Quick & Easy Greek Salad
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This easy Greek salad recipe includes all the ingredients you’d expect in a traditional Greek salad. Fresh crisp vegetables are combined with crumbled feta and balsamic vinaigrette to make the most refreshing summer salad.
I’ve become a bit of a salad-a-holic lately, especially where my favorite Greek salad is concerned. As in, if I had friends I actually saw on a regular basis and they knew how many leafy greens I was ingesting, I’m sure someone would stage an intervention. Fortunately, I don’t have a social life and with only like, two friends who I see maybe once or twice a year, my vices are allowed to run amuck unchecked. This also explains why my skin may be turning green shortly.
Today, I am showing you my quick and easy Greek salad recipe. Truly, I eat this two or three (or four or five) times a week. It’s the perfect salad to meal prep for the week ahead. Sometimes it is lunch, sometimes it is supper, sometimes it is a snack, and I’m not gonna lie, sometimes it is breakfast. If you are wanting this for dinner serve this as a side with Greek chicken and potatoes, salmon patties, lemon parmesan chicken, pork chops, or roast chicken and you will have the perfect meal.
The ingredients are what you’d expect to find in an authentic Greek salad: leafy greens, cucumber, tomato, red onion, basil, and feta cheese. We simply toss all of the ingredients together and I drizzle a balsamic vinaigrette over the top. The combination of the tart onion and dressing, crisp cucumber, juicy tomato, and feta cheese is a match made in heaven.
Keep scrolling for suggestions on how to make this salad work for you. You can add veggies, subtract veggies, or switch up the salad dressing. The choice is all yours.
Recipe Ingredients
- Dark leafy greens
- Cucumber slices
- Sliced red onion
- Feta cheese
- Fresh basil leaves
- Tomato wedges
- Balsamic vinaigrette
Helpful Kitchen Tools
How to Make My Easy Greek Salad Recipe
To make the salad, I tear up the basil leaves and mix them with my greens first.
Then I toss these together with all of my fresh vegetables (that are already prepped and sliced 😉).
Once they’re all nicely combined, it’s time to sprinkle the crumbled feta cheese on top.
I have experimented with all sorts of dressings and I find the best for my taste is simply balsamic vinaigrette.
The final touch is a drizzle of that vinaigrette.
Isn’t that a gorgeous salad?
Yeah. Now I’ve got to go eat this. I highly suggest you make your own and join me!
Storage
- The undressed salad will last in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- You can’t freeze fresh salad.
Recipe Variations
Here are some variations to make this Greek salad recipe work for you:
- Use baby spinach leaves or romaine lettuce instead of dark greens.
- Use cherry tomatoes instead of Roma tomatoes.
- Add a handful of chopped and pitted Kalamata olives or black olives.
- Swap the balsamic for a Greek vinaigrette. Combine a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil with a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice (or red wine vinegar) and 2 teaspoons of dried oregano.
- Do as Jamie Oliver does (see below), and swap the basil for other fresh herbs like fresh dill or fresh mint leaves.
- Add chopped green bell peppers.
- Add salt and black pepper to taste.
- Serve it with cut blocks of feta cheese instead of crumbled.
Recipe Notes
- For the cheese, I find that it’s usually cheaper to buy a block of it and crumble it myself. It crumbles easily so I just hold it over my salad and break it up with my hands.
- This is such an easy salad recipe to double or triple. Use the meal prep tips below.
Recipe FAQs
Can you meal prep this salad recipe?
Absolutely! This salad is a great lunch idea to make ahead of time for meal prep. Personally, on the weekend I chop everything up and put all of the ingredients in separate containers in my fridge so I can throw this together in a flash.
To store my lettuce for the week, I put it in a large zipper seal plastic bag along with a paper towel. This absorbs excess moisture and keeps your lettuce fresh for at least two or three times longer than normal.
What is a traditional Greek salad made of?
Horiatiki or traditional Greek salad is made with vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onion chopped into large chunks. It also includes a block of feta cheese and a homemade Greek salad dressing made with Greek oregano and olive oil.
How does Jamie Oliver make Greek salad?
Here’s Jamie Oliver’s salad recipe. But it includes tomato, red onion, cucumber, green bell pepper, fresh dill, fresh mint, black olives, red wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, feta cheese, and dried oregano.
Does Greek salad contain lettuce?
A traditional Greek salad doesn’t typically contain lettuce. However, American-style Greek salads regularly include lettuce or some sort of leafy green.
What ingredients are in Greek dressing?
Greek dressing is basically a Greek vinaigrette made with olive oil, red wine vinegar, fresh lemon juice, and dried oregano.
What do you serve with Greek salad?
There are so many ways to serve this salad:
- You can serve it as a main dish as is or with some grilled chicken tenders.
- Serve it as a side dish with a different main dish like Greek chicken and potatoes, salmon patties, lemon parmesan chicken, pork chops, or roast chicken.
You may also like these sensational salad recipes:
Tomato, Onion, and Cucumber Salad
Mediterranean Quinoa Salad With Roasted Vegetables
Caprese Salad With Chicken and Avocado
Ingredients
- dark greens of your choice
- chopped red onion
- cucumber slices
- fresh tomato slices
- crumbled feta cheese
- fresh basil leaves
- balsamic vinaigrette
Instructions
- Tear the basil leaves and add to the greens along with all the other vegetables.dark greens of your choice, chopped red onion, cucumber slices, fresh tomato slices, fresh basil leaves
- Toss ingredients to combine.
