Horiatiki — Greek Village Salad
The real Greek salad: no lettuce, just sun-ripe tomatoes, crisp cucumber, green pepper, red onion and Kalamata olives, crowned with a whole slab of feta, dried oregano and a generous pour of olive oil. Fifteen minutes, no cooking.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Salt the tomatoes
Put the tomato wedges in a wide, shallow bowl and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Leave for about 5 minutes so they release some juice, which will become part of the dressing.
- 4 tomato wedges
- a pinch salt
✅ Done when: tomatoes look slightly glistening with juice pooling in the bowl
Soak the onion
At the same time, put the onion slices in a bowl of cold water for about 5 minutes to make them milder. Drain well and pat dry with a towel.
- 1 small, sliced red onion
- 500ml cold water
✅ Done when: onion slices look softened and taste less sharp
Mix the salad
Add the cucumber, green pepper rings, drained onion, olives and capers to the bowl with the tomatoes. Mix gently with your hands so you don't crush the tomatoes.
- 1, sliced cucumber
- 1, sliced green bell pepper
- 100g
- 1 tbsp capers