This Greek salad comes together in a flash and is bursting with fresh greens, cucumbers, sweet grape tomatoes & bell pepper, red onion, Kalamata olives, and sheep’s milk feta cheese.
Add your other favorite toppings like crunchy croutons and a homemade Greek Salad Dressing.
Most food bloggers are working on their luscious holiday posts and I’m like uhhhmmmm how about a salad instead?
I’ll be working on a few holiday posts. I’m currently testing out a clothespin cookie recipe. If ya’ll don’t know what a clothespin cookie is, stay tuned. You will.
Where I grew up at and lived in northeast Ohio, the cookie table was very popular at wedding receptions, shower events, etc. The clothespin cookie could almost always be found on the cookie table. It might be my favorite cookie of all time. I haven’t have one since I’ve moved to Florida!
When I moved to Florida and attended some wedding reception’s I was like “Where’s the cookie table?” It doesn’t exist here.
Every year I try to post at least one great holiday cookie recipe and last year it was this kolache cookie recipe.
So stay tuned for that.
Ok back to this delicious Greek Salad. It’s a bit embarrassing to even call this a recipe, but for the sake of being found in Google results…a recipe I shall call it.
We have this great local Greek restaurant that we go to and I love getting their Greek Salad with chicken souvlaki. They throw a surprise dolma in there and it’s so good. A dolma is a stuffed grape leaf. It contains a rice mixture of beef, seasonings, and fresh herbs like mint.
The dolma is served cold in the salad and the mister doesn’t like it so, I get his dolma and Kalamata olives. Who doesn’t like Kalamata olives? I mean, I’m questioning our compatibility at this point.
How to make Fresh Greek Salad:
What’s even in a Greek salad you ask? A great Mediterranean salad starts with base of your favorite lettuce. Romaine lettuce is a very nice choice for a Greek Salad. But feel free to use your favorite lettuce.
You’ll want a ripe cucumber and sweet grape tomatoes are a match made in heaven in this salad. Lately, I’m into mini cucumbers.
I throw in just a small amount of carrot strips by using a vegetable peeler just for a bit of color and pop.
Sweet bell peppers are a great addition and also add color and a balance of sweetness with the salty feta cheese.
But my absolute favorite ingredients in a Greek Salad is Kalamata olives and red onion. I love olives! I mean really love them.
Sometimes, I get a tad miffed when I bite into a Kalamata olive and it has a seed in it! Not only is is a surprise to my teeth, it’s so much work to get the meaty olive off the seed. Then like what do I do with the seed? I’m at a fancy restaurant and now you want me to spit out my food?
So use olives that don’t have seeds in them folks. Black olives are also a great choice in this salad.
Now let’s talk about the other star of this this salad. Feta cheese.
Not all feta cheese is created equal. I talked a little about this in my homemade greek dressing post.
A true authentic Greek feta cheese is make with sheep’s milk or a combination of sheep and goat’s milk.
I’m not a fan of anything goat dairy. I hate to say this but goat cheese smells and tastes like moldy as*.
Feta cheese made with cow’s milk is not a true authentic feta cheese. Try to steer clear of feta made with cow’s milk if possible.
Brick type is also the best. Crumbly feta cheese has additives so the cheese doesn’t clump together. But as I always say, no judgement. It’s a matter of economic and personal preference.
I found a sheep’s milk feta cheese at my local supermarket in the deli. It was imported from Greece and in a brine. It’s pungent, but not overly pungent like goat’s milk feta cheese can be. The brand is called Atalanta Imported Feta Cheese.
Feta cheese in brine also lasts longer.
If you want to know how to pick out an authentic feta cheese, you can read more about choosing the right feta cheese in this article.
And lastly, you want a good quality Greek dressing on your salad and I’ve posted the link for that as well. A fresh homemade salad dressing can really elevate the flavors of even the most boring salad.
It doesn’t take that much time to make a homemade dressing and the results are really worth it. You can always prep the dressing ahead of time. Homemade salad dressing will keep for several days in the refrigerator.
There is no ingredient amounts. You add as much or as little of everything you want. Salads are the easiest recipes to prepare.
Much like my favorite restaurant, I like to add a protein to my salad. You might enjoy this chicken souvlaki recipe.
Don’t forget to top your salad with a dusting of black pepper. I forgo the salt because between the feta and Kalamata olives there’s plenty of salt, savory, & umami tastes happening in this Greek Salad.
Fresh Greek Salad Recipe: with Feta Cheese
Ingredients
- Romaine Lettuce
- Small Carrot
- Cucumber
- Grape tomatoes
- Yellow bell pepper
- Small red onion
- Kalamata olives
- Quality Feta cheese
- Black Pepper to taste
- Croutons (*optional)
Instructions
- Remove stem and chop Romaine lettuce, rinse, and dry with a paper towel or salad spinner.
- Add to large bowl.
- Rinse and peel carrot with vegetable peeler and shred some carrot with peeler over salad.
- Rinse, peel, and slice cucumber & add.
- Rinse tomatoes and add.
- Remove skin, slice red onion thin, and add to salad
- Add Kalamata olives.
- Top with Feta cheese.
- Lightly pepper to taste
- Croutons make a great addition to this salad.
- Drizzle your favorite Greek dressing over salad and enjoy.
I hope you enjoy this Mediterranean salad. What your favorite ingredient in a Greek Salad?
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