    Works with changes

    What changes: Serve without the bread.; Use kosher-for-Passover feta, olives, vinegar and oil.

    Not a swap: Leavened bread, which is chametz.

These notes don't change the amounts, allergens or nutrition shown for this recipe.

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Recipe url
https://isthebestrecipe.com/salads/greek-salad
Name
Greek salad
Servings
4
Recipe yield
4 servings
Recipe ingredient
about 1 1/2 lb ripe tomatoes about 4 medium, cored and cut into bite-size wedges, 1/4 tsp fine salt, about 2 oz red onion about half a small onion, sliced into thin half-moons, 1 whole large cucumber peeled in stripes, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch half-moons, 1 whole small green bell pepper seeded and sliced into thin rings, about 1/2 cup Kalamata olives pitted or whole (whole ones have pits), 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, 5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, about 8 oz feta one block in brine, drained and patted dry, 1 tsp dried oregano Greek if you can find it, to taste black pepper freshly ground
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Greek salad