This easy Greek Salad recipe is layered with romaine lettuce, bell pepper, red onion, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, chickpeas, olives, and feta cheese, and tossed with a simple Greek salad dressing. It’s fresh, healthy, crunchy, and naturally gluten-free.
I really enjoy a fresh and flavorful salad – kale salad, caesar salad, and romaine lettuce salad are some of my go-to favorites. They are healthy, light, easy to make, and just perfect when all of the produce is in season.
Traditional Greek salad is made without any lettuce, but I just love using nice crunchy romaine for the base of this recipe. You will find yourself coming back to this recipe all summer long – it’s perfect for BBQs, picnics, cookouts, and easy weeknight dinners.
What is in a Greek Salad?
A Greek salad is a traditional classic for a reason, so I don’t stray too far from the basics. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Veggies – This dish is packed full of fresh vegetables including romaine lettuce, bell pepper, red onion, cherry or grape tomatoes, and cucumber.
- Garbanzo beans – Often called chickpeas, they add a satisfying plant-based protein to this salad.
- Feta cheese – Creamy, tangy feta cheese is a must when making this salad! Look for feta sold in a block so you can crumble it yourself. The flavor is superior to pre-crumbled feta!
- Kalamata olives – Salty, briny, buttery olives take the flavor to the next level.
- Salad Dressing – A simple mix of garlic, oregano, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, olive oil, dijon mustard, sea salt, and pepper.
Greek Salad Dressing
No salad is complete without a really good dressing and my homemade Greek salad dressing is about as easy and delicious as it gets. You just need a handful of ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen; garlic, oregano, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, olive oil, dijon mustard, sea salt, and pepper.
You can make the dressing ahead of time and pop it into an airtight container – it will happily last up to a week when stored in the fridge. Just be sure to take it out 30 minutes before serving so the oil comes to room temperature and the dressing blends well.
Customize this salad
- Delicious additions. This salad is perfect just the way it is but if you want to bulk up the toppings a few of my favorites include, avocado, sun-dried tomatoes, marinated mushrooms, and/or artichoke hearts.
- Dietary restrictions. Easily serve this a vegan dish by omitting the feta cheese.
- In a pinch? The homemade vinaigrette is super easy to make but if you’re short on time you can lea non your favorite bottled vinaigrette.
Serving suggestions
This salad is super versatile and pairs well with so many types of meals. I especially love to serve this with my cast iron salmon or this simply grilled chicken breast. It’s also perfect right alongside my Greek-style turkey burgers.
And don’t forget. If you want to keep things super lite – this salad can easily hold up as a meal all on its own.
More salad recipes
Looking for more healthy salads? Here are some faves:
Easy Greek Salad with Lettuce
Ingredients
Greek Salad
- 2 hearts of romaine chopped
- 1 bell pepper chopped (1 cup)
- 1/4 cup red onion thinly sliced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes sliced in half
- 1 cup cucumber chopped
- 1 cup garbanzo beans (chickpeas) drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup kalamata olives sliced in half
- 1/2 cup feta cheese crumbled
Greek Salad Dressing
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
Salad
- Place romaine in a large bowl and layer the veggies, chickepeas, olives and feta cheese over the top.
Salad Dressing
- Combine your garlic, oregano, lemon juice and red wine vinegar in a small jar. Slowly whisk in the extra virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- When ready to eat, drizzle the dressing over the top* and enjoy.
Comments
Rasha says
Looks yammy..
But i have 1 question: can i leave the garlic out?
My stomach can’t tolerate it 🙁
Thank you
Dani Spies says
For sure! Just skip it 🙂
Sue says
What a simple, absolutely delicious salad!! I didn’t have romaine lettuce so I used kale and I served it with a baked chicken breast. Very yummy!! Can hardly wait for tomorrow so I can have the leftovers. Thanks, Dani.
Dani Spies says
I’m so glad you enjoyed this one, Sue! And I love how you swapped in the kale – so good!
Natalie says
We loved the salad! Delicious and full of flavor. Do your calories include the dressing or is it just counting the salad ingredients? I used a similar dressing recipe from another website.
Thank you!
Mary says
Hi Dani
I LOVE YOUR RECIPES. I Love that your kind enough to put all the nutritional information. Could you please tell me the serving size. On the bottom of the page it says serving for 1. It that the serving? And on top of the page where it says prep time the serving size and calories are blank Could you please tell me the serving size and calories.
Beth R says
At the top it says 6 servings. Its really light because you can adjust the serving size. Put your curser next to the serving size and it should show a bar to adjust.
Carol-Anne says
This looks delicious! I’m curious to know how long the salad will keep in the fridge?
Bronwyn Parry says
A traditional Greek salad has no lettuce in it!!!!! Absolutely none!!! So please please stop saying this is a Greek salad. It creates a real problem for people who don’t like lettuce. This used to be one dish you could order where you were guaranteed to get no lettuce but not since this nonsense stated. Just call it a summer salad. It’s NOT A GREEK SALAD.
Dani Spies says
I understand that perhaps a traditional Greek salad has no lettuce but this simply my take on the classic. I love my yGreek salad with lots of lettuce.
Dianne says
Oh my goodness reviewer, try to be a bit kinder with the comments. It’s easy enough to do a search for the exact salad recipe you’re looking for.
BRYAN J TANNER says
It says to put a clove of crushed garlic in it… Do I just crush it and put it in the mix and it adds flavor? Am I supposed to avoid it leaving the jar? Or am I supposed to do something else with it so the garlic can make it to the salad? I’m sorry it’s probably way simple and I’m over complicating it but I just want to do it right
Dani Spies says
The crushed garlic goes right into the salad dressing! Simply mix it right in.
Good Barb says
It was a beautiful salad and so delicious. I put feta and avocado on the side. Everybody loved it Thank you!
Dani Spies says
It’s my pleasure! So glad you enjoyed it.