Best Greek Salad Recipe

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This Greek Salad is loaded with fresh vegetables, crispy homemade pita croutons, creamy feta and the best from-scratch Greek dressing. It’s a dreamy mixture of bold flavors and textures that’s a delicious fresh and light meal or side dish. 

overhead photo of Greek Salad in a bowl


Mediterranean food is my absolute favorite. I love a great falafel, Greek meatballs, homemade tztzaki, and Greek Salad is my favorite kind of salad!

This Greek Salad is loaded with fresh vegetables, crispy homemade pita croutons, creamy feta and the best from-scratch Greek dressing. It’s a dreamy mixture of bold flavors and textures that’s a delicious fresh and light meal served topped with grilled Greek chicken, or side dish. 

overhead view of Best Greek Salad in a bowl

Greek Salad Recipe: Ingredients & Substitutions

This recipe is easily customizable – so we will discuss some of the ingredient substitutions. 

overhead photo of the labeled ingredients in this Greek Salad Recipe
  • For the Greek Salad Dressing substitutions see this post: Greek Salad Dressing. 
  • Spring mix.Use your favorite lettuce variety: romaine, baby spinach, baby lettuce, butter lettuce, etc.
  • Baby tomatoes. You can use any type of tomato in this recipe with great results. 
  • Cucumber. I personally think cucumber is an important ingredient in Greek Salad, but you can omit or replace it if you would like. Some suggestions would be: carrots, bell pepper, and avocado. 
  • Red Onion. I love the pop of color and bold flavor that red onion imparts in this recipe, however you can use any onion you prefer. 
  • Kalamata olives. my love for kalamatas runs deep, especially in mediterranean cuisine. You can use any olive variety you choose. 
  • Feta cheese. Another key component of a Greek salad in my opinion, however you could substitute goat cheese or your favorite cheese if desired. 
  • Pita croutons. I love the addition of these pita croutons to this salad – however you can use regular croutons if you’d prefer. Or, you can make these crunchy roasted chickpeas instead of pita chips for a yummy, high-protein crunch. 
greek salad in two smaller bowls

How to Make Greek Salad

As always, we’ll walk through how to make Greek salad step-by-step, and don’t forget to watch the video. 

Make the Pita Croutons

The first step in this Greek salad recipe is to make the pita croutons so they have time to bake and cool slightly (I love fresh, warm croutons my salad – yum). You can make these crunchy roasted chickpeas instead of or in addition to pita croutons as well.

To make them, combine pita, olive oil and sea salt in a large bowl.

how to make greek salad - pita crouton ingredients in a bowl

Then spread the coated pita pieces in an even layer on a baking sheet and bake or 10 minutes, stirring once halfway through. Then set them aside to use later. 

Make the Greek Dressing

I wrote an entire post dedicated to this Greek Dressing (it’s that good). So for more in-depth instructions on how to make it check it out here: Greek Salad Dressing. Basically you just combine the ingredients and set them aside for later! 

Assemble the Salad

To make the Greek Salad, combine the ingredients and pita croutons in a large serving bowl. Be sure to save about 2 tablespoons of each ingredient (cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, cheese, etc.) to top the salad with after dressing for presentation. 

assembling Greek Salad Recipe in a bowl

Then, toss the salad with dressing and top with remaining ingredients. 

dressing being poured over Greek salad in a bowl

Serve

Serve this Greek salad as a delicious main dish, or as a side dish to your favorite Mediterranean recipes. Here are some suggestions: 

greek salad assembled in a serving bowl

Store

This Greek salad doesn’t store very well or last long after it’s made. So I suggest eating it all if you can (serve it to a lot of guests)! You can make it last longer if you choose not to dress it all at once, but instead mix up the veggies, make the croutons, and then dress the individual servings as you eat them. 

You can store dressed Greek salad in the refrigerator but I’d suggest eating it within 1-2 days. 

up close overhead photo of Greek Salad in a bowl

Greek Salad Recipe FAQs

Does Greek salad contain lettuce?

This recipe contains lettuce, but you can use baby spinach, spring mix, etc. instead.

Are Greek salads healthy?

This Greek salad is the whole package – full of veggies, cheese, olives, and bread. A healthy and fresh well-rounded meal.

Can I make a Greek salad the day before?

To be honest, this Greek salad is best when eaten the day it’s prepared. You could wash and chop all the ingredients so they’re ready to go to make the process quicker, but I can’t recommend preparing the entire salad a day in advance

overhead photo of Greek Salad in a smaller bowl

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Best Greek Salad Recipe

Laura
This Greek Salad is loaded with fresh vegetables, crispy homemade pita croutons, creamy feta and the best from-scratch Greek dressing. It’s a dreamy mixture of bold flavors and textures that’s a delicious fresh and light meal or side dish.
5 from 4 votes
Course Appetizer, Main Course, Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine American, Mediterranean
Servings 10 Servings
Calories 142
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time25 minutes

Ingredients 
 

Greek Salad

  • 2.5 ounces spring mix
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes halved
  • 1 cucumber peeled and diced (about 1 cup)
  • ½ cup red onion finely sliced or diced
  • ½ cup Kalamata olives roughly chopped
  • 4 ounces feta cheese

Pita “croutons”

  • 2 pita rounds sliced into 1” pieces (1 pita = 85 g)
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

Greek Salad Dressing

Instructions 

Make the Pita Croutons

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. lightly grease a large baking sheet.
  • In a large bowl, combine pita, olive oil and sea salt.
  • Spread in an even layer on prepared baking sheet.
  • Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, stirring once halfway through.
  • Set aside.

Make the Greek Salad Dressing

  • Either whisk ingredients together in a small bowl, put them in a mason jar and shake to combine, or blend together in a blender. Set aside.

Assemble

  • In a large bowl, combine salad ingredients and pita croutons, saving about 2 TBS of each ingredient to top the salad with after dressing.
  • Toss with dressing.
  • Arrange remaining ingredients on top and serve.

Video

Notes

Store
This Greek salad doesn’t store very well or last very long after it’s made. So I suggest eating it all if you can (serve it to a lot of guests)! You can make it last longer if you choose not to dress it all at once, but instead mix up the veggies, make the croutons, and then dress the individual servings as you eat them. 
You can store dressed Greek salad in the refrigerator but I’d suggest eating it within 1-2 days. 
Ingredient Substitutions
  • For the Greek Salad Dressing substitutions see this post: Greek Salad Dressing. 
  • Spring mix. Use your favorite lettuce variety: romaine, baby spinach, baby lettuce, butter lettuce, etc. My favorite is spring mix. 
  • Baby tomatoes. You can use any type of tomato in this recipe with great results. 
  • Cucumber. I personally think cucumber is an important ingredient in Greek Salad, but you can omit or replace it if you would like. Some suggestions would be: carrots, bell pepper, and avocado. 
  • Red Onion. I love the pop of color and bold flavor that red onion imparts in this recipe, however you can use any onion you prefer. 
  • Kalamata olives. my love for kalamatas runs deep, especially in mediterranean cuisine. You can use any olive variety you choose. 
  • Feta cheese. Another key component of a Greek salad in my opinion, however you could substitute goat cheese or your favorite cheese if desired. 
  • Pita croutons. I love the addition of these pita croutons to this salad – however you can use regular croutons if you’d prefer. Or, you can make these crunchy roasted chickpeas instead of pita chips for a yummy, high-protein crunch. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1cup | Calories: 142kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 419mg | Potassium: 206mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 573IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 84mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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