Whether you've vacationed in Greece or just love that local Greek restaurant, one thing is certain: once you've tried Greek cuisine, you'll definitely want more of it. Especially in summer, when you would rather relax on a Greek island, you can bring some Mediterranean flair home by cooking some Greek recipes. This article is about His Highness – the Greek salad. We'll show you the 5 most popular summer salads from Greece that you can prepare at home without much effort. Enjoy it!
Top 5 Greek Salads: Dakos Recipe
This Greek salad comes from the island of Crete, where it is a traditional appetizer. The recipe is reminiscent of thatItalian panzanella salad, but with a Greek aftertaste. Ready in just 20 minutes, you're guaranteed to love this filling Greek salad.
Ingredients:
- 20 sweet cherry tomatoes, diced
- 2 medium tomatoes, diced
- 1 heaping tablespoon capers, coarsely chopped
- 8 Kalamata olives, pitted and halved
- ½ small red onion, very finely diced
- 6 rusks
- fresh parsley, chopped
- a little dried oregano
- crumbled feta
For the dressing:
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- black pepper, to taste
- Salt, to taste
Preparation:
- Break the rusks into smaller pieces.
- Place chopped tomatoes, capers and olives in a large mixing bowl.
- Mix olive oil and red wine vinegar and pour over the salad. Add the broken rusks and mix well.
- Season with black pepper and a little salt - but not too much, as cheese, capers and olives already contain salt.
- Place in a salad bowl, sprinkle with crumbled feta and sprinkle with dried oregano and fresh parsley.
Prepare a classic Greek salad
If you are looking for Greek salad recipes that actually taste like the ones served in Greece, then you need to try this authentic Greek salad recipe. It is colorful and full of refreshing flavors and brings the Mediterranean feeling into your kitchen.
The secret to a delicious Greek salad is in the ingredients: juicy tomatoes, crunchy cucumbers, good sheep's cheese, high-quality olive oil and some spicy black olives make the difference.
Ingredients:
- 3 tomatoes
- 1 medium red onion
- 1 Lettuce
- 1 green pepper
- 16 black or green olives
- 200 g sheep's cheese (feta) in blocks
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- Sea salt
Preparation:
- First prepare the vegetables. Wash it thoroughly and dry it. Cut the tomatoes into wedges, the onion into thin rings and the cucumber into thick slices and put everything in a large bowl. Also add the olives.
- Then season everything with salt and pour over the olive oil and vinegar. Mix everything together so the flavors blend. Be careful not to add too much salt as the feta cheese and olives are already salty enough.
- Greek salad is always served with feta, drizzled olive oil and dried oregano.
Enjoy your delicious Greek salad as a side dish or as alight summer mealwith lots of crusty bread on the side!
Patatosalata – the Greek potato salad
Greek potato salad is incredibly versatile and can be served with a variety of dishes. It usually consists of large, bite-sized potato pieces covered with a tasty dressing based on olive oil, mustard, yogurt or mayonnaise. The salad can easily be refined with various vegetables, boiled eggs, olives and fresh herbs such as dill or parsley.
Lemon juice is considered an indispensable ingredient in every potato salad as it provides the necessary freshness. Whether served lukewarm or well chilled, patatosalata goes perfectly with grilled meat or fish.
Ingredients:
- 4 potatoes (approx. 500 grams)
- 3 Owner
- 50 g pickled cucumbers
- ½ red onion
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- Juice from one lemon
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 100 grams of mayonnaise diluted with 2 tablespoons of milk
Preparation:
- Boil the potatoes, drain and let cool. In the meantime, hard-boil the eggs too.
- Finely chop the onions, gherkins and parsley and set aside.
- Cut the cooled potatoes and eggs into bite-sized pieces and put all the ingredients (except the mayonnaise) in a large bowl.
- For the dressing, mix the mayonnaise with the milk and pour over the salad and mix well.
- Serve the patatosalata in a large bowl.
Tonosalata recipe: prepare Greek salad with tuna
The Greek-style tuna salad is easy to prepare, but packed with typical Greek flavors. It can be prepared with fresh vegetables, similar to the classic Greek salad, or made into a kind of paste with pureed vegetables. In addition to tuna pieces, it mainly contains various vegetables and other side dishes such as capers, olives and herbs. This Greek salad is either coated with a creamy dressing or simply seasoned with olive oil and lemon juice. Tonosalata is best served chilled, accompanied by crispy rusks or country bread.
The recipe you'll find below produces a creamy tuna salad that's perfect on bread and in sandwiches.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 onion
- 1/2 green pepper
- 100g water
- 160 g tuna in oil, canned
- 50g corn, cooked or canned
- Lemon juice, from 1/2 lemon
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 celery stalk (optional)
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 150 g potatoes, cooked
Preparation:
- Chop the onion and peppers in a vegetable chopper, then add the water and beat everything well. Transfer the mixture to cheesecloth and squeeze to remove excess water. Place the onion and pepper paste in a bowl.
- Drain the tuna and add it to the bowl.
- Add the corn and lemon juice and mix well.
- Add the paprika and diced celery (if using) and mix. Add the mayonnaise and stir.
- In a small bowl, mash the cooked potato with a fork and add it to the bowl with the remaining ingredients. Mix well until the potato is incorporated into the mixture and the tuna salad has a smooth consistency.
- To serve, slice bread and toast in a grill pan with a little olive oil until golden. Spread the tuna salad on the bread and serve.
Salad recipe with roti bete: Pantzarosalata
Beetroot is the main ingredient in this colorful Greek dish, which comes in two different versions. Boiled beets are either coated with a yogurt-based dressing or simply seasoned with vinegar, while the whole dish can be prepared in the form of a creamy, thick puree or as a regular salad with diced beets.
Pantzarosalata is traditionally garnished with whole, halved or crushed walnuts and is most often served as a side dish.
Ingredients:
- 6 beetroot, about 600g, scrubbed, washed and dried
- 100g walnuts, roasted and chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the vinaigrette:
- 60 ml Balsamic-Essig
- 60 ml olive oil
- 1 teaspoon honey
For the yogurt dressing:
- 200g Greek yogurt
- 2 cloves of garlic, grated
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped mint
Preparation:
- Preheat the oven to 220°C.
- Wrap each beet individually in aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet.
- Roast the beets until tender. Depending on the size, this takes about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Using a knife, check for doneness by cutting into the center of each turnip. They should be firm but not mushy.
- Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.
- Peel the beets while they are still warm and cut into slices or cubes. Then put it in a large bowl.
- Mix all the ingredients for the vinaigrette in a bowl with a whisk. Pour over the beetroot and toss carefully. Season with salt and pepper.
- Chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour. This salad tastes best cold.
- Mix the ingredients for the yogurt dressing in a bowl with a whisk.
- Drizzle the yoghurt over the beetroot and garnish the salad with the walnuts.
Tipp:To make the salad quicker without having to turn on the oven, you can simply buy cooked beets.
