This Mediterranean salad recipe is super fresh and full of fantastic flavor. It’s made with delicious ingredients like crisp lettuce, spicy red onion, tomatoes, olives, crunchy cucumber and feta cheese. Top everything off with a bright, homemade lemon and olive oil dressing!
I think you’d have a difficult time finding someone who doesn’t enjoy Mediterranean flavors! They’re definitely a big hit with my friends and family.
If you like this salad, be sure to check out my Mediterranean Chicken Skillet, Instant Pot Mediterranean Chicken, Mediterranean Cauliflower Salad or this Mediterranean Quinoa Salad. You can’t go wrong with any of these delicious recipes!
How To Make This Mediterranean Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- Lettuce — I recommend butter, iceberg or romaine lettuce! You can also mix in chopped spinach if you want some darker greens.
- Tomatoes — Cherry tomatoes taste best in my opinion though you can also use grape tomatoes! Additionally, you can chop up larger varieties like Roma or beefsteak if desired.
- Red onion — Spicy and flavor-packed.
- Cucumber — I like to use English cucumbers for my salad, but any type will do.
- Olives — Use your favorite kind of olives, I generally go with kalamata or black olives.
- Feta cheese — If you’re not a huge feta fan, goat cheese crumbles also work nicely in this salad!
- Parsley — For extra color and flavor.
- Dressing — A simple, homemade dressing of lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt and freshly ground black pepper!
Instructions
Prep produce:
- This salad is full of colorful, healthy produce! Start things off by rinsing all of your veggies, then dry and chop into small pieces.
Combine salad ingredients:
- Next, grab an extra-large bowl and add all of your prepped produce along with olives and feta cheese crumbles.
Make dressing:
- Add lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, minced garlic, salt and pepper to a small bowl or mason jar then whisk well until dressing ingredients are emulsified!
Toss and serve:
- Drizzle salad dressing over fresh produce and toss well to coat, then serve and enjoy!
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Recipe Tips
- If your red onion is super spicy, you can soak it in cool water for around fifteen minutes to help calm the intensity.
- I like using English cucumbers for my salad because they have less seeds, but any kind will work.
- Chop all produce into nice, small pieces so you get a bit of everything in each bite. This will also make your salad easier to eat!
- I highly recommend using fresh lemon juice rather than bottled, the flavor is so much better as bottled citrus juice can taste a bit stale.
- Planning to enjoy your salad later? Keep the dressing to the side and add it just before serving! This will help keep the produce to fresh.
How To Store Leftovers
To Store: Place salad in an airtight container and keep dressing separate if you plan to serve at a later time, this will help ingredients to stay fresh and crisp! I’ve also found that placing a paper towel in the bottom of my container can help maintain freshness by soaking up excess moisture. Add dressing just before serving!
What To Serve With Mediterranean Salad
- You can’t go wrong with carbs! Warm pita bread is a classic in Mediterranean cuisine and would go perfectly with this salad, you can also serve it with dinner rolls and butter or garlic bread if you don’t have any pita.
- Add a hearty grain or legume: A big scoop of fluffy quinoa or rice would be super delicious in this salad, chickpeas or cooked lentils would also be yummy.
- Serve this salad as a side for garlic butter lamb chops or pan seared steak! And don’t forget to add some roasted veggies like asparagus, cauliflower, or green beans.
- A delicious sauce will certainly add extra interest to your salad, try some tangy tzatziki, hummus or creamy avocado sauce!
- Take this salad for lunch alongside summer fruit salad and a sweet treat like these peanut butter oatmeal cookies.
Recipe Variations
- Add protein: top your salad with air fryer shrimp, air fryer salmon or roasted chicken. Want to keep it vegetarian? Try incorporating tofu, chickpeas, falafel or beans.
- Dairy free: It’s easy to make this recipe dairy free, simply leave out the feta cheese! You can also serve your feta on the side for those who’d like to add some to their helping.
- Avocado: Some creamy avocado slices would go perfectly atop this salad, avocado is not only delicious but full of healthy fats.
- Other veggies: You can add pretty much any other veggie to this salad so use up what you’ve got on hand. Edamame, bell peppers, zucchini, carrots or celery would all be tasty.
- Dressing: This recipe does include a simple, homemade salad dressing. You can definitely get creative and use a different type, if preferred.
- Seasonings: I typically use only salt and pepper in this recipe, but you can get creative and add other spices if you want, a Greek seasonings blend would definitely be delicious!
Recommended Tools
Small, Sharp Knife. For chopping produce.
Large Bowl. Used to assemble and toss salad.
Lidded Mason Jar. Perfect for homemade dressing!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! This salad is naturally gluten free and can easily be made dairy free by leaving out the cheese.
I consider this Mediterranean salad recipe to be very healthy. It’s full of nutritious veggies and healthy fats from the citrus and olive oil dressing! Not to mention, it’s also low calorie and low carb.
This recipe includes a tasty homemade lemon vinaigrette, but you can really add whatever dressing you prefer. You can use a storebought Greek dressing, Italian dressing or vinaigrette. Sometimes I like to simply drizzle my veggies in olive oil and red wine vinegar, yum!
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Mediterranean Salad Recipe
Ingredients
FOR THE SALAD
- 4-6 cups lettuces chopped
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes cut in half
- ½ medium red onion diced
- 1 cup cucumber chopped
- 1 cup Kalamata olives
- ¼ cup feta cheese crumbles
- Fresh parsley chopped
FOR THE DRESSING
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic minced
- Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large salad bowl, add all the ingredients for the salad.
- In a mason jar, pour the freshly squeezed lemon juice and olive oil. Add salt, pepper, garlic and whisk everything together. Taste to check the seasoning and add more if needed.
- Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well.
- Top with extra feta cheese and parsley. Enjoy!
Tips
- If your red onion is too spicy, soak it in cool water for 15 minutes.
- I like English cucumbers in this salad, they have fewer seeds!
- Chop produce into really small pieces so you get some of everything in each bite.
- Use fresh lemon juice for the best flavor.
- To store: I recommend not adding the dressing to the salad if you plan on storing it in the fridge as it can get soggy. This salad lasts for up to 4 days in the fridge when stored separately.
Video
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.
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Rebecca says
Where are the nutrient values?
Olivia says
Soon it will be added. Thanks