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Basic Greek Salad Recipe

Basic Greek Salad
Difficulty: Easy | Total Time: | Makes: 6 to 8 servings

This classic salad of tomatoes, cucumber, onion, olives, feta, and oregano gets a crunchy boost from nontraditional romaine lettuce. Try it with some braised lamb or as a starter for your next Greek meal.

To see this recipe with illustrated steps, check out The Basics: How to Make a Greek Salad.

INGREDIENTS
  • 1 medium head romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces, washed, and dried
  • 2 medium tomatoes, cored, seeded, and large dice
  • 1 medium English cucumber, large dice
  • 1 cup kalamata olives, pitted and halved
  • 1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 1 medium lemon), plus more as needed
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh oregano leaves or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (about 2 1/2 ounces)
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Place the lettuce in a large bowl and add the tomatoes, cucumber, olives, and onion; set aside.
  2. Place the oil, measured lemon juice, oregano, measured salt, and pepper to taste in a small, nonreactive bowl and whisk to combine. Pour over the salad and toss to combine. Taste and season with additional lemon juice, salt, or pepper as needed. Sprinkle with the feta and serve.
    Write a review | 15 Reviews
  • Basic Greek Salad Recipe
    5

    Who cares if it's nontraditional?! It's deeeelish. But it needs anchovies. I mean really.

  • Basic Greek Salad Recipe
    5

    I'm Greek from Greece and I live in Greece. So this salad is pretty close to the basic recipe but its not the basic recipe. We never use lettuce or any leafy veg. Lettuces dont grow in Greece during the summer months,so for a basic recipe we only use tomatoes, cucumbers, green capsicum, olives, salt, olive oil and a big square piece of feta with oregano on top. As simple as that. Capers, leafy stuff , any other ingredient is fine but doesnt belong to the basic recipe. Kisses from sunny Crete !

  • Basic Greek Salad Recipe
    5

    Greece does have lettuces! They are grown in the winter. The summer is so hot, the leaves will dry up, therefore, the traditional village salad of allof the above without the lettuce.

  • Basic Greek Salad Recipe
    5

    Fine salad. Quick and easy.

  • Basic Greek Salad Recipe
    5

    Nontradition is the key work here. You'll never (or rarely) find lettuce in this type of salad in Greece. I think that it destroys this salad! Sometimes, not always, capers are added to the salad in Greece. I think they are a good addition!

  • Basic Greek Salad Recipe
    5

    (My comment is more blog than review) Had a Tampa, FL favorite last night... the featured Greek salad looks delicious, but-- talk about lettuce not being traditional- in Tampa, we follow Louis Pappas' creative lead and start with a big mound of potato salad, over which the "Greek Salad" is built. The pototo salad becomes a hidden bonus as folks dig in. Not traditional in any sense, but it has become a Florida "tradition" and favorite for many years.

  • Basic Greek Salad Recipe
    5

    Great, simple, very tasty recipe. Great with the Romaine

  • Basic Greek Salad Recipe
    3

    Been making the Greek Village salad for decades, learned it at Ikaros in Baltimore in the 70's, where they serve the finest Greek food I've had anywhere, including the entire SF Bay area. Saganaki to die for. 1. No lettuce. I know, you said it was "nontraditional". Translation: Leave it out. Adding lettuce to a Greek village salad is an abomination. Really; it's in Leviticus, look it up. 2. *** IMPORTANT *** Where's the garlic?? One clove, minced. Absolutely essential. 3. Lemon may be traditional. Vinegar -- white, maybe wine, not cider! -- is good as well, in fact I prefer it. The liquid from the olives can be used here as well, but not too much. (Save the lemon for Caesar salad.) 4. Proportion of tomato to cucumber: When purchasing, line up roma tomatoes with the cuke. Use whatever number of tomatoes equal the cuke's length. Can use a non-English cuke, but seed it. In either case: peel it. 5. More and multiple herbs. I pour on the Italian Herb mix, maybe double the herb quantity here. (I never measure, just sprinkle until it's green enough.) 6. Use a flat bottomed bowl and seal it with plastic wrap, let the flavors marry in the refrigerator over night. Better on day 2. Much better on day 3. When you start seeing a froth on the surface, toss it.

  • Basic Greek Salad Recipe
    3

    If you took the time to read, it states clearly that the addition of lettuce is "non-traditional." Everyone's a critic.

  • Basic Greek Salad Recipe
    3

    My ex boyfriend's family is Greek and they said lettuce of any kind is not traditional. They had a salad of heirloom tomatoes, olive oil, balsamic vin, s&p, feta, olives, lemon juice and a pinch of fresh oregano. This version seems Americanized.

  • Perfect Greek dressing..3-1 olive oil& red wine vin./ fresh smashed garlic 1-2 cloves/ some oregano / tsp. sugar / very little lemon juice. stir like crazy or shake to emulsify and combine ingrediants . Try it..same method for Italian vinegrette too..just add some more herbs.

  • A bit of vinegar would certainly do no harm, but I do believe that dressing with just olive oil and fresh lemon juice is the traditional way.

  • C70, a bit of vinegar might well enhance the taste, but I don't believe it's traditionally used.

  • Your Greek salad looks delicious, but as you noted, the addition of lettuce of any kind is not really traditional, at least in the area around Nafplion where I have spent much time. Also, more often than not, the feta is not crumbled, but a slice of the cheese covered with oregano sits atop the salad. Bell pepper slices and capers are other frequently seen ingredients. A good Greek salad is a wonderful thing! Sometimes when regular tomatoes are not looking good, I substitute sweet cherry tomatoes, and this works well.

  • almost perfect. needs tiny bit of vinegar too, though.

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