Course
18 Greek Salads
Greek salad-making rests on very few ingredients treated well. No lettuce in a horiatiki, good oil, and tomatoes that have seen actual sun.
Greek salads rest on very few ingredients treated well. A horiatiki has no lettuce in it and no vinaigrette: tomatoes, cucumber, onion, pepper, olives, a slab of feta and good oil. If the tomatoes are poor, nothing else on the plate will save it.
Away from the famous one, most of these are everyday salads. Cabbage and carrot shredded fine with oil and lemon goes with grilled meat all year. Potato salad is dressed warm, with oil and vinegar and no mayonnaise. Beetroot comes with garlic yogurt. White beans, lentils and chickpeas each make a salad of their own.
Cretan dakos is the one for summer: a barley rusk softened just enough, under grated tomato, soft cheese and oil.
Every recipe on Kalliopi's Kitchen carries the dish's Greek name and a pronunciation, its region where that is meaningful, ingredient quantities in both metric and imperial, and an honest note on what commonly goes wrong. Nutrition figures are calculated estimates and are labelled as such.
1. Greek Salad
Horiatiki salata · Χωριάτικη σαλάτα · hor-YAH-tee-kee sah-LAH-tah
Horiatiki means village salad: what was growing outside, chopped and oiled. There is no lettuce in it. The feta goes on top as one thick slab, never crumbled, and you break bits off as you eat. The dressing is olive oil, a splash of red wine vinegar, salt and oregano, straight into the bowl.
Yiayia’s tip: Room temperature, not fridge cold. Cold blunts tomato flavour badly. Take the tomatoes and feta out of the fridge half an hour before you build the salad.
Make Greek Salad2. Cretan Dakos
Dakos · Ντάκος · DAH-kos
Barley rusk was baked twice to last months at sea, and it comes out rock hard. Dakos is how Crete brings it back, with water and olive oil. The tomato is grated so its pulp soaks down, and the cheese is soft, mild mizithra. It is no Greek salad on a rusk.
Yiayia’s tip: Buy real barley rusks. Wheat rusks and dried bread are not the same. Barley paximadi has a nuttier, denser quality and holds up under the tomato. Greek delis and larger supermarkets stock them.
Make Cretan Dakos3. Beetroot Salad with Garlic Yogurt
Pantzarosalata · Παντζαροσαλάτα · pahn-dzah-roh-sah-LAH-tah
Deep magenta beetroot under a white spoon of skordalia or garlicky yogurt, and it tastes the way it looks: sweet and earthy, cut by garlic and vinegar. If the leaves came with it, they are cooked as well and dressed on their own. A winter meze, and better after a while in the fridge.
Yiayia’s tip: Cook beetroot whole and unpeeled. Cutting before cooking lets the colour and flavour bleed out. Peel only once fully cooked and cool enough to handle.
Make Beetroot Salad with Garlic Yogurt4. Cabbage and Carrot Salad
Lachanosalata · Λαχανοσαλάτα · lah-hah-noh-sah-LAH-tah
The plain cabbage salad that sits beside souvlaki or grilled chicken in tavernas all year. Cabbage, carrot, olive oil and either lemon or vinegar, made by feel, never measured. It is not politiki salata, the Constantinople version made around Christmas. Keep the dressing sharp and plain, which is why it works next to grilled meat.
Yiayia’s tip: Shred it fine. A thick, rough chop leaves the cabbage tasting raw and tough even once dressed. Fine and even is what gives a proper slaw texture.
Make Cabbage and Carrot Salad5. Romaine and Spring Onion Salad
Marouloasalata · Μαρουλοσαλάτα · mah-roo-loh-sah-LAH-tah
The salad of the Greek spring, and the one that sits next to the Easter lamb. Its crispness cuts through rich meat far better than a tomato salad. The lettuce is shredded fine, closer to a slaw than to torn leaves, with spring onion and plenty of dill.
