Authentic Greek Salad (Horiátiki Salata)
Loved the Greek Salad you had in Greece on holiday? Now you can make it at home! This Authentic Greek Salad (AKA Horiátiki Salata) is incredibly simple to make, but tastes just like you are back in Greece! (Serves 4-6, depending on appetite and accompaniments.)
Servings 6 people
Calories 161kcal
Ingredients
- ½ red onion sliced finely
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 200 g large ripe tomatoes (the best you can find), roughly chopped
- 150 g cucumber roughly chopped (See Note 1)
- 1 small green bell pepper thinly sliced
- 15 kalamata olives stones removed
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (ideally Greek!)
- 3 teaspoons dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 150 g block Greek feta left whole (See Note 2)
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Place the finely sliced red onion and 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar in the bottom of a large salad bowl. Rub the vinegar into the onion. (See Note 3.)
- Add the roughly chopped tomatoes and cucumber, together with the green pepper, kalamata olives, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, 2 teaspoons of the oregano and all the salt.
- Stir thoroughly, then top with the whole block of feta. Sprinkle over the remaining 1 teaspoon of oregano, add a few twists of black pepper then drizzle with the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
Notes
- Some recipes call for the removal of both the cucumber skin and the seeds. Personally I see no need for that – it feels like extra, unnecessary effort and it also seems a little wasteful. However, if you prefer, you can of course remove the skin/seeds. In which case, you will need 150g / 5oz cucumber AFTER you’ve removed the skin and seeds.
- Feta is traditionally served in one piece on top of a Greek salad. However, if you prefer, you can cut it into cubes prior to serving or crumble it over the top. You can also use mizithra cheese in place of feta, if you can find it. Mizithra cheese is often used in place of feta in Crete and IMHO it’s even nicer than feta – but it’s really hard to find in the UK!
- This step is not strictly “authentic” and you can absolutely leave this step out if you want a super authentic Greek salad… BUT, if you do this step, you’ll get much nicer tasting onions and you’ll get a much nicer tasting dressing – so why wouldn’t you do this? Basically, by first mixing the onions and vinegar together you soften the flavour of the onions while also transferring some of that onion flavour to the dressing… it’s a tiny extra step, but well worth it!
- Not suitable for freezing.
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
Nutrition
Calories: 161kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 22mg | Sodium: 638mg | Potassium: 182mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 503IU | Vitamin C: 16mg | Calcium: 155mg | Iron: 1mg