greek salad

Greek salad with tomatoes, cucumber, olives, and feta. Crunchy, salty, satisfying in 15 minutes. Try it for a lunch that actually fills you up.

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Total Time 16

Servings: 4 servings

Course: Salad

Cuisine: Greek

Calories: 240

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

salad

3 unit ripe tomatoes cut into wedges
1 unit cucumber sliced into half-moons
0.5 unit red onion thinly sliced
1 cup kalamata olives pitted
0.5 cup feta cheese in large crumbles
2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
0.5 teaspoon dried oregano
0.25 teaspoon salt or more to taste

Method

Cut the tomatoes into wedges and slice the cucumber into half-moons. I always keep the cucumber skin on for more crunch and fiber.
Thinly slice half a red onion. If onions taste too strong for you, soak them in cold water for 5 minutes, then drain—takes the edge off.
Add tomatoes, cucumber, onion, and kalamata olives to a large bowl. Toss gently to combine.
Sprinkle with the feta cheese in large crumbles—don’t mash it, let the pieces stay chunky.
Whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, oregano, and salt in a small bowl. I always add half the salt at this point, taste after tossing, then add more if needed—feta can make things saltier fast.
Pour the dressing over the salad. Give everything a gentle toss so you don’t break the veggies or feta too much. Serve right away—Greek salad doesn’t sit well in the fridge, the tomatoes keep releasing juice and everything gets soggy.

Notes

There are nights when I’m not in the mood to cook, but I still want something crunchy, salty, and filling—Greek salad is my default. It’s one of those things that actually keeps me full until my next meal, thanks to the mix of veggies and chunky feta.

Little tricks for bigger flavor

Let your tomatoes sit out on the counter until you’re ready—cold tomatoes taste bland. Soak the red onion slices in cold water for a few minutes if they’re too sharp; it takes out the sting without losing that bite. Whenever I make the dressing, I start with half the salt, toss, then taste—because feta and olives can turn everything salty fast.

An odd but true thing: Don’t mix this salad in advance. The tomatoes will release a ton of juice in the fridge and you end up with soup. I learned this after thinking it’d be great for meal prep. If you want to pack it for lunch, keep the veggies and dressing separate and toss right before eating.

Substitutions that actually work

Don’t like raw onion? Skip it—no big loss. If you only have regular black olives, use them, but kalamata really brings the briny pop that makes Greek salad what it is. Bell peppers are traditional in some places—I throw in a handful of sliced green pepper if I have it. Don’t swap feta for fresh mozzarella or goat cheese; both get kind of mushy and dull in this context.