Greek Salad the Way Greeks Make It: No Lettuce, Ready in 10 Minutes
Order a Greek salad outside Greece and you will often get lettuce, a pile of crumbled cheese, and a sweet dressing. In Greece the same dish is called horiatiki, the village salad, and it has no lettuce at all. It is tomatoes, cucumber, onion, olives, and a block of feta, dressed with olive oil and oregano. That is the whole recipe.
What goes in
- Ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges. They are the main ingredient.
- Cucumber, in thick slices.
- Red onion, in thin rings.
- Green bell pepper, in rings.
- Kalamata olives.
- Feta, in one block, on top.
- Extra-virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, dried oregano, and salt.
For 4 servings: about 1¼ lb (600 g) of tomatoes, 10½ oz (300 g) of cucumber, 5½ oz (150 g) of feta, 3½ oz (100 g) of olives, 4 tablespoons of olive oil, and 1 tablespoon of vinegar.
The one rule: ripe tomatoes
In a salad this simple, the tomato is everything. Buy the ripest ones you can find and keep them out of the refrigerator, where they lose flavor. Cut them into wedges, salt them lightly, and let them rest for 5 minutes: they release their juices, and those juices become the base of the dressing.
Why the feta stays in one block
The feta goes on top whole, not crumbled or cubed, with the oregano sprinkled over it. Everyone cuts their own piece and mixes it into the vegetables at the table. Serve it right away, with bread to soak up the juices at the bottom of the bowl.
Common mistakes
- Adding lettuce. It turns a village salad into a different dish and waters down the dressing.
- Tossing too hard. Dress with the oil and vinegar and mix gently, so the tomatoes keep their shape.
- Making it ahead. Salted vegetables keep releasing water. Assemble it just before serving.
- Hiding the oil. Use a good extra-virgin olive oil: it is part of the flavor, not just the dressing.
Nutrition at a glance
Per serving (the recipe makes 4): about 305 kcal, 25 g fat, 8 g protein, and 4 g fiber. These values are estimates calculated from the ingredients. The salad is vegetarian and gluten-free.
Get the full recipe
The exact steps are on our free recipes page. Greek Salad is also one of the 80 recipes in The Mediterranean Table, along with the pantry guide, a plate-building guide, and a 7-day plan.
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The Mediterranean Table has 80 recipes from Greece, southern Italy, and Spain, with nutrition on every recipe and a 7-day plan.
Get The Mediterranean Table — $7.99Nutrition values are estimates calculated from the ingredients. This article is for general information only and isn't medical advice.