Greek Cucumber Salad

Why This Recipe is a Keeper!

Cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, olives, chickpeas, feta cheese, and aromatic herbs are all combined with a bright and tangy vinaigrette for a lively taste of summer in this Greek-inspired cucumber feta salad.

Although this salad tastes like summer, good cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and all the other ingredients are available all year long, so you can make this Greek Cucumber Salad anytime you’re craving a taste of the Mediterranean.

Cut or chop this Greek Cucumber Salad however you please, so no special knife skills are required. (You want to be a little more uniform in a chopped salad recipe.)

This Greek Cucumber Salad recipe is:

• Easy!
• Super healthy!
• Delicious!
• Great to pair with almost any Greek or Mediterranean-inspired main!

How to Make a Greek Cucumber Salad:

Recipe Ingredients:

Here’s everything you’ll need to make this Greek Cucumber Salad. The exact quantities are on the recipe card below.

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions:

• Cucumbers: I prefer to use the English or “hothouse” cucumbers for salads such as this Greek Cucumber Salad. They’re the long ones you find wrapped in plastic. That wrapping is necessary because the peel is quite thin, which is another reason they’re good for salads–peeling is optional.
• Cherry Tomatoes: Cherry or grape tomatoes are a great option because they only need to be halved rather than chopped and won’t add a lot of extra liquid to the salad. You can use large round or plum tomatoes but you must chop them. Remove the seeds and pulp.
• Chickpeas: Also known as garbanzo beans. Canned chickpeas are a great convenience item. Be sure to drain and rinse them well; the canned liquid can be very salty.
• Kalamata Olives: Kalamata olives have a deep purple-brown hue. These olives originate on the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece. If using pitted Kalamata olives, cut them in half to check them for pit fragments. Because they’re mechanically pitted, a pit or two may be left behind.
• Feta Cheese: Feta is made from sheep’s milk or a combination of sheep and goat’s milk. It’s salty and crumbly with a slightly grainy texture. For a salad such as this, I prefer to buy the whole blocks and crumble them myself rather than purchase pre-crumbled for a nicer texture.
• Red Wine Vinegar: Red wine vinegar is fermented red wine. Bacteria and oxygen are introduced to red wine to transform it into acetic acid, which gives vinegar its distinctive tangy flavor. After fermentation, the vinegar is diluted to achieve approximately 5% acidity. Pompeiian is a reliable brand.
• Olive Oil: An “everyday” extra-virgin olive oil such as California Olive Ranch is fine for this salad. Avocado or grapeseed oil are great substitutes.
• Fresh Herbs: If you have fresh oregano, by all means, use it. If not, dried oregano will work in this salad, as will fresh or dried dill. Definitely use fresh parsley–Italian parsley–not curly parsley.

Step-By-Step Instructions:

• Gather and prep all the ingredients for the Greek Cucumber Salad recipe.
• Whisk together lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, garlic, oregano, and parsley.
• Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, whisking constantly until the olive oil is completely blended and emulsified into the vinaigrette.
• Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

• Combine the cucumbers, red onion, cherry tomatoes, chickpeas, and olives in a mixing bowl.
• Add the dressing and stir.

• Fold in the feta cheese. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
• MAKE AHEAD:  Make the vinaigrette, cover and refrigerate.  Combine the salad ingredients, leaving the feta cheese off.  When ready to serve, add the dressing, stir, then fold in the feta cheese.

• Garnish the cucumber feta salad with fresh parsley and serve!

Storage:

• Refrigerate any leftovers promptly. This Greek Cucumber Salad will be fine in the refrigerator for up to five days, but it will get watery.

Serve with:

• Greek Quinoa Spinach Cakes with Tzatziki
• Skillet Spanakopita (Greek Spinach and Feta Pie)
• Zucchini Red Lentil and Spinach Fritters with Cilantro Yogurt Sauce
• Lentil Walnut Veggie Burgers with Avocado Tzatziki Sauce
• Briam (Greek Roasted Vegetables)

More great salad recipes with cucumber you’ll love!

• Creamy Cucumber Tomato Salad
• Creamy Cucumber Salad with Yogurt
• Creamy Pasta Salad with Cucumber Dressing Peas and Fresh Dill
• Creamy Potato Cucumber Salad

Get all my side salad recipes at Side Salad Recipes – From A Chef’s Kitchen.