Mediterranean 🫒 📅 2026-01-30 ⏱️ 15 min total ⭐ Easy

Proper Greek Salad (Horiatiki), No Lettuce, No Shortcuts

The real Greek village salad has no lettuce, no vinegar, and no fussy techniques. Just peak summer vegetables, olive oil, and a slab of feta. Perfect in 15 minutes.

Proper Greek Salad (Horiatiki), No Lettuce, No Shortcuts
🥄
Prep Time
15 min
🔥
Cook Time
0 min
⏱️
Total Time
15 min
🍽️
Servings
2

🛒 Ingredients

Serves 2
  • 4ripe tomatoes, cut into large chunks
  • 1cucumber, partially peeled, cut into half-moons
  • 1green bell pepper, sliced into rings
  • ½red onion, thinly sliced
  • 100 gKalamata olives
  • 150 gblock of feta (whole slab, not crumbled)
  • 4 tbspextra-virgin olive oil (good quality!)
  • 1 tspdried oregano
  • Salt & black pepper
🌿 Vegetarian, Gluten-Free

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1
Arrange the tomatoes, cucumber, pepper, and onion in a wide bowl or on a flat plate. Don't overthink the arrangement, a rustic tumble is authentic.
2
Scatter the olives over the vegetables. Place the whole block of feta on top, do not crumble it. The slab presentation is traditional and the right way.
3
Drizzle generously with olive oil, don't be shy. Sprinkle dried oregano over everything, especially the feta. Season with a small pinch of salt (feta is already salty) and a good grind of black pepper.
4
Let it sit for 5 minutes before serving so the tomatoes release some juice into the olive oil and create a natural dressing. Serve with crusty bread to mop up the juices.

💡 Chef's Tips

The olive oil is the dressing: A proper horiatiki uses only olive oil, no vinegar, no lemon. Use the best extra-virgin olive oil you have. Greek or Spanish work best.

Tomato quality: This salad lives and dies by the tomatoes. Ripe, in-season, room-temperature tomatoes only. Never refrigerated.

The feta rule: Get a block of feta packed in brine, not pre-crumbled. The block stays creamy and flavorful; pre-crumbled is dry and salty. In Greece, it's always a whole slab on top.

📜 A Short History

"Horiatiki" translates roughly to "village" or "peasant" salad, and that's exactly what it was: a simple combination of whatever vegetables, olives, and cheese a household had on hand, not a "salad" in the modern Western sense of leafy greens. The version served internationally, often with lettuce added, is actually a foreign adaptation. The traditional Greek version deliberately has no lettuce at all, which is why this recipe doesn't either.

🍽️ Nutrition (per serving)

595
Calories
14g
Protein
52g
Fat
23g
Carbs
6.3g
Fiber
1483mg
Sodium

Estimated from standard ingredient nutrition data for this recipe as written, serves 2. This is a genuinely rich salad, not a light one, the whole feta block, real olives, and generous olive oil are the actual dish here, not a garnish.