Greek Salad Recipe (VIDEO)
Fresh Greek Salad is a must-try and one of the healthiest salad recipes! It comes together fast and is loaded with cucumber, tomato, and avocado, with tangy bites of olives and feta cheese. You will fall in love with the homemade Greek salad dressing.
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Greek Salad Ingredients:
Greek Salad is naturally gluten-free and typically combines fresh ingredients like crisp cucumbers, tomatoes, sweet bell peppers, red onion, kalamata olives (or black olives) and feta cheese. The simple lemon, olive oil, and garlic dressing make every bite memorable. This salad is a staple not only in Greece but throughout the Mediterranean region.
One of my readers, Ella Z. shared this recipe with us years ago and I’m so glad she did. Here is her story of how this Greek Salad was born is: “The person that taught us this recipe was here on a visit from Israel, we kept cooking different kinds of dishes and he said “please stop cooking for me and take me to the market” lol He bought all these ingredients and made this salad and we have never been the same since!”
Greek Salad Dressing:
The Greek salad dressing is so easy and flavorful – you will want it on all of your salads! You might recognize it from some of our most popular recipes like Chicken Avocado Salad, this Cucumber Avocado Salad, or healthy Tuna Salad. The ingredients for Mediterranean dressing are so simple but each ingredient is important so be sure to use:
- Freshly squeezed lemon juice (not from concentrate)
- A good extra virgin olive oil
- Fresh garlic (not powder or pre-chopped garlic)
How to Make Greek Salad:
- Chop, rinse and spin dry lettuce and arrange over the bottom of a salad bowl.
- Chop and arrange the remaining ingredients (avocado, tomatoes, olives, bell peppers, onion, and cucumbers) over the salad, then sprinkle on Feta Cheese.
- Make the Greek Salad Dressing and just before serving, drizzle over the salad to taste and toss to combine.
Make-Ahead Salad Tips:
Whether you are assembling this Greek salad for meal prep, to-go lunches or planning for a party, these tips will keep your green salads vibrant and fresh:
- For crisp lettuce, rinse your romaine lettuce in cold water, then use a salad spinner to dry completely. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Prep and refrigerate most of your salad up to a week in advance except for tomatoes and avocados which are best added fresh.
- Add dressing just before serving. The salt in the dressing can cause the salad to wilt.
Our Favorite Greek Recipes:
If you love fresh Mediterranean flavors, these are a must-try!
- Tzatziki Sauce – so good with chicken
- Chickpea Salad – loaded with avocado and fresh dressing
- Tomato Cucumber Feta Salad – easy and excellent
- Baklava – a classic Greek dessert
- Arugula Salad with Berries and balsamic glaze
Watch the Greek Salad Video Tutorial:
I could eat this salad all day and not get tired of it. It kind of reminds me of the Olive Garden salad and dressing but it’s 100x better! Seriously folks, go to the grocery store soon for your Greek salad ingredients!
I hope this Greek Salad recipe becomes a new favorite go-to salad recipe for you. If you enjoyed this video, please subscribe to our Youtube Channel and don’t forget to click the bell icon so you get a notification when we post a new video. Thank you for subscribing!
Greek Salad Recipe with Lemon Dressing
This Greek Salad is a must-try! It is one of the healthiest salad recipes, naturally gluten free and full of fresh, raw veggies. You will love the healthy Greek Salad dressing. So delicious and guilt free!
Ingredients
Greek Salad Ingredients:
- 1 romaine lettuce head chopped
- 1/2 medium red onion thinly sliced
- 1/2 bell pepper (any color), chopped
- 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes halved (or slice heirlooms when in season)
- 1 English cucumber sliced
- 1 avocado peeled, pitted and sliced
- 1/2 cup kalamata olives sliced into thirds
- 4 oz feta cheese
Greek Dressing Ingredients:
- 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 Tbsp lemon juice (from 1 large lemon)
- 1 garlic clove pressed
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
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Rinse, chop and spin dry romaine lettuce and transfer to a large salad bowl.
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Add remaining salad ingredients to the bowl: sliced red onion, sliced bell peppers, halved tomatoes, diced cucumber, diced avocado, kalamata olives and feta cheese.
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Combine all Greek dressing ingredients in a mason jar and shake to combine. Just before serving, drizzle dressing over the salad to taste and toss to combine.
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Hi Natasha wanted to say I love making your recipes they taste sooo good. What I wanted to ask is there a way that you can make your recipes one serving? Its just me and I dont like to waste food too much. I use alot of your salads as diet food so I just wanted to juat check to see if there was a way to break the recipes down to one serving? Thank you so much for your recipes! Best wishes
Hi Shannah! Thank you so much for sharing that feedback. We do have the recipe slider on the printable recipe card. I would recommend sliding that down to 1 serving to get your ingredient measurements.
I am a salad lover …tried greek salad and it was tasty …thanks for sharing natasha..looking forward to try your more recipes
You’re welcome Maryam! I’m so happy you enjoyed that!
Great recipe! Aside from my mom’s cooking, I would love Greek salad with Rotisserie Chicken from El Greco. They serve the best greek food! Not to mention that they have a special dine-in offer presently.
