Greek Tomato Salad – Horiatiki Salata

This is the traditional authentic Greek salad also known as peasant salad – horiatiki exactly as I make it for my family at home. Ripe tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, red onion, olives, extra virgin olive oil and good feta cheese. This delicious tomato based salad is the best representative of all the authentic Greek flavors and aromas loved around the world.

Why is this salad the real thing?

Outside Greece, “Greek salad” is usually a lettuce salad with Greek-inspired ingredients, even though the original does not have any lettuce. Lettuce, tomatoes, feta, and olives are the most standard ingredients in an American-style Greek salad. The dressing used can include lemon juice as well as vinegar and olive oil or canola oil. This style of Greek salad is never served in Greece.

The real horiatiki salad is a tomato-cucumber-onion & green bell pepper combination with olives and feta.

The greek salad dressing is extra virgin olive oil with a dash of wine vinegar.

Ingredients for an authentic Greek tomato salad.

• Ripe tomatoes halved and cut in wedges, about half an inch thick.
• Cucumber preferably the English variety, cut in coins.
• Green bell pepper, cored and sliced.
• Red onion slices.
• Your favorite olives. I like the wrinkled black olives but any olives, black, brown or green are absolutely acceptable. Note that in Greece olives are almost never pitted.
• Good quality feta cheese. Try to get Greek feta. I like Dodoni. You can find it in most US supermarkets. Mt Vikos is also a very good choice. It is available at my local Shoprite as well as Whole Foods. Please don’t get the fat free French feta. It is not the real thing and it would never be part of a Greek pantry.
• Good quality extra virgin olive oil. Avoid olive oil blends and please do not use canola oil as a substitute.
• Red wine vinegar. (White is fine too). Usually only a teaspoon is enough.
• A few fresh basil leaves. They add such freshness to the salad. Tomato and basil is a killer combination. Optional because they can sometimes be hard to find.
• Sea salt to taste. I always use iodized sea salt.
• Dry oregano.

I like to use Greek rusks in my salad.

Again, it is totally optional. In Crete where my family is from they mix broken rusks in the tomato salad. They are also served topped with finely chopped fresh tomato, dry oregano, crumbled feta cheese, black olives and extra virgin olive oil. In Crete we also call a rusk dakos.

What is a rusk?

It’s a double baked bread made with barley and/or whole wheat flour, salt and yeast. It is extremely hard, best way to eat one is to run it under water for 5 sec. When they are broken in the salad they absorb the liquids so there is no need to wet ahead of time.

I find my rusks in any Mediterranean market in the NYC area or even on Amazon.

If you don’t have rusks no problem! Be like a Greek* and dip your bread in the salad. It is very common in Greece and it is almost required! The salad liquids are absolutely delicious and perfect for bread dipping.

*Greeks eat bread in every meal. They go to the bakery every day for a fresh loaf of bread.

How do I make the salad dressing?

Horiatiki salad dressing is very simple. Usually 2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and 1 tablespoon (or less) of vinegar are enough. Please DO NOT use lemon in this tomato, cucumber onion salad. It’s a big faux pas to use lemon. There are other greek salads where a lemon & olive oil dressing is appropriate.

Tip

For a great tomato salad let it sit for half an hour after mixing with the seasonings and dressing. This way all the magical tomato liquids get mingled with the feta, olive oil and vinegar and create a match made in heaven.

Funny Fact

Greek tavernas serve the salad without any dressing with an intact big piece of feta on top. The reason for that is they have pre-made salads ready to be served in their fridge. Every taverna table has olive oil, vinegar, sea salt and white pepper. The patrons add the dressing and the seasoning to their taste when the salad is served on their table. The feta cheese gets broken into pieces and the salad is mixed. When we are at home, we do not serve the salad this way. There is absolutely no reason for the ingredients not to be mixed and the feta to be intact.

You have all the insider information you need to create an authentic delicious Greek salad. Enjoy!

You may also like

• Try these delicious stuffed squash blossoms.
• Greek ratatouille is called Briam and is full of hearty veggies and extra virgin olive oil.
• This tomato soup has traditional Greek flavors and it’s easy to make.

Check all the pantry items a Greek kitchen wouldn’t go without.

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Traditional Greek Salad

This is the authentic Greek salad – horiatiki with tomatoes, cucumber, onion, olive oil and feta cheese.

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Cook Time: 5 minutes

Resting time: 30 minutes

Course: Lunch, Salad

Cuisine: Greek

Servings: 2

Calories: 325kcal

Author: Jenny

Ingredients

• 2-3 tomatoes halved and cut in wedges, about half an inch thick. 2-3 tomatoes halved and cut in wedges, about half an inch thick. 
• ½ english cucumber cut in coins. ½ english cucumber cut in coins. 
• 1 green bell pepper cored and sliced 1 green bell pepper cored and sliced
• ⅓ red onion sliced⅓ red onion sliced
• ½ cup olives your favorite kind½ cup olives your favorite kind
• ½ cup feta cheese½ cup feta cheese
• 2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar to taste, you can add more if you prefer1 teaspoon red wine vinegar to taste, you can add more if you prefer
• fresh basil leavesfresh basil leaves
• 1 tablespoon dry oregano1 tablespoon dry oregano
• sea salt to tastesea salt to taste

Instructions

• Mix all fresh ingredients together. Season with sea salt to taste. Add 2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and a tablespoon red wine vinegar.
• Mix well and let the salad sit for half an hour before serving.

Notes

• This tomato salad recipe is enough for two people as a main. when you pair it with bread or rusks. We often have it for lunch at home. 
• Greek salad makes a great side to anything grilled. Try it with grilled chicken, burgers and your favorite fish.

Nutrition

Calories: 325kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 33mg | Sodium: 954mg | Potassium: 556mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 1614IU | Vitamin C: 68mg | Calcium: 233mg | Iron: 1mg

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