This easy Greek salad recipe is our new favorite summer side dish! Just 7 ingredients + a simple Greek salad dressing make it refreshing & delicious.
I love a good green salad – mixed greens, romaine, and kale are some of my favorite starting points for fresh, healthy meals. But summer is a time when all vegetables are at their peak. Sweet, juicy tomatoes, snappy bell peppers, and crisp cucumbers abound. This Greek salad recipe showcases these veggies, without any greens to get in the way.
And the best past? Because the vegetables are in their prime, this Greek salad recipe is flavorful and refreshing with just a few ingredients. You only need 7 ingredients + an easy homemade Greek salad dressing to make it! It’s been a hit at our family gatherings over the last few weeks – my mom even added it to her regular recipe rotation. I hope you love it as much as we do!
Greek Salad Ingredients
A traditional Greek salad consists of sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, green bell pepper, red onion, olives, and feta cheese. This classic combination is delicious, so I stick to it, just adding a handful of mint leaves for a fresh finishing touch.
My olives of choice are Kalamata olives. Commonly used in Greek food, their salty, briny flavor is delectable alongside the feta and crisp veggies. Instead of slicing large tomatoes, I use cherry tomatoes because they release less water into the salad than larger tomatoes would. I also seed my cucumber to avoid making my salad watery.
A great salad will have a yummy jumble of veggies, olives, and cheese in each bite, so be sure to cut your ingredients into similar-sized pieces. I like to buy pitted Kalamata olives and leave them whole, and I chop the feta into 1/2-inch cubes instead of crumbling it. I aim for 1-inch squares for the bell pepper, cut the cucumber into thin half-moons, and simply halve the cherry tomatoes.
My Greek Salad Dressing
I toss the veggies, olives, and feta cheese in an easy homemade Greek salad dressing. With just 5 ingredients + salt and pepper, it’s super simple to whisk together, and it gives this easy Greek salad recipe a bright, zingy flavor. It’s a simple mix of olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic, and dried oregano.
In addition to using them in the dressing, I like to sprinkle my salad with generous pinches of oregano and black pepper for a fresh, peppery garnish.
Greek Salad Serving Suggestions
Because this salad doesn’t have any tender greens, it’s a good one to make ahead for gatherings. If I’m prepping it ahead, I like to save a few fresh mint leaves to add right before serving. It’s also an excellent dinner side. Enjoy it with a summer pizza like this one or this one, pesto pasta, roasted vegetable pasta, or a big veggie lasagna.
If you want to vary this salad recipe, try using use a mix of red, green, and yellow bell peppers, adding some fresh oregano or parsley, or stirring in cooked or roasted chickpeas to make it a full meal. To make it vegan, skip the cheese and add 3/4 cup cooked chickpeas and 1 tablespoon capers in its place.
If you love this Greek salad recipe…
Try my easy pasta salad, broccoli salad, potato salad, or watermelon salad next, or see this post for more of my best summer salad recipes!
Greek Salad
Ingredients
Dressing
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano, more for sprinkling
- ¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
For the salad
- 1 English cucumber, cut lengthwise, seeded, and sliced ¼-inch thick
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped into 1-inch pieces
- 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
- 5 ounces feta cheese, cut into ½ inch cubes*
- ⅓ cup thinly sliced red onion
- ⅓ cup pitted Kalamata olives
- ⅓ cup fresh mint leaves
Instructions
- Make the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, oregano, mustard, salt, and several grinds of pepper.
- On a large platter, arrange the cucumber, green pepper, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, red onions, and olives. Drizzle with the dressing and very gently toss. Sprinkle with a few generous pinches of oregano and top with the mint leaves. Season to taste and serve.
Notes
This is simple and so good! We added a can of chickpeas and that made it feel like a full meal. We will be eating this again this summer for sure!
I subbed
dried basil for oregano.
So glad you enjoyed it!
Absolutely delicious and easy to make. Our family loves this recipe so I make it frequently.
Hi Claudia, I’m so glad you all love it!
Thanks for the Greek Salad Recipe.
Yesterday (April 9th) I made this recipe as a side dish to go with our Easter meal. The salad was delicious and hardly any was left. So easy to make and I will make it again and again. I forgot to add mint but will for sure next time.
I did too but added the mint. Agree it was a hit with my family.
Hi Shannon, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Good salad, but please post nutritional information with the recipe.
We are at the grocery store now to buy ingredients we need. I’ve been craving a Greek Salad.
We love a traditional Greek Salad and yours hits all the ingredient marks. On occasion I stray from the “traditional” and add a few splashes of Balsamic Vinegar and fresh Avocado to this salad. It’s a delicious twist to your already awesome recipe.
What is your favorite brand (or two) of Kalamata Olives? Thank you!
Carol @the7thdecade
Hi Carol, we often buy Divina olives or 365 olives.
Super delicious. I just add pomegranate and we loved?
So glad you loved the salad!
Just made it and ate half of it myself. So good that I had to comment. Love the mint and the dressing is spot on!
Oh I’m so glad you loved it!
I absolutely adore this recipe! I return to it time and time again because it’s that good. The different tastes meld together so well and the taste only deepens as the dressing does its magic! I’m so glad I found this recipe and this website!!!
Thank you for your sweet comment! So glad you love this recipe.
Love this recipe. I replaced olives with pomegranate and also threw in some crushed almonds for texture.
Thank you for sharing this!
Oh yum! I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks for this lovely refreshing recipe! It’s now my go-to for weekday potlucks bc I can make it the night before and store it in the fridge through work. It’s also a staple for me personally bc I’m vegetarian and hate getting caught at meat-centric potlucks with macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes as literally the only vegetable options. Love all the different ingredients that perfectly compliment each other. I do cut back on the green pepper and add in some sliced pepperoncini peppers. I always get compliments on it at the potlucks and always take home an empty bowl!
I’m so glad you love the salad!
Would white wine vinegar change the flavor too much? It’s what I currently have on hand.
Hi Shaih – White wine vinegar will work great here.
Love this recipe but as someone who’s a native Greek, it is not traditional. Traditional Greek salad (horiatiki salata meaning village salad) is tomatoes, onions and cucumbers. There is no peppers. Olives and slices of feta are added. The dressing is usually red wine vinegar, EVOO & oregano. We never use mustard in any of our salad dressings. The red wine vinegar can be swapped out if you do not like the taste.
We ate Greek salad every day while in Greece. The salads served in various restaurants, cities and islands had the same base (tomatoes, red onions, cucumbers and olives with thick slices of feta on top). However, some restaurants did add sliced green bell peppers and/or capers. The dressing was always a simple mixture of just red wine vinegar, olive oil, and oregano. Either way it was always delicious.
Although slightly different, this recipe looks delish and I will definitely try it. Thanks for sharing.
Man this looks amazing!! I can’t wait to try it out this weekend for my meal prep!
I love this salad! So easy to make and delicious
Delicious and so easy to make. Thank you
for the recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Delish. I put all the ingredients on top of romaine lettuce to make it go further. Flavor packed.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I’ve made it innumerable times. Fantastic we add squash