Greek Cucumber Salad

Get ready to fall in love with this Greek Cucumber Salad, a simple and delicious Greek-inspired cucumber and tomato side dish tossed in homemade lemon vinaigrette. This tasty Mediterranean salad is loaded with fresh flavors thanks to red onions, black olives, and feta cheese.

This Greek cucumber tomato feta salad is just perfect for spring and summer! The fresh cucumbers and tomatoes are fragrant and crunchy and delicious for summer with grilled meats. It’s one of my favorite salads of all time and it takes under 15 minutes to prepare!

If you love fresh and light recipes as much as I do, also check out some of my other favorites while you are here: Lemon Garlic Parmesan Pasta, Chipotle Corn Salsa, Strawberry Bacon Spinach Salad and Light Raisin Coleslaw.

Cucumber Tomato Feta Salad

Greek Cucumber Salad is a simple dish that packs incredible flavors. Chop up some fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, olives and feta cheese, and toss everything with a homemade tangy and lemony Greek dressing.

I had something similar at a Greek restaurant years ago and I knew I had to recreate it, and thus birth this fabulous Greek cucumber salad. It is very much Greek inspired so I can’t promise authenticity, but I can definitely promise deliciousness. 😀

There’s something about the fresh and light Mediterranean flavors this Greek cucumber salad recipe brings. It is clean and healthy, made only with fresh ingredients.

Greek cucumber salad makes a healthy side dish for summer dinners and cookouts, or even lunch for work or on the go.

SO MANY reasons why we love this lovely Greek cucumber salad:

• It’s healthy, fresh and light! All while being fabulously yummy.
• No cooking required. A.k.a no turning on that hot oven when it is already so hot outside! Seriously, anyone can make this!
• So quick to bring together! A.k.a. 15 minutes from start to finish!
• It’s packed with gorgeous flavors and great textures! The crunchy veggies combined with juicy sweet summer tomatoes tossed in a tangy, zesty Greek Lemon Vinaigrette is to die for. And that crumbled feta to top it off. THAT crumbled feta. OMG YES PLEASE.
• If you are taking Greek Cucumber Salad to a picnic or cookout or party, you can set it out in room temperature for hours and it will still taste yummy. WINNING.

Ingredients

To make this cucumber tomato feta salad, you’ll need.

• Cucumber – I like using seedless cucumbers because it typically has less moisture, thus making the Greek cucumber salad less watery. I also typically don’t peel the skin because it’s less work and the skin adds a bit of crunch to the texture.
• Tomato – any large juicy tomatoes work great for this cucumber salad. When tomatoes are in season during the summer, it’s even better!
• Red onion – thinly sliced for overpowering this salad with too much onion flavor. If you are sensitive to onions, adjust the amount accordingly.
• Feta cheese – adds a soft texture and mold lovely flavors into the salad. Do not skip this. 🙂 Use good quality for best flavor!
• Olives – you can use ant types of olives – Kalamata, black, green…which you like! Or omit if you are not a fan.

Lemon Dressing

Our Greek cucumber salad is tossed in a lemon based Greek style dressing that combines the flavors of dried oregano and garlic, bringing ultra rich flavors to this otherwise simple dish.

Feel free to use a bottle of Greek salad dressing to save time, but fair warning – making this lemon vinaigrette for the cucumber tomato salad dressing only takes 5 minutes!

Here are the ingredients for this delicious dressing:

• Olive oil – use good quality extra virgin olive oil for best flavor.
• Lemon juice – freshly squeezed lemon juice is always the best!
• Dried oregano – using fresh oregano is great if you have them. Dried oregano is just easier to find and more common (and works perfectly well!)
• Pure maple syrup – I find that this adds a touch of sweetness and really balances out the tangy flavors in the dressing. Honey or another sweetener can be used as well.
• Garlic – chop or mince fresh garlic for best flavor. Avoid substituting with garlic powder.
• Salt
• Black pepper

How to make Greek Cucumber Salad

Here’s how we make this Greek cucumber salad recipe. There’s no cooking involved – just some chopping and mixing!

Prep ingredients: First, cut cucumbers into thin slices (I like to cut them into half moon shapes), dice tomatoes, slice red onion into thin slices, and drain olives. Bring them all into a large mixing bowl.

Make dressing: combine olive oil, lemon juice (juice from fresh lemon is the best!), dried oregano, maple syrup, minced garlic, salt and black pepper in a small bowl. Whisk to combine.

Dress: Pour dressing onto Mediterranean cucumber tomato salad, then toss the salad until is fully coated with dressing.

Top with feta: sprinkle the top of the salad with crumbled feta cheese

Serve: Serve immediately and enjoy!

One thing to note is that cucumber and tomatoes have high water contents. Cucumber tomato feta salad is best consumed immediately upon its completion.

In other words, if you are not eating that Greek cucumber tomato salad straight away, hold off on pouring dressing onto the vegetables until you are ready to eat!

Tips and Tricks

Here are some tips and tricks for making Greek cucumber salad:

• Fresh Ingredients: Use the freshest cucumbers and ripest tomatoes for the best flavor.
• Seed Removal: If cucumbers or tomatoes are too seedy, gently remove the seeds to prevent the salad from becoming watery.
• Dressing Customization: Adjust the Greek lemon vinaigrette to taste, adding more sugar for sweetness or more lemon juice for tartness.
• Dressing Control: Apply dressing sparingly at first; you can always add more. This prevents the salad from getting soggy.
• Chilled Ingredients: Before mixing, chill all ingredients for a crisp, refreshing bite.
• Served Immediately: For optimal freshness, serve immediately after tossing with dressing.

Variations and Substitution

There are so many ways to make this cucumber tomato feta salad, so feel free to add and substitute ingredients.

Here are other produce that would work great in our Greek cucumber salad:

• lettuce
• bell peppers
• grape tomatoes – use in place of tomatoes
• avocado – this is a great way to bring some protein into the dish!

As for the Greek lemon dressing, here are a few other ideas on how to make it:

• use apple cider vinegar instead of lemon juice
• add more herbs in addition to oregano – thyme, parsley would work great in it as well
• reduce or increase the amount of maple syrup if you like it more or less sweet
• use honey or granulated sugar in place of maple syrup

Make Ahead Instructions

If you want to make your cucumber tomato feta salad in advance you totally can!

Simply cut and chop up the veggies and make the lemon vinaigrette ahead of time, and then only combine everything when you are ready to serve and eat.

The beauty of this cucumber tomato salad is that you can make the make ahead part easy so that the only thing left to do is a quick assemble!

Storage Tips

When it comes to storing Greek Cucumber Salad, the best way to store it is to store the dressing separate from the produce. Make sure to store everything in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

If you’ve already mixed the dressing into the Greek Cucumber Salad, keep it stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up 24 hours. Consume as soon as you can if not it will get soggy.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Other yummy summer sides!

Here are other light and fresh summer sides!

• Fruit Salad with Honey Lime Dressing
• Avocado Corn and Black Bean Salsa
• Broccoli Kale Apple and Cranberry Slaw
• Bacon Deviled Eggs
• Carrot Raisin Salad with Pineapple (by Melissa’s Southern Style Kitchen!)