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Lunchtime in the heat of summer will never be the same again with our Horiatiki Greek salad recipe, which is effortless to assemble, gorgeous to behold, and refreshingly delicious!
Greek food is some of the best in the world at maximizing flavor while keeping things simple, and this recipe is very much a testament to this style of cooking. Pour yourself a chilled glass of wine, and let’s toss together a salad the whole family can enjoy.
Horiatiki Greek Salad Recipe
Greek Salad (Horiatiki) Ingredients
First, you’ll need to assemble your ingredients. To make Horiatiki or Greek salad, you’ll need the following:
- Tomatoes – 3 large or 4 medium-sized tomatoes
- Cucumber – half a large cucumber
- Red onion – half a medium red onion
- Feta cheese – 100g or 3.5oz of feta cheese
- Kalamata olives – handful (8-10) of Kalamata olives
- Green bell pepper – a quarter of a green pepper (optional)
- Extra-virgin olive oil – 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- Red wine vinegar – a splash of red wine vinegar
- Dried oregano – 1 teaspoon
- Salt – to taste
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1 – Wash and chop or slice your tomatoes, and put them in a salad bowl.
Step 2 – Peel the cucumber, then slice the cucumber in half lengthways. As an optional step, you can deseed the cucumber by scooping the seeds out with a spoon. This will stop too much water from the cucumber mixing into the salad.
Once cut, slice the cucumber into thin-half-rounds, and add the sliced cucumber to the salad bowl.
At this point, if you’re adding bell pepper, thinly slice a quarter of a green bell pepper and add this to the cucumber and tomato.
Step 3 – Thinly slice the red onion into half-rounds, and add to the mixture.
Step 4 – In a glass or cup, add a splash of red wine vinegar to three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, and drizzle the dressing over the ingredients, then give everything a good toss. This is where using a bowl, before you plate, will help you really mix the salad and meld the flavors together.
Feel free to add a pinch of salt, but be careful not to add too much, because the feta cheese will add plenty of natural saltiness.
Step 5 – Plate your salad and top it with the Kalamata olives.
Step 6 – Add the feta cheese to the top of the salad, then drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil over the feta cheese and salad, before topping everything with dried oregano.
The beauty of this salad is in its simplicity. Made from just a handful of ingredients, this Greek favorite is breathtakingly refreshing, which each mouthful a melting pot of earthy, salty, acidic, and juicy flavors.
And Horiatiki is so much more than its flavors. It is a salad for the senses. It has so much color, beautiful to behold on the plate. Its powerful aromas lure you in, while the combination of the creamy-yet-crumbly feta and crunchy vegetables, soaking in the juices, make for a wonderfully textural salad.
You may notice various recipes online will serve this salad with crumbled feta on top. For authenticity, however, you should serve this salad with a slice or block of feta cheese on top, intact.
What I love about this salad is how well the various ingredients complement each other. To complement the sweet notes, there’s acidity. To balance the saltiness of the feta, there’s the mild, crispness of the cucumber. Everything in this salad just works beautifully together.
Serving Suggestions
Ideal for lunch during the hot summers, you should definitely serve this salad with crunchy bread. One thing Greeks will definitely recommend you try is making a ‘papara,’ whereby, midway through eating the salad, you take some bread, and dip it into the salad juices pooling on the plate. It is heavenly, I can assure you!
Tips for Making the Best Greek Salad
After making this salad several times with different ingredients, I can with confidence state that the quality of first, your feta cheese, and secondly, your tomatoes, will make or break this salad.
If possible, try to source authentic Greek feta cheese. Mass-produced supermarket feta is often too crumbly, whereas authentic Greek feta cheese has a creaminess to it that really binds the salad together.
Additionally, the juicier the tomatoes you can source, the better. Tomatoes from the Mediterranean region are so red and juicy, they just bring so much extra flavor to the table. I find that many supermarket tomatoes are very watery, so if you can, look to get locally grown tomatoes from food markets or fruit and vegetable shops.
Naturally, I understand that it is not always possible to source the best ingredients. But with this salad, the feta cheese and the tomatoes really will make the difference, over all the other ingredients.
Horiatiki Greek Salad Recipe Card
Greek Salad
Ingredients
- 3 large or 4 medium-sized tomatoes
- ½ large cucumber
- ½ medium red onion
- ¼ green bell pepper (optional)
- 100g or 3.5oz of feta cheese
- handful (8-10) of Kalamata olives
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- splash of red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- salt, to taste
Instructions
- Wash and chop or slice your tomatoes, and put them in a salad bowl.
- Peel the cucumber, then slice the cucumber in half lengthways. As an optional step, you can deseed the cucumber by scooping the seeds out with a spoon. This will stop too much water from the cucumber mixing into the salad. Once cut, slice the cucumber into thin-half-rounds, and add the sliced cucumber to the salad bowl.
- At this point, if you're adding bell pepper, thinly slice the green bell pepper and add this to the cucumber and tomato.
- Thinly slice the red onion into half-rounds, and add to the salad bowl.
- In a glass or cup, add a splash of red wine vinegar to three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, and drizzle the dressing over the ingredients, then give everything a good toss. This is where using a bowl, before you plate, will help you really mix the salad and meld the flavors together. Feel free to add a pinch of salt, but be careful to not add too much, because the feta cheese will add plenty of natural saltiness.
- Plate the salad and top it with the Kalamata olives.
- Add the feta cheese to the top of the salad, then drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil over the feta cheese and salad, before topping everything with dried oregano.
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