Thank you so much for sharing that with us Helen! I’m happy you enjoyed this recipe!
The ingredients in this salad blend together beautifully. (Plus, I love chopping fresh romaine lettuce!) I’ve found that normal cucumbers work just fine, as well as whatever kind of onion we have on hand (we almost never buy red onions).
Isn’t it so good and fresh! One of our favorite recipes! Thank you for sharing that wonderful feedback with us, Krista!
What salad spinner do you recommend?
Hi Kaye, we have our favorite salad spinner in our Amazon shop HERE.
I LOVE a good Greek salad. This one looks so amazing and super easy to make. thank you!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
What a gorgeous and delicious salad! Mine didn’t look as good as yours but was so tasty! thank you!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Katie!
This is such a great salad recipe! So easy to make and taste so good!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
Made this for the family and it was a hit!
I’m so glad you all enjoyed it!
This is one of my favorites! Love all the fresh vegetables and it has such great flavor. I could eat it everyday!
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review
I had 2 bowlfuls for dinner, my husband had it with a steak. He commented how great the dressing was, so, it’s a keeper. Thank you.
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite!
This greek salad looks so amazing and easy to make. Healthy too! Thanks.
Thanks for your great feedback, Matt!
Greek salads are my favorite! They are light & refreshing & the dressing is so good!!
Very true and healthy too!
So fresh and delicious! I love the homemade dressing. Next time I’ll toss in some grilled chicken for a complete meal!
Ooh, I love the idea of adding a protein like chicken, shrimp or even steak bites!
We love greek salad. We use same ingredients for a dressing just adding some red wine vinegar instead the lemon or both. You should try that!
Thank you for sharing your great review & tip with us!
I made this tonight and it is soooo good!! Definitely a keeper! : )
You’re welcome, Linda! I’m so happy you enjoyed it.
I am such a fan… all of your recipes are incredibly good.. : )
Thank you so much for sharing that with me Linda! I’m so glad you enjoyed that.
Delicious!
Thank you Janet!
Greek salad is a classic staple food in my home! I always use olive oil and plenty of fresh oregano to garnish it, and I prefer chopped green onions over onions. However, I’ll use either one – it all depends on what I have on hand.
I love the idea of adding oregano. I will try that next time! Thank you for the tip!
Hello, love all your recipes. Can I use vinegar (apple cider vinegar) instead of lemon? I can’t eat lemon because of heart burn.
Thank u.
Hi Natalia, I haven’t tried apple cider vinegar but I think it would be worth experimenting. You might also love this dressing from our Chicken Mango Avocado salad over this Greek salad which has apple cider vinegar.
Natalia, try red wine vinegar which is better than apple cider! Great in a Greek salad.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Thankyou for answering my question – I will try it! =)
Natasha,
What brand of feta do you use and I noticed it is in a block form – is that better then buying already crumbled?Thankyou! =)
Hi Theresa, I used a whole block of feta cheese and diced it for the salad. You can use crumbled if that is what you have on hand. I don’t have that packaging anymore but I want to say it was Athenos brand.
I use Valpariso feta. Also, I’ve never heard of avocado in a Greek salad but it sounds delicious. I make them all the time and will try this one.
I hope you love it!
Hi natasha,
im so blessed to see ur blog…and i really thanks GOD for giving me chance to find and watch ur craving recipes…..im ur avid fan..
I love cooking sense b4..i wish i could study in culinary to enhance my cooking skills…yeah bcos u you miss Natasha i ready dream to bcome a Chef…😊
Im very xcited always to watch ur new recipe miss Natasha…its all craving and mouth watery ….f i just have a chance
to cook all your recipes,i will try it all…🤗😇…
More power mis natasha be blessed and your family circle.
Love ,
Lourdes😚
Hi Lourdes, I am so inspired reading this!! Thank you so much for the fantastic review and your encouraging words. I am smiling big reading your comment 🙂 Blessing to you and I hope all of your culinary dream come true!!
Natasha, I chopped all of the ingredients a bit smaller than I would for Greek Salad using your recipe. I cooked large pasta shells according to package directions, drained them and allowed to dry for a bit. Then I filled the shells with the Greek Salad. Squeeze the shells open and fill using small tongs. Result: Wonderful, tasty, delicious finger food appetizer.
That is a great idea, Sharon! Thank you for sharing that with me!
This was a huge hit!! My husband loved it!
Oh that’s awesome!! I’m so happy to hear that! 🙂
Greek salads are one of my favorites!! This looks delicious! I can’t wait to make it!
That’s so great! Thank you for the wonderful review!
This salad is delicious and so colorful!
Hi Julie! Thank you so much. It really is such a colorful and pretty salad. It looks amazing in the bowl at parties and it’s so healthy with the rainbow of colorful veggies.
So many great flavors and such an easy recipe!
Thank you Erin! It really is such an easy and flavorful recipe.
Great recipe, usually this salad is always my to go lunch salad and I do add chicken to it, but I don’t call it Greek salad 🙂 This salad for sure delicious. Sometimes I add on top balsamic vinegar, makes huge difference to it.
