Greek Salad, or Salata, is a recipe that we discovered one Thanksgiving, and we’ve been making it ever since. This Greek Salad is simple and flavorful. It makes a great starter, or side dish to any meal with Mediterranean flavors. It’s also the perfect accompaniment for grilled meat. The combination of flavors are light, fresh, but still robust. I’m telling you. This salad is amazing.
Jump to RecipeThe recipe for Greek Salad, Salata, came from a children’s cookbook, and it’s supposed to be representative of a true Greek salad, but I can’t verify that. I’ve never been to Greece. I would give credit to the author, and the book, but after a decade, our library no longer has that cookbook, so I can’t share the source of the original recipe. At the time, the cookbook was very old and worn, which made me suspect that the recipes were good. That was several years ago.
At the time, Bus boy was interested in learning to cook, and we try to encourage our children to pursue their interests whenever possible. Since he has always been our pickiest eater, we hoped that encouraging him to cook would help him to increase his food repertoire and try more things.
He selected this Greek salad recipe from the cookbook, and we prepared it as a starter for Thanksgiving Dinner. He helped to tear the lettuce into the bowl, and set about cutting the cherry tomatoes while I chopped the rest of the vegetables.
The salad took longer to prepare than it would have if I’d done the work myself, but he enjoyed making the salad, so it was time well spent. Once it was finished, Baker’s Man and I fell in love with the combination of flavors in this recipe.
What you will need to prepare the Greek Salad (Salata)
From the Pantry
- red wine vinegar
- fresh garlic
- salt
- black pepper
- dried oregano
- extra virgin olive oil
- black olives
From the Refrigerator
- romaine lettuce
- cherry tomatoes
- cucumber
- bell pepper (The recipe calls for green, but I used red today.)
- scallions
- feta cheese
This Greek salad, made from simple ingredients, tasted amazing. Baker’s Man and I really enjoyed it. My brother’s family shared some of the salad with us, and they fell in love, too.
The most time consuming part of this recipe is cutting up the vegetables, but that doesn’t really take much time if you’ve got a sharp knife. It takes much longer if you’re being assisted by a 7 year old who wants to precisely tear the lettuce and cut the cherry tomatoes for you. However long it takes, it’s worth the time and effort.
Did having Bus Boy help make the salad encourage him to eat it? Unfortunately, the answer is “No.” He adamantly refused to try even one bite of lettuce or one piece of cherry tomato. He did boast, however, that he made the salad to everyone who enjoyed it. Is it just me, or are you suspicious when a cook won’t eat their own cooking? Let me know in the comments below.
We’ve made this Greek salad several times over the years, and we love it like this as a side dish, but we also love to have this salad topped with grilled chicken and served with a side of warm pita bread. It’s like one of those fancy restaurant salads, only it’s healthier, tastes better, and it doesn’t cost as much.
You really need to give this salad a try. We know you’ll fall in love with it, too. The only exception to this is if you don’t like garlic. The addition of the fresh garlic clove to the dressing definitely gives a strong taste of garlic. We love this, but one of my friends isn’t a huge fan of garlic, so this wouldn’t be her favorite dressing.
If you enjoyed this post or found it educational, please share it on your social media accounts, so we can reach more people. While you’re here, please consider subscribing, so you don’t miss a post. Wouldn’t it be nice to have our posts and recipes just show up in your email?
Thanks for visiting Patty Cake’s Pantry.

Greek Salad (Salata)
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 1/2 large head Romaine lettuce torn into pieces ($0.80)
- 10 cherry tomatoes halved ($0.99)
- 1 cucumber peeled and sliced ($0.34)
- 1/2 green bell pepper cored, seeded, and sliced ($0.50)
- 5 scallions thinly sliced ($0.49)
- 1 cup (about 6 oz) feta cheese broken into chunks ($2.99)
- 12 – 16 black (or Greek) olives pitted ($0.99)
For the Dressing
- 2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar ($0.50)
- 1 clove garlic very finely chopped ($0.05)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt ($0.01)
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper ($0.01)
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano ($0.04)
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil ($0.70)
Instructions
Prepare the Dressing
- Place red wine vinegar, finely chopped garlic, vinegar, salt, pepper, and dried oregano in a bowl and whisk together.
- While whisking constantly, add olive oil, and mix well until combined.
- Set Aside.
Assemble the Salad
- Arrange lettuce in a large salad bowl
- Add tomatoes, cucumber, green pepper, scallions, feta cheese, and olives to the bowl
- Stir the dressing again and pour over the salad.
- Toss to mix well
- Serve immediately
Notes
The following nutrition information was calculated for one serving (one-sixth) of the Greek Salad (Salata) prepared according to the recipe above.
Disclaimer: Nutritional information is calculated using online tools such as those available at cronometer.com or verywellfit.com. We make every attempt to ensure that the information is calculated correctly, but this information should be considered estimates. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. In addition, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition-fact sources, databases, and the algorithms used. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful. Under no circumstances will PattyCakesPantry.com be responsible for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on nutritional information provided.
This is really tasty and super easy to make! Thank you so much for sharing this amazing greek salad salata recipe! Will surely have this again! Highly recommended!
Alyssa, I am so glad you enjoyed this salad. Thanks for the rating.
Always looking for a good new salad recipe and I’ll be giving this one a try very soon!
Gwynn, thank you. This is really our favorite salad. Baker’s Man loves the garlic in the vinaigrette.
This was such a great recipe for greek salad! The red wine vinegar in the dressing really made such a difference. We loved it
Claire, Thank you for the kind comment and the rating. I agree. The red wine vinegar really does add something to the vinaigrette.
Looks so fresh, and simple to make!
Liz, we’re all about simple here at Patty Cakes’ Pantry.
Finding a good Greek salad can be hard but this is bomb! I love how authentic it feels and how simple it is to make.
Chandice, thank you for the kind words. As I said in the post, I can’t vouch for the authenticity since I’ve never been to Greece, so I’m glad you authenticated it for me. All I knew for certain is that this salad is delicious, and Baker’s Man is in love with the dressing.