Mediterranean Salad with Greek Salad Dressing

This Mediterranean Salad with Greek Salad Dressing is a refreshing salad with a gorgeous assortment of veggies, topped with a homemade addictive dressing!

In the mood for bold and flavorful salads? Try out my Simple Tossed Green Salad, Smoked Salmon Salad, Italian Green Salad, or Portillos Chopped Salad next!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Fresh & Healthy: Sometimes, a fresh salad is just what I need. I packed this Mediterranean salad with a bunch of chopped vegetables like onion, bell peppers, olives, tomatoes and cucumbers for a healthy yet super satisfying salad. Along with a seriously addictive, homemade dressing, this salad is going to be your new go-to!

Perfectly Balanced Flavors: When I tell you that this Mediterranean salad with greek salad dressing is delicious, I am not lying. All of those fresh veggies along with tart yet savory feta cheese, salty kalamata olives, and the homemade Greek dressing combine for a salad with perfectly balanced flavors in each bite. Plus, by adding salt and freshly cracked pepper, you can adjust how you want your salad to taste!

Ingredients

For the Mediterranean Salad:

• Red Onion: Thinly sliced red onion adds a lot of flavor and crunch. I like to soak my onion in cold water before using it, to take out some of the acidic bite that red onion is known for.
• Red & Green Bell Pepper: While this is optional, I wouldn’t skip it! I love bell peppers for their flavor and texture and they go perfectly with the homemade dressing.
• Grape Tomatoes: Quartering the grape tomatoes ensures that you get a little piece of tomato in every bite. Yum!
• Feta Cheese: You can use either a block of feta or already crumbled feta. I prefer to use the block of feta and crumble it myself for bigger chunks of cheese.
• Kalamata Olives: Kalamata olives are the classic type of olives that are added to Mediterranean and Greek salads. They add a punch of flavor!
• English Cucumber: I love using English cucumber here, so that I can keep some of the peel on. Plus, English cucumbers have smaller seeds which I prefer!

For the Greek Salad Dressing:

• Olive Oil: Olive oil creates the base of the dressing here.
• Red Wine Vinegar: A bit of red wine vinegar adds a bit of an acidic taste.
• Dried Oregano: Dried oregano adds so much flavor here and ties all of it together.
• Lemon Zest: Fresh lemon zest will brighten up the dressing without adding more acid.

Here’s How to Make It

Step by Step Instructions

This Greek salad can be thrown together in just a few minutes using a large salad bowl. Here are the simple instructions:

1. Soak the onion slices in a bowl of cold water to remove their acidic bite. Set aside. (photo 1)
2. Whisk together all of the dressing ingredients. (photo 2)
3. Place all of the salad ingredients into a large bowl and season with a little salt and lots of cracked pepper. Drain and pat dry the onion slices on a piece of paper towel before adding them to the bowl. Add the dressing and gently fold the salad together, taking care not to break up the feta too much. Add more salt and pepper if needed before serving. (photos 3-4)

Expert Tips

• Make it a full meal! You can add chickpeas for protein, or even a piece of grilled chicken or steak to the Mediterranean salad to make it a full meal. Another delicious option would be fresh falafel!
• To chop the cucumbers, I like to peel strips off the skin rather than peel the entire thing. Then, cut thick round slices and quarter them so they are about the same size as the tomatoes. This makes the cucumbers extra beautiful with a bit of the peel still on!
• To keep your feta crumbles intact, try adding the feta after combining the rest of the ingredients. Although the feta won’t get coated in dressing, it will keep the salad from getting a chalky look from broken up feta!
• Switch up your cheese! You can skip the feta and try blue cheese or goat’s cheese in this greek salad. Or, try mozzarella or parmesan if you prefer!
• Eat it right away, if possible. I like to eat this salad fresh on the day that I make it. You can make it ahead by a few hours and let it sit in the fridge until you are ready to serve. If you don’t think you’ll be able to eat the whole salad, refrain from adding the dressing to the whole salad and just add the dressing as you go. The salad without the dressing can stay in the fridge for 2 days.

More Fresh Salad Recipes to Try

• Portillos Chopped Salad
• Greek Tortellini Pasta Salad
• Broccoli Apple Salad with Poppyseed Dressing
• Berry Orzo Spinach Salad
• Apple Cranberry Walnut Salad