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More Healthy Salad Recipes
Greek Salad
Greek salad is one of those recipes that proves simple food is often the most satisfying. Crisp cucumber, juicy tomatoes, salty feta, briny olives, and sweet chargrilled peppers all come together in a sharp, herby dressing that tastes like sunshine in a bowl. It is fresh, crunchy, and full of flavour, and it is one of those dishes I come back to again and again when I want something easy that still feels like a proper meal.
Greek Salad
This Greek Salad is one of those recipes I make on repeat because it's fresh, colourful, and goes with just about everything. Crisp cucumber, ripe tomatoes, red onion, roasted red peppers, Kalamata olives, and creamy feta are tossed in a simple dressing that lets every ingredient shine. It's the perfect side for grilled meats, seafood, or Mediterranean-inspired dinners, but it's just as satisfying on its own. Simple, authentic flavours make this a salad you'll come back to all year round.
Ingredients
- 250g cherry tomatoes, diced
- 1/2 tsp table salt
- 1 continental cucumber, deseeded and diced
- 1 small red onion, finely sliced
- 1/2 cup roasted red pepper strips
- 1/2 cup Kalamata olives, sliced
- 125g Greek feta, diced
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp red wine vinegar (optional)
Instructions
- Add the diced tomatoes to a large sieve and sprinkle with the table salt. Stir to combine and set aside to drain for 30 minutes. Discard any juice that drains off.
- Add the drained tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, roasted red pepper, olives, feta, oregano, extra virgin olive oil, and red wine vinegar (if using) to a large salad bowl. Toss gently to combine.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed, then serve immediately.
Notes
- Salting and draining the tomatoes is the step that separates a good Greek salad from a watery one. Don't skip it and don't rush it. Thirty minutes makes all the difference.
- Deseeding the cucumber also helps keep excess water out of the salad. Just run a teaspoon down the centre of each half to scoop out the seeds before dicing.
- Roasted red peppers from a jar are a great shortcut and add a lovely sweetness. Drain them well before adding to the salad so they don't bring extra liquid with them.
- Use a good quality extra virgin olive oil here. It's the backbone of the dressing and with so few ingredients, quality really matters.
- Red wine vinegar is optional but adds a lovely sharpness that cuts through the richness of the feta and olives. Start with 1 teaspoon and add more to taste.
- Kalamata olives have a deep, briny flavour that's essential to a proper Greek salad. Don't substitute with milder olives.
- Dried oregano is traditional in Greek salad and gives a more intense, concentrated flavour than fresh. Don't swap it out.
- Greek feta is the real deal here. It's creamier, less salty, and has a better texture than Danish feta. Look for PDO feta if you can find it.
- This salad is best assembled just before serving. Once dressed, the vegetables will continue to release moisture as they sit.
- Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days, though the salad will soften slightly as it sits. Not suitable for freezing.
What I Cook With
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 235Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 32mgSodium: 602mgCarbohydrates: 11gFiber: 2gSugar: 6gProtein: 9g
Please note, this nutrition information is to be used as a guide only. Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.
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Greek Salad & Another from the Archives
Another salad from The Archives! This one goes way back to the Blogger days and my very first attempt at food blogging. I’d already been making it for ages before it ever made it online, but I’ve got this massive, chaotic Word doc full of old recipes I never got around to photographing. This Greek Salad was tucked in there, and it brought back a lot of memories. I think I first got into it thanks to this amazing Greek salad I used to buy from a dusty little arcade café in Brisbane CBD about twenty years ago. It was crunchy, salty, lemony, and completely addictive. So naturally, I decided to try and recreate it, and I’ve been playing with versions of it ever since.
Now that I know Adelaide has a Mediterranean climate (genuinely didn’t know that until recently), it all makes sense. The wine, the food, the vibe. It’s no wonder I feel so at home here. The day I made this salad again, it was a stunning Monday, sunny, still, warm, with the promise of summer. Rose was curled up in the sunshine, I had a glass of wine in one hand and a cucumber in the other. I wasn’t rushing anywhere or trying to do five things at once. Just pottering about the kitchen, chucking things in bowls and having a lovely old time bopping away. It’s not posh or overthought. It’s just fresh and satisfying and hits the spot every time.
Of course, reality is never far away. I’m back at work tomorrow with a to-do list that makes my soul cry. But for now, I’m ignoring all of that. Just enjoying a bit of sunshine and feta and pretending I’m on a beach in Greece instead of in my little Adelaide kitchen with a pile of emails waiting for me.
Will I Ever Make Video or Social Media Content?
People ask me this all the time, and the answer is… maybe? I’ve dabbled. I used to be pretty active on Insta and Pinterest back when they made sense. These days, though, I mostly post photos of Rose looking judgmental and the occasional moody pic lay of my wine. TikTok? I’ve got ideas, andI’ve even thought about doing little voiceover cooking vids. But I work full-time, and when it comes to choosing between filming myself cooking or just actually eating the damn food? Yeah, food wins.
Also, I am my own worst critic. I filmed a video once and I swear, the entire thing was just footage of steam. Very artistic, but not very usable. I do have to admit though, I really miss Twitch streaming. That was definitely my vibe – chatting whilst I cooked, sharing the chaos in real time. It felt natural, and I loved the connection it brought. But my current kitchen just doesn’t have the space, and trying to set it up would probably involve knocking over a camera with a frying pan or tripping over a light stand while holding a bowl of pasta.
So, I stick to what I’m good at. Writing, cooking, and making food that tastes amazing that doesn’t care about aesthetics. Honestly, just thinking about lighting setups and camera angles makes me want have a little cry in the corner 🙁
Old Friends and Greek Salads
Thinking about this salad always reminds me of Alexandra. She was my best friend once, and honestly one of the most important people in my life during some of the hardest times. We were total opposites in some ways – she was tall and statuesque and absolutely stunning, and I was… well, me. Pocket-sized and sassy. But we both loved to cook, and it was Alexandra who introduced me to Nigella’s cookbooks. She encouraged me to start my first food blog on Blogger, where the photos were awful, but the food was good and real and full of heart. Just like our friendship.
I remember making this salad for her once. I was so nervous because, well, she was Greek! But she loved it, which was high praise, and I don’t say that lightly – it meant the world to me. We cooked together, laughed over wine and garlic-stained cutting boards, and she cheered me on through breakups, bad jobs, and a lot of chaos. We had a falling out more than a decade ago now. It wasn’t dramatic, and it wasn’t anyone’s fault, just life being messy. But I still miss her, and I think about her more often than I probably admit out loud.
She helped shape this part of me – the cooking, the writing, the love of good food shared with good people. This salad holds that memory. Every time I make it, I think of Alexandra and wish I could make it for her again.
Frequently asked questions
Why do I need to salt and drain the tomatoes? Tomatoes release a significant amount of water once they’re cut and salted, and if that liquid stays in the salad it dilutes the dressing and makes everything soggy within minutes. Thirty minutes in a sieve with a pinch of salt draws out that excess moisture before it ever hits the bowl, which means the salad stays vibrant and the dressing stays on the vegetables rather than pooling at the bottom.
What’s the difference between Greek feta and Danish feta? Greek PDO feta is made from sheep’s milk, sometimes with a small amount of goat’s milk, and has a creamier, more complex flavour with a crumbly texture that suits a salad like this perfectly. Danish feta is typically made from cow’s milk and tends to be milder, saltier, and more rubbery. The difference is noticeable in a salad where the feta is one of the primary flavours, so Greek PDO is worth seeking out.
Do I need the red wine vinegar? It’s optional but genuinely recommended. A teaspoon of red wine vinegar adds a sharpness that cuts through the richness of the feta and olives and brightens the whole salad without making it taste acidic. The olive oil alone makes the dressing feel slightly flat in comparison. Start with a teaspoon and add more to taste.
Ingredient breakdown
Cherry tomatoes
Diced and then salted and drained for thirty minutes before anything else happens, which is the single most important step in this recipe. Cutting the tomatoes releases moisture, and the salt draws out even more. Discard all of that liquid before the tomatoes go into the bowl because it will dilute the dressing and make the whole salad watery within minutes of assembling. Don’t rush this step and don’t skip it.
Continental cucumber
Deseeded before dicing, which removes another significant source of excess water. Run a teaspoon down the centre of each halved cucumber to scoop out the seeds before dicing. Continental cucumber has a thinner skin and fewer seeds than a standard cucumber to begin with, which is why it’s the better choice here, but deseeding it entirely is what keeps the salad from going soggy.
Red onion
Finely sliced rather than diced, which distributes the sharp, slightly pungent flavour more evenly through the salad without overwhelming any single bite. If raw red onion is a bit much, soak the slices in cold water for ten minutes before adding them to the bowl to take the sharpness down without losing the flavour.
Roasted red peppers
From a jar, drained well before going into the salad. The same principle as every other recipe in this collection that uses jarred roasted peppers. Excess liquid from the jar will undo all the work the salting and draining step did on the tomatoes, so drain them properly. They add sweetness and a gentle smokiness that rounds out the more assertive flavours of the olives and feta.
Kalamata olives
Sliced so the briny, deeply flavoured flesh distributes more evenly through the salad. Kalamata olives are non-negotiable in a proper Greek salad. Their deep, slightly fruity, briny flavour is one of the defining characteristics of the dish and milder olives won’t give you the same result.
Feta
Diced rather than crumbled, which gives you distinct pieces that hold their shape when tossed rather than breaking down and coating everything in a salty paste. Greek PDO feta made from sheep’s milk is the one you want here. It’s creamier, more complex, and has a better texture than Danish feta, and in a salad where the feta is one of the primary flavours the difference is very obvious.
Dried oregano
Traditional in a Greek salad and deliberately dried rather than fresh, which gives a more intense, concentrated herbal flavour that suits the bold, briny character of the other ingredients. Fresh oregano is milder and more delicate and won’t give you the same result here.
Extra virgin olive oil
The backbone of the dressing and the fat that ties everything together. Use your best bottle because it’s going on raw with almost nothing else to hide behind. A good quality extra virgin with a fruity, slightly peppery character suits this salad particularly well.
Red wine vinegar
Optional but recommended. A teaspoon adds a clean acidity that cuts through the richness of the feta and olives and lifts the whole salad. Start with one teaspoon and add more to taste after tossing.
Table salt
Used specifically for the tomato draining step rather than flaky sea salt, because fine table salt dissolves quickly and draws moisture out of the tomatoes more efficiently. The salt goes with the tomatoes and gets discarded with the drained liquid, so it’s not seasoning the salad directly.
Serve this with
- As part of a mezze spread with hummus and baba ganoush for a proper spread situation.
- Grilled lamb chops or chicken souvlaki, where this salad is the obvious and correct accompaniment.
- Warm pita bread or flatbreads on the side for scooping up the salad and any dressing that pools at the bottom of the bowl.
