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
Made this for the first time today ,after loving a Greek salad on our recent cruise ,very yummy ,had hot baby potato’s and cold meat with it
I’m so glad you loved it!
This was delicious, don’t skip the mint! It really adds a lovely fresh taste to the salad.
Would basil be good instead of the mint or in addition to?
yep! Basil would be great.
Great recipe! I also skipped the mint and the olives (despite being part-Greek I never liked olives, god knows why!) but the taste still knocked my socks off. The mustard combined with the feta cheese leaves a delicious aftertaste, and after discovering red wine vinegar today (never used it before) I can never look back. This will be one of my new staple foods!
I’m so glad you loved it!
I skipped the mint but licked the bowl. Best Greek salad I’ve ever eaten!
I’m so glad you loved it!
Made this for a potluck, and it was a hit! Modified and used chopped peperocini peppers instead of green peppers and omitted the mint.
I’m so happy everyone loved it!
Wonderful salad. Around here where there is a vibrant Greek community we like to use pepperoncini peppers instead of green peppers. All the salads are also served with a side of potato salad which is a nice variation.
This is wonderful my family loves it, thank you for posting this.
This salad is the bestest ever. Appreciation trumps grammar! Used halved black olives, as kalamata aren’t available where I live. Superb. Thank you.
I’m so glad you loved it!
I ran out of red wine vinegar which would taste better balsamic, sherry or white wine vinegar?
Sherry vinegar will be great, my next choice after that is the white wine vinegar.
I absolutely love this recipe, I’ve made greek salad many many times, did my own thing with it, tried many recipes but this one is my favorite and I make it atleast twice a month. I never thought to use cherry tomatoes instead of regular (cherry has better texture) also the redwine vinegar, fresh mint and low amount of Dijon I never tried but works perfectly. The only part I change is instead of salt I just use a bit of feta brine 🙂
I’m so glad you loved it!
This is literally the best greek salad recipe I’ve ever tried. Not kidding! It’s exactly like what you get at a Greek/Mediterranean restaurant!
I’m so glad you loved it!
Very good quick and easy
Really great recipes! I’m a huge salad fan, and this dressing was just incredible! I didn’t have mustard but the flavours were great even without, so simple yet so flavourful!
I’m so glad you loved it!
Excellent, simple recipe. One I have made again and again.
This was wonderful. We relished this salad. Thank you
I’m so glad you loved it!
Greek salad is one of our household favorites and we always serve it with lots of feta cheese! We will also add onions, scallions, and/or peppers, depending on what we have on hand. I love your version!
I used this dressing as the base and juujed it up a bit, adding dried minced onion (regular and toasted), dried chives, and roasted garlic powder (in addition to the fresh). Also subbed a pasta blend (oregano, basil, thyme, and garlic) for the oregano. It was SO good! The hubs said he only wanted this dressing from now on! Thanks for sharing it!
I’m glad you both loved it! Sounds delish!
Yes, this recipe is delicious. I use persian cucumbers and leave the seeds. I haven’t added the mint. Not sure I would like it, but will try when I have mint. I want to try it with a grainy dijon and try to notice any elevated flavor. Thanks for the recipe. I’ve also rotated it in my weekly meal plan and use left overs for a side salad with work lunches.
I was surprised with 1/4 teaspoon of Dijon… that’s not even enough to taste! But I guess I’ll see. First time eating this tonight.
Amazing! Super fast, super delicious!
Worth all the chopping!
Great for meal prepping
I’m so glad you loved it!
is there a nutritional sheet for this recipe?
Awesome Greek salad. I made spanikopita and this was the perfect side dish.