Garden-fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, fresh basil, and kalamata olives are tossed with a house made Greek dressing. Salty feta cheese brings a nice tang to the salad making this a bright and flavorful Summer salad or side dish.
Fresh salads made with garden fresh ingredients are some of my favorite warmer weather meals. Making meals that require simple, fresh, ingredients, and pantry-staples like oil and vinegar are the best kinds.
Now that our cucumbers are on continuous harvest I have been making recipes like these Refrigerator (cold-packed) Pickles, and this Watermelon Feta Salad.
I figured I would make a spin on my favorite salad which happens to be Greek salad! Did you know that traditional Greek salad does not feature lettuce? Originally, it was made with cucumbers as the base–I am fine with that! Sometimes lettuce just gets in the way!
Fresh tomatoes on the vine and basil were also on-hand so why not make this tasty and easy salad? Earlier in the day, I went to the local Syrian bakery which sells fresh feta by the chunk. It is amazing how tasty fresh feta is when compared to the packaged cup varieties. But, if it cups are all you can find that is okay!
How to prepare cucumbers
First off, you will want to wash your cucumbers and dry them before slicing. For this salad, I decided to leave the skin on my cucumbers. Since we grow an organic garden, I was confident the skin was safe. Plus, most nutrients in fruits and veggies actually contain the most nutrients.
I decided to just cut my cucumbers in roughly 1/4″ slices. However, you can cut yours in chunks if you please with the skin on or off.
Cucumber Greek salad ingredients
- Cucumbers – any variety works
- Tomatoes- your choice of varsities
- Red onions
- Kalamata onions
- Feta- fresh in natural brine tastes best
How to make Greek house dressing
To make fresh and delicious Greek House dressing you will need the following fresh, quality ingredients.
- Fresh basil
- Garlic
- Champagne vinegar
- Extra virgin olive oil
- salt
I have personally found that a garlic press works best for extracting all the natural oils and flavor fresh garlic cloves boast.
This recipe made 3/4 a cup of dressing which was ample for this recipe quantity.
I made it right before I prepped my veggies and allowed my flavors to marinate for an hour in the fridge.
Prep & storage
Greek Cucumber Salad can be made and eaten right away. However, with most salad recipes, it tastes better the longer in sits.
You can make this salad 24 hours before serving. If you store this recipe correctly, you can get 3 days out of it. You might even be able to get more, but ours goes so quickly because it is delicious!
Overall, this salad was so delicious when served with some fresh pita bread! You can totally eat it as a main meal or a side dish this summer season!
Strawberry spinach salad
Cucumber Greek Salad
Ingredients
- 4 garden fresh cucumbers 4 cups *your choice of variety
- 2 large tomatoes on the vine
- 1/2 cup Kalamata olives pitted
- 1 small red onion sliced into thin rings
- 1/2 cup fresh feta crumbled
Greek House Dressing
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup champagne vinegar
- 2 tbsps. fresh basil sliced thin
- 6 whole garlic cloves crushed
- 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
Instructions
- Wash and dry all your fruits and veggies.
- Slice cucumbers (peel on) into 1/4" discs.
- Slice tomatoes into small wedges,
- Peel and slice onion into thin rings.
- Crumble feta (if applicable)
- Toss all veggies and cheese together in a serving dish; set aside.
Dressing
- Add garlic cloves to your garlic press until each is finished being pressed.
- Add garlic, salt, thyme, and fresh basil to a medium bowl. Pour in the oil, and vinegar.
- Whisk all ingredients together and pour over the veggies.
- Toss Greek Cucumber Salad and chill for at least 1 hour before serving.
I just love a good Greek salad! This ones looks perfect. :)
This salad was so cool and refreshing. It was the perfect lunch on such a hot day. The flavors were crisp and so tasty!
One of our favorite salads to make! We love all of the fresh veggies!
What a delicious and healthy salad! And the dressing is so delicious!
I ate so much of this when we were in Greece. It’s one of my favourite salads.