- Sprinkle salad with crumbled feta cheese and drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette.crumbled feta cheese, balsamic vinaigrette
Nutrition
“Two things to remember in life: Take care of your thoughts when you’re alone and take care of your words when you’re with people.”
~Anonymous
Submitted by Janet Taylor
The salad looks delicious. If you are ever out and about from home you might try Wendy’s strawberry chicken salad. You can get it as a half-salad also and it has a wonderful dressing. I know it is nothing like yours with all the love you put in it but it is just an idea in a pinch.
Hi Christy, I love Greek Salad as well. I’m eating one right now! I like to use spinach, romaine or spring mix. I put in tomatoes (love those things) pepperoncini peppers, red onions, calamata olives, feta cheese and I use greek salad dressing. Thanks for your salad recipe.
OMG ~ I never thought to add pepperoncini peppers. I am going to make this salad right away (which is why I’m here) but am so going to add the peppers. Thanks for the idea! 🙂
That looks SO Yummy!!!!
I love salads with whatever fruit is fresh (or fresh-ish) at the time.
I like to have something Sweet, something Salty, something Sour and something Bitter (greens sometimes are) and something kinda meaty (umami).
So my sweet is usually the fruit (strawberries, plums, pineapple, mandarin oranges in the winter, etc) AND candied pecans. (pecans I toast with butter and brown sugar because- HELLO? A-mazing! )
Salty- could be feta or goat cheese or olives
Sour- usually a thrown together vinaigrette (I like to use whatever fruit is in the salad + herb vinegar, mustard, a little sugar, spices, oil)
Bitter may be arugula- we sowed arugula seeds last November in a grow box and harvested salad greens from January – May- now I am addicted to spicy, slightly bitter ARUGULA. 🙂
I like pieces of bacon or goat cheese or chunks of chicken for the meaty (umami) taste.
Who am I kidding- BACON! 😉 It’s all about the Bacon~
To give interesting creaminess, I LOVE an avocado cut into chunks- really plays well off the goat or feta cheese and pecans.
I add whatever veggies I have- cukes, maters, peppers, finely chopped cauliflower.
A salad like this is addictive for me. It’s as good with plums as it is with berries- any softer fruit makes a great vinaigrette.
On another note, as we are all continuing to look for ways to save money, it’s really EASY to grow salad greens.
Honestly, mine do better in containers with potting mix than they do in my actual garden.
Most greens like cooler weather over hotter, but as long as they get water and you keep them picked, (if you cut them with a scissors during cooler seasons they will grow back again) you can enjoy your own really cheap, incredibly yummy salad greens.
There are a few kinds of greens that really love and thrive in HOT weather.
You wanna know what they are, don’t ya? =D
Malabar spinach is a heat loving CLIMBING spinach. SO good!!! It vines so it needs something to grow on and it’s doing well in my garden.
It puts out side vines continually so once it’s established there’s always yummy spinach to be picked and ready to eat.
My husband has been practically swooning over the vining spinach for the past 2 weeks 🙂
He picks his fresh in the morning for his sandwich- can’t get much fresher than that, can we?
There is a New Zealand spinach as well, (we can’t get that in our farm markets) and purslane (a domesticated relative of the common edible “weed” many of us have growing in our garden or yard) are a few others.
Summer greens tend to be slightly more succulent than their cool weather cousins but they sure do well here in the south. 🙂
Now I’m hungry! But at least I know what’s for dinner- salad and crispy zucchini fritters! YUM~
I can’t wait to read your Lifesavers, Christy!
Blessings~
I make salad like this, but mine would be about half tomatoes when my garden is producing. I prefer Vidalia or green onions instead of red onions. I, too, use purchased dressing. I buy Ken’s Lite Balsamic Vinaigrette when it is on sale, and then I add more balsamic vinegar. I do like my vinegar!
i like to make “deconstructed” caprese salad. I take cherry tomatoes, usually the cherubs you can get in a little tub and cut them in half. I have heard that if you sandwich them between two plastic lids and saw them in half that way, it’s a snap. I am fearful of having to round those little suckers up from off the floor. Will try when I am feeling audacious. next, i get one of those packs of mozzarella pearls that I find at Walmart, break them up into…well, pearls, and add to the maters. I dump in about half a glug of olive oil, then a handful of torn up fresh basil. Yep, that’s a lot! Sometimes I use more. Occasionally i will add some balsamic vinegar. I put a good couple shakes of garlic salt, ( I know. non-traditional. I’m a rebel like that) and stir gently. Stick in the fridge for a half hour or so, just to set the flavors. Does not keep well so it should be eaten the same day.
I have read on “debunking” sites that the trick with the lids and grape tomatoes does NOT work, so you are smart not trying it. 😉
That looks so good. I’m going to try it as soon as I can get to the grocery store! Love your recipes and your stories! Keep it coming.
Christy,
From on Southern gal to the next, I’m soooo happy to see another wierd southerner ( at least that is the look I get here in NC when I say I detest raw “maters”). I love ketchup, tomatoes cooked in soups, stewed, pasta dishes…but I just can’t eat them raw. I love your website and your receipes. I made your taco casserole just this week and it was beyond what I expected. Keep up the GREAT work!