Yiayia’s tip: Use romaine or cos, not a soft lettuce. Sturdier leaves hold up far better to shredding and dressing than a delicate butterhead variety.
Make Romaine and Spring Onion Salad6. Potato Salad
Patatosalata · Πατατοσαλάτα · pah-tah-toh-sah-LAH-tah
There is no mayonnaise in a Greek potato salad. Olive oil and red wine vinegar go on while the potatoes are warm, when they take the dressing in instead of wearing it on the outside. Red onion, capers and fresh herbs finish it. It travels better in the heat than a mayonnaise salad.
Yiayia’s tip: Boil the potatoes whole and unpeeled. This keeps them from absorbing extra water, which would otherwise dilute the finished salad's flavour.
Make Potato Salad7. White Bean Salad
Fasolia salata · Φασόλια σαλάτα · fah-SOH-lyah sah-LAH-tah
A relative of fasolada, the bean soup: white beans cooked tender, dressed warm with vinegar, olive oil, parsley and plenty of red onion, and eaten warm or at room temperature. During Lent it is a main course, not a side. It sits for hours without harm, having no dairy or mayonnaise.
Yiayia’s tip: Salt only once the beans are tender. Salting the cooking water early toughens the skins of any dried pulse.
Make White Bean Salad8. Simple Greek Sliced Tomato Salad
Ntomatosalata · Ντοματοσαλάτα · doh-mah-toh-sah-LAH-tah
Horiatiki with everything taken away except the tomato. No cucumber, no onion, no feta: only olive oil, dried oregano and salt. It is on Greek tables all through high summer. Be generous with the oregano, which stands in for all that is missing, and give it ten minutes so the juice runs into the oil.
Yiayia’s tip: Use only properly ripe tomatoes. This dish has nowhere to hide a bland or underripe one. It is genuinely not worth making outside tomato season.
Make Simple Greek Sliced Tomato Salad9. Orzo Pasta Salad
Kritharosalata · Κριθαρόσαλατα · kree-thah-roh-sah-LAH-tah
A modern dish, not an inherited one. In recent decades cold orzo salad has become a fixture of Greek barbecues and picnics, built from the vegetables and dressing of a horiatiki. Make it ahead: the pasta wants a few hours in the fridge to take up the dressing. It lasts for days.
Yiayia’s tip: Rinse the orzo after cooking. This stops it cooking further and cools it quickly, which matters for a cold salad.
Make Orzo Pasta Salad10. Lentil Salad
Fakes salata · Φακές σαλάτα · fah-KES sah-LAH-tah
The lentils of fakes soup, taken the other way: served cold with olive oil, red wine vinegar, parsley and plenty of red onion. Dress them while still warm, because warm lentils take the dressing in and cold ones leave it on top. It lasts for hours at room temperature, which makes it picnic food.
Yiayia’s tip: Do not overcook the lentils. A salad wants distinct lentils that hold their shape, not a mushy puree. Check from 25 minutes onwards.
Make Lentil Salad11. Chickpea Salad
Revithosalata · Ρεβιθοσαλάτα · reh-vee-thoh-sah-LAH-tah
Chickpeas taste of very little on their own, so this cold salad lives on its dressing: olive oil, lemon, parsley and red onion, and plenty of salt and pepper. It needs no oven, unlike the slow-baked revithada. It keeps and travels well, and with good bread it makes a light main course.
Yiayia’s tip: Good tinned chickpeas are a genuine shortcut. Well rinsed and drained, they turn this into a very fast dish without much loss of quality.
Make Chickpea Salad12. Simple Greek Cucumber and Tomato Salad
Angourodomata · Αγγουροντομάτα · ahn-goo-roh-doh-MAH-tah
Cucumber and tomato, as the name says: angouri and domata. It is what a Greek household makes on an ordinary day, when horiatiki, with feta, green pepper and olives, is more than the meal needs. Oil, vinegar and oregano are enough. Dress it late, because both vegetables give up water once cut.