Extra virgin olive oil cold press makes a huge different to the salad as well. Taste much better.
By the way, I don’t recall Greek salad includes avocado, anywhere I go out to eat and when I order Greek salad it is always without avocado.
Oooh you have to try adding avocado – it just takes the salad over the top! I hope you love it and thanks for sharing the olive oil tip – is there a specific brand that you love?
This is the perfect salad! It’s my favorite!
Thank you Lauren! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I’m so happy to hear that, Lauren! Thank you for that great review!
Hi! Where can I buy Kalamata olives?
We purchased them in a store called Rosauers. They should have them in the major grocery stores like FredMeyer, Albertsons. Maybe at Walmart. Which stores have you checked?
I made this on a recent trip with friends and everyone loved it! It was a side dish and people got seconds of only salad and asked me for the recipe. It’s sooo yummy. Didn’t change a thing. Thank you Natasha!
Awesome!!! I am happy to hear you loved it Ema! 🙂
Regards for helping out, excellent information.
Great salad i added honey and balsamic vinegar to the dressing and it was a hit!!
Thanks sis, I’m so happy you liked it! 🙂 How was your party?
Hello Miss Natasha, This recipe looks absolutely delicious and Its perfect for our weekend family dinner.. Thanks for the share and I must try this!
Hi Rog and thank you! I hope you love the salad. It’s a family favorite in our home 🙂
This salad is addicting. Bought all the ingredients yesterday to make it again and again. I made it 4 times last week. I can eat it nonstop! I am a big fan of a Greek salad, and this recipe is the best!
Inna, thank you for such a great review :). Reading your comment tells me that you are definitely addicted to it :D.
I’m eating a giant bowl of this salad as I am typing this up. 🙂
For the past year or so I’ve been making this salad per this recipe:
http://greek.food.com/recipe/kittencals-famous-greek-salad-66596
It’s pretty much identical to yours except for the dressing which includes a few more (probably in your pantry already) items that I feel like make the dressing even more flavorful!
Beautiful photos!..and I loved reading the blurb on the origin of this recipe as well.
If you haven’t tried this simple dressing, I hope you give it a chance. It’s amazing how a few simple ingredients make for one amazing dressing! Thanks for sharing the link; I love trying new things. And thanks for the compliment! I enjoyed photographing this salad 🙂
My husband and I had this salad for a late night dinner recently and loved every bite. I also added some shrimp sauteed with cayenne pepper, fresh squeezed lemon, salt, and a bit of pepper and this was an outstanding addition 🙂
Great recipe, Natasha!
Oh my goodness that sounds bomb with shrimp! I want that so bad now! Thanks alot! 😉
Btw, that was meant to be 5 stars, my fingerwork wasn’t very graceful 😉 LOL
Thanks Elina! 🙂
You can add it to the dressing i guess 🙂 i dont make mine as fancy as yours:) so i just cut and mix all the veggies…press garlic and pour dressing over: )
Thanks Kristina! I’ll try it for our next adults only gathering. My son yells “spicy!” When he tastes fresh garlic 🙂
Yep:) i make this salad all the time!!! Love it!! Try adding couple cloves of garlic:)) so so good! It could replace a meal:)
Do you add garlic into the dressing?
Just add some pressed garlic into the dressing it takes it to the next level.
Thanks Dina! 🙂
This looks delish! We love greek salads in our households 🙂 I like the avocado and bell pepper addition.
It was so nice. I’m so in love with avocados and the sweet bell peppers were a great compliment to this salad!
People from Israel differently know how to make Greek salads. I make exactly the same one that my husband taught me.:) THis looks divine and I love the colours and the blue bowl!
I need to try more recipes from that part of the world, both from Israel and Greek recipes. I think I just need to travel more 😉
Where do you buy your Kalamata olives? I cannot seem to find any here in Philly.
We purchased them in a store called Rosauers. They should have them in the major grocery stores like FredMeyer, Albertsons. Maybe at Walmart. Which stores have you checked?
Just Made this yummy salad for dinner today! It was amazing! Thank you so much for the recipe!! 🙂
You are quick and you’re so welcome. I love to share good things and I’m so glad Ella shared the recipe with me 🙂 Good things are meant to be shared!
Photos are gorgeous. I love Greek salad.
Norma, thank you so much 🙂 me too! It’s just a feel-good (and taste-good) food!
Norma, thank you so much 🙂 me too! It’s just a feel-good (and taste-good) food!
This salad looks like Summer! So bright and fresh! I love the simple vinaigrette and the story behind it!
Isn’t it a great story?! It totally makes me want to go to the market and eat salad for the rest of the week 😉
Ella always makes a bigger portion when I come over. Absolutely the best and healthiest salad ever!
You already know it’s good! 🙂 I’m so happy she shared this little treasure with us 😉
:))) Thanks Lena!
It is my favorite salad! I eat it all the time!
I just bought more ingredients for today again :).
I love Greek Salad from Panera. I think I would like this one too! Will give your recipe a try 😉
I haven’t tried theres; I don’t think we have a Panera around here 🙂 Maybe we will one day!