Greek Salad With Avocado

This healthy Greek salad with added avocado and an easy-to-make Greek salad dressing is just the right recipe for simple no-cooking eats all summer long.

Sometimes the classics are just what the doctor ordered. Especially when it’s Dr. SummerHasArrived who’s making the house calls.

Now that we’re moving into the dog days of summer after the 4th of July binge, it’s time for us all to clean up our act and binge on clean eating instead of all of the crapola.

Standard-staple recipes in and out of the kitchen are what I’m craving now. You know, the simple stuff. Recipes that let summer’s best ingredients shine.

This Greek salad with avocado is exactly what the doctor ordered. It’s fresh, crunchy, tangy and above all, delicious. It has the basic flavors of a traditional Greek salad but with that extra somethin’ somethin’ to make your Mediterranean heart happy and healthy.

What Is In a Greek Salad

This salad—and any good for you diet—is all about balance. And tomatoes. And cucumber. And kalamata olives. It has all the usual ingredients of a traditional Greek salad but with the healthy-for-you-fats from creamy avocado tossed in. Avvvvvooooocado. I know, I think adding it in is brilliant too.

I talk a lot about the healthy benefits of the Mediterranean Diet way of eating, and have loads of recipe ideas that follow it’s formula. But few are as elementary as this one.

Here’s what you’ll need to make this easy Greek salad:

• tomatoes
• cucumber (I like using seedless cucumbers for this recipe)
• red onion
• kalamata olives
• Italian flat-leaf parsley
• avocado
• my simple Greek dressing

Because the ingredients are sturdy, Greek salad is great for making ahead of time before serving. It also tastes good the longer the flavors mingle, and is perfect for eating throughout the week since this Greek salad will keep in the fridge for 4-5 days.

How to Make Greek Salad

To add a little visual appeal, aka make those cucumbers shine like the gems they are, I peeled them in stripes with this palm held vegetable peeler, leaving part of the peel so their greenness shined through.

I use medium-size tomatoes like campari or cocktail tomatoes in this salad so I don’t end up with a lot of watery seeds. Cherry tomatoes work great too. If using, cut the cherry tomatoes in halves instead of quarters so they hold their shape.

Thinly slice your red onion to keep the flavor in check. Or, use my favorite handheld mandoline to do the job.

Kalamata olives have a special tang that is less briney than regular black olives. I look for olives that have already been pitted, then slice so I get more olive bites in each forkful.

Flat leaf parsley adds a bit of brightness to this salad. If you’re a fan of curly parsley, sure, go ahead and use it instead.

When it comes to feta cheese, I always buy my feta in a block. I don’t think the crumbled product tastes nearly as good and I prefer to break it apart myself so I can get big, delicious, salty chunks.

When it comes to adding the avocado, add it a the very end after combining the other ingredients. I look for a firm avocado so it doesn’t get all mushed up when tossed, and I usually coat the avocado with a bit of the dressing before adding it to the rest of the ingredients. Once the avocado has been added, and depending on how soft it is, fold this salad gently my friends.

Greek Salad Recipe Dressing

Because I use it so much, my favorite Greek salad dressing recipe has it’s own post you may want to bookmark now. But for the sake of keeping things simple to find, I’m sharing it here for this recipe too.

For this Greek salad dressing, I encourage you to taste test and add a little more of this or that to suit your desires. I prefer a pretty vinegar-y dressing because I think it really accents the fresh veggies with a little puckery tart taste.

When tossing the dressing with the salad, first add about 3/4 of the dressing, and toss to coat. Taste, and add more dressing to your liking.

The salad’s veggies will release their juices as the dressing absorbs, so depending on how long this salad sits out (like at a BBQ) the more juice there will be. But if you plan on eating the salad right away, using all of the dressing at once is fine.

What to Serve With Greek Salad

• Easy Chicken Gyros With Tzatziki Sauce
• Grilled Halibut with Tomato Avocado Salsa
• Easy Greek Chicken Kebabs
• Pork Souvlaki With Lemon Rice
• Greek Turkey Burgers With Tzatziki Sauce
• Mediterranean Grilled Balsamic Chicken With Olive Tapenade

Greek Salad with Avocado

A simple Greek salad dressing completes this easy and authentic Greek salad with the addition of creamy avocado for a simple salad side dish that goes with everything.Course SaladCuisine GreekKeyword greek saladPrep Time 20 minutesTotal Time 20 minutesServings8 Calories 323 kcal

Ingredients

• 2 English cucumbers peeled in stripes and cut into 1/2 inch slices
• 1 1/2 pounds medium tomatoes I use cocktail tomatoes, stemmed and quartered
• 1/4 small red onion thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 cups kalamata olives pitted and halved
• 1/4 cup Italian flat leaf parsley chopped
• 2 avocados pitted and cut into chunks
• 1 cup feta cheese broken into large chunks
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic peeled and minced
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon each of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

• In a large serving bowl, combine the cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, kalamata olives and parsley. Place the avocado in a small bowl and set aside.
• In a small canning jar, combine the olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, oregano, sugar and salt and pepper. Top with the lid and shake well until blended and emulsified. Season with more sugar and salt and pepper to taste.
• Pour 1 tablespoon of the dressing on the sliced avocado and gently mix to coat. Pour the rest of the dressing on the cucumber mixture and toss to coat. Add the avocado to the salad and top with chunks of feta cheese, and serve.

Recipe Notes

As the salad sits, the juices from the vegetables will release, adding to the amount of dressing. If you prefer, reserve some of the dressing and add only if needed for more moisture.

This Greek salad keeps in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.