Yiayia’s tip: Dice small and even. This suits the salad's role as a quick, everyday side, distinct from the larger wedges used in a full horiatiki.
Make Simple Greek Cucumber and Tomato Salad13. Grated Carrot Salad
Karotosalata · Καροτοσαλάτα · kah-roh-toh-sah-LAH-tah
Sweet grated carrot against a serious amount of raw garlic, with olive oil and red wine vinegar. It has bite. Beside grilled meat and fried food it does what skordalia does beside fried fish. It keeps a day or two in the fridge, and the garlic barely mellows.
Yiayia’s tip: Crush the garlic to a smooth paste. Chunks of raw garlic hit unevenly. A properly worked paste distributes the flavour evenly through the salad.
Make Grated Carrot Salad14. Ionian Rusk with Tomato and Oregano
Riganada · Ριγανάδα · ree-gha-NAH-tha
Oregano, rigani, gives this its name, and it is the main flavour, not a finishing pinch. On Kefalonia and Lefkada a barley rusk is moistened, then loaded with olive oil, grated tomato and dried oregano. Cretan dakos is its nearest relative. It is best five minutes after assembly, before the rusk goes soggy.
Yiayia’s tip: Salt the tomato, not the rusk. Barley rusks are already salty. Season the grated tomato instead and taste before adding more, or the finished plate can be overwhelming.
Make Ionian Rusk with Tomato and Oregano15. Pickled Rock Samphire Salad
Kritamo · Κρίταμο · KREE-tah-moh
Rock samphire grows straight out of cracks in sea cliffs, and tavernas across the Dodecanese and the Cyclades keep a jar of it. It crunches like a young bean and bites like celery and fennel. Like capers, it gets a brief blanch, a day in vinegar and salt, then months under olive oil.
Yiayia’s tip: Do not add salt when you serve it. Kritamo has been salted twice and grows in sea spray to begin with. Taste before seasoning anything you put it in, including the salad it goes on top of.
Make Pickled Rock Samphire Salad16. Constantinople-Style Cabbage Slaw
Politiki salata · Πολίτικη σαλάτα · poh-LEE-tee-kee sah-LAH-tah
The name comes from Poli, which is what Greeks with roots in Constantinople still call the city. Finely shredded white cabbage with carrot and red pepper, dressed sharply with olive oil and lemon. It is on winter tables all over Greece, and at Christmas above all.
Yiayia’s tip: Shred everything very fine. This is a slaw, not a chopped salad. A mandoline or food processor gives a far more even texture than a knife.
Make Constantinople-Style Cabbage Slaw17. Raw Grated Courgette Salad
Kolokithosalata · Κολοκυθοσαλάτα · koh-loh-kee-thoh-sah-LAH-tah
Courgette that never sees a pan or an oven. It is grated coarsely and dressed raw with lemon, olive oil and fresh mint, all in about ten minutes. Mint is the traditional herb here, not dill or parsley. Make it in high summer and eat it within the hour.
Yiayia’s tip: Do not skip the salting step. Raw courgette holds a surprising amount of water, and squeezing it out keeps the finished salad from turning watery.
Make Raw Grated Courgette Salad18. Kalymnos Barley Rusk Salad
Mermizeli · Μερμιζέλι · mer-mee-ZEH-lee
Every taverna on Kalymnos serves this and no two make it alike. The fixed parts are broken barley rusk, ripe tomato, onion, capers, olives, a soft cheese such as kopanisti on top and olive oil in quantity. The rusk sits underneath and softens into the salad, which is what separates it from Cretan dakos.
Yiayia’s tip: Use every drop of tomato juice. Chop the tomatoes on a board with a lip, or straight into the bowl, and tip the juice in with them. That juice is the main liquid the rusk has to work with.
Make Kalymnos Barley Rusk Salad
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