Our Best Greek Salad Recipes Will Transport Your Taste Buds
These vibrant, nutrient-rich vegetable recipes will inspire you to turn over a new leaf!
The Mediterranean diet—including plenty of Greek salad recipes, fruit, nuts and seeds, fish and seafood, herbs and spices—is ranked time and time again the healthiest eating pattern. These thoroughly modern and traditional Greek salads prove that it’s also a tasty one! Including Greek pasta salad recipes, lettuce-free Greek cucumber salads, hearty Greek chickpea salads, and more, prepare to feel inspired to stock up on Greek salad ingredients ASAP after scrolling through these delicious Greek-inspired dishes.
Horiatiki (Greek Village Salad)
If you typically shy away from the salad course because you’re not all that keen on leafy greens, we have great news. Horiatiki, the traditional Greek salad, actually features zero lettuce. Instead, the Mediterranean dinner starter or side dish is a chunky, hearty remix featuring hearty slabs of feta cheese atop a bed of tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, onions, olives, and capers. With all of those flavors and textures, a drizzle of olive oil and red wine vinegar and a pinch of salt is all this salad is missing.
Greek-Inspired Quinoa Salad with Lemon-Feta Dressing
This Greek quinoa salad takes a cue from Horiatiki and builds on the theme to make the vegetable creation satisfying enough to act as the entrée. Joining the colorful cast of characters: chickpeas, quinoa, fresh spinach, and pita chips. This 100% vegan recipe eats like a real meal thanks to the fiber, protein, and volume boost from those additional fixings.
Related: What Is the Mediterranean Diet? Learn Why Dietitians Recommend It
Kale Falafel Salad with Toasted Pine Nuts
Craving a bit more to deem your meatless meal “dinner”? Complement your fresh Greek salad ingredients—including kale, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and spinach—with pine nuts, falafel, and hummus. Those add-ons lend enough healthy fats and protein to make this dish “a fresh and satisfying full dinner,” according to one reviewer.
Test Kitchen Tip: If you’re feeling ambitious, feel free to whip up homemade hummus and falafel. Or if you’re crunched for time, you have our full permission to use store-bought varieties of both.
Greek Chicken Salad
We fall a little more in love with the gift that is rotisserie chicken every single week. Here, we take the juicy prepared poultry and once again prove that you can quickly (we’re talking 15 minutes!) and easily transform it into something that looks and tastes completely from-scratch. To toss together four protein-packed lunches overflowing with chicken salad Greek flair, shred or chop the chicken and pile it over a bed of mixed greens, cucumbers, and tomatoes, then finish with purchased Greek salad dressing.
Mediterranean Salad on Mini Naan
Requiring zero cooking time or meat to be delicious, this speedy salad recipe is the ultimate Rx for anyone hoping to end their long-term, committed relationship with the $15 takeout salad. (That was us just a couple months ago, before we met this salad in our Test Kitchen!) This basil-spiked and balsamic-drizzled recipe combines elements of Italian and Greek chickpea salad into one main dish that's just as satisfying and almost as simple as the chopped salad chain menu items. Bonus: It still comes with a side of bread!
Related: 18 Hearty Recipes with Chickpeas That Go Beyond Hummus
Greek Isles Supper Salad
Picnic-meets-Piraeus in this unique Greek pasta salad recipe. Olives, tomatoes, feta, artichokes, and a bright homemade vinaigrette give a nod to Greece, while farfalle and broccoli deliver major summer potluck energy. Admittedly a bit less classic than some of the Mediterranean masterpieces on this list, we’re huge fans of the unique flavor and texture combinations—and the fact that this dish showcases how to take a mere 8 ounces of leftover chicken and recreate it into four servings of meal prep lunch.
Chicken, Tomato, and Cucumber Salad
Go your own way with this Greek cucumber salad! We love the original blend of cucumber ribbons, thick tomato slices, olives, feta, and chicken breast tenders. But feel free to get creative if you’re not feeling like a healthy chicken skillet. We’ve swapped fish and even white beans for the chicken, and when large tomatoes aren’t available, cherry or grape tomatoes step in beautifully. Need a dairy-free dinner? Simply skip the feta or opt for a plant-based style.
Greek Quinoa and Avocado Salad
“Show me a recipe that lives rent free in your head” is a common TikTok video intro, and according to one BHG fan, this recipe is her number one answer. “A friend brought this to a work potluck, and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I've tried to like quinoa, but the texture turns me off. Adding the avocado gives it a creamy quality and I just can't get enough of it.” Buttery ripe avocado meets chewy quinoa, crumbly feta and crisp, fresh vegetables in this Greek salad recipe that’s dressed simply in lemon and olive oil. It needs nothing else.
Greek Oregano Chicken with Spinach, Orzo, and Grape Tomatoes
Yes, we know that a Greek salad recipe you can make in your slow cooker might sound like a wacky idea, but trust us. This Mediterranean-inspired dinner has become one of our favorite ways to add brighter, lighter flavors into our usual winter cooking routine. (Although this chicken dinner is a winner any time of year!) For the unique pasta “salad,” simmer anytime-staples—dried herbs and frozen spinach—with a few fresh items—grape tomatoes, garlic and chicken—then toss with orzo, lemon, and cheese.
Cucumber, Olive, and Dill Salad
If a light and refreshing side is what you’re seeking, you can stop your search at this Greek cucumber salad. It’s packed with several elements that can help cut through the richness of even the most decadent of entrées; be it a butter-rubbed prime rib, an ooey-gooey double cheeseburger, or otherwise. Fresh herbs, vinegar, onion, and cucumbers make for an invigorating team. A splash of oil, pinch of salt and sugar, and a handful of olives bring just enough balance.
Falafel Fattoush
Fattoush is the Greek salad recipe (actually, Levantine salad recipe) twist on a bread salad that’s popular in a variety of forms in many cultures. Our Test Kitchen pros have found that it’s the way to breathe new life into leftover, and even stale, pita. For this main dish fattoush, take lettuce, tomatoes, those crunchy toasted pita pieces, roasted chickpeas, and a mix of spices. After just 20 minutes of hands-on prep, you’ll be treated to the ultimate deconstructed falafel wrap in salad form!
Mediterranean Chicken Salad with Greek Dressing
Admittedly non-traditional, but nonetheless a totally tasty lunch concept, you can turn any vegetable mix into a “Greek salad recipe” if you toss it with Greek dressing (and use your imagination a little). Olives, greens, and chicken are the more classic components here. The other stars of the salad, including giardiniera and croutons, are unexpected, optional, but highly recommended.
Test Kitchen Tip: For more Mediterranean mojo, try toasted pita chips instead of croutons and use pickled onions instead of giardiniera.
Mediterranean Tuna Salad with Olive Dressing
If you hear “tuna salad” and think of a mayo-based deli item that’s sandwiched inside a croissant or two slices of bread, this semi-Greek salad recipe will help you expand your definition. A punchy mustard vinaigrette coats the healthy green beans, potatoes, olives, and tuna in this chunky salad that one BHG home cook says is “wonderful.” To save time, they recommend steam-in-the-bag haricots verts and baby potatoes. Brilliant!
