Greek Salad Recipe with Lemon Dressing

 

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.

I could eat this salad as a stand-alone meal paired with some fluffy and crisp Focaccia Bread. Sometimes we add gyro meat or grilled chicken if serving it as a dinner salad.

Greek Salad Ingredients
Greek Salad is basically a Mediterranean salad. It’s naturally gluten-free (although I’ve been known to sprinkle in some crunchy croutons) 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.

Ingredients for Greek Salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, kalamata olives and feta cheese

Pro Tip: Buy kalamata olives that are already pitted for easier salad prep. Sometimes you can even buy them pre-sliced.

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)
Greek salad dressing pouring onto Greek salad

How to Make Greek Salad
For gatherings or dinner parties, I arrange all of the salad ingredients on the platter for a beautiful presentation then add dressing and toss it all together just before serving.

Prep Lettuce: Chop, rinse and spin dry lettuce and arrange over the bottom of a salad bowl.
Prep Veggies: 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: shake all of the dressing ingredients together in a mason jar. Just before serving, drizzle over the salad to taste and toss to combine.
How to make Greek salad prepared in a mixing bowl with dressing in separate container

Common Questions
What is the best feta cheese for a salad?
You can use just about any feta for this salad and it will be tasty. We prefer block-style feta cheese like the one we used for Feta Pasta. Also, look for feta made of sheep’s milk which is creamier with a lighter taste.

How to crumble feta cheese?
The fastest way is to break it up with your hands into small pieces. It literally takes seconds to crumble feta. If you want to keep your hands clean, you can cut them up with a knife or use a fork.

Can I make this a lettuce-less Greek salad?
Yes, you can omit the lettuce, but we love Greek salad with lettuce because it bulks up the salad to feed a crowd. If omitting lettuce, be sure to add more of the other fresh ingredients.

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 3-5 days 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.

Greek Salad Recipe with Lemon Dressing

Greek salad ingredients arranged in mixing bowl with greek salad dressing on the side
This Greek Salad is a must-try! It is one of the healthiest Mediterranean 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
1/2 avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced
1/2 cup kalamata olives, sliced into thirds
4 oz feta cheese, crumbled
Greek Dressing Ingredients:
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp lemon juice, (from 1 large lemon)
1 garlic clove, pressed or finely minced
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions
Rinse, chop and spin dry romaine lettuce and transfer to a large salad bowl.

Add remaining salad ingredients to the bowl: sliced red onion, sliced bell peppers, halved tomatoes, diced cucumber, diced avocado, kalamata olives, and feta cheese.

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.