Greek Salad Recipe

Fresh, crunchy, salty, sweet, tangy… those are just a few of the words I would use to describe this Greek salad. Sounds pretty delicious doesn’t it?

The combination of flavors is just incredible, and it’s such a great recipe for summer, when produce is affordable, and tastes the best.

Plus, it’s so easy to make! Just chop up some veggies, toss them together with feta and olives and whip up a simple dressing.

I’m a huge fan of making your own dressings; especially since store-bought salad dressings can be pretty pricey. You don’t even have to use a bowl and a whisk! My favorite way is to add the ingredients to a mason jar or other jar with a tight fitting lid, and give it a good shaking.

How to make the ultimate Greek salad?

This is just an overview; the full ingredients and directions are in the recipe card toward the bottom of this post.

1. Chop salad ingredients.
2. Add salad to bowl. Give it a good toss.
3. Make dressing. A bowl and whisk work well here, but adding the ingredients to a container with a well-fitting lid and shaking will work too.
4. Pour dressing and toss. You could also serve the dressing on the side.

Variations of this recipe

• Lettuce or no lettuce – a lot of Greek salads don’t have lettuce, so whether you choose to add it or not is up to you. I like to use romaine lettuce for added crunch and it makes the salad bigger, so I get more servings out of it.
• Types of feta – normally I use regular feta, but if you’d like to use a flavored or marinated feta, feel free to change things up.
• Types of olives – kalamata olives are standard in Greek-style salads, so I don’t advise changing the variety of olive, but you can go for whole pitted, sliced, halved, etc.
• Dressing – I definitely think homemade dressing is the way to go here, but if you really want to skip it, a good quality bottled Greek dressing will work.
• Protein – to make this a main course salad, try adding some Greek marinated chicken thighs, a rotisserie chicken, pork, tofu, lentils, etc.

Making Greek salad ahead of time

Like most salads, I find this recipe tastes best when made right before serving. However, you can certainly make parts of it ahead of time.

• Dressing – the dressing can be made ahead of time and stored at room temperature in an airtight container.
• Slicing – the lettuce, red onion, tomato, cucumber and green pepper can all be sliced ahead of time, but I like to store them separately in airtight containers in the refrigerator.
• Cheese – if your feta wasn’t already cubed, you can cube or crumble it and store it in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

Storage

Leftover salad should be refrigerated in an airtight container and eaten within 3-5 days.

For best results, store the salad without the dressing on it. Store the dressing separately and then dress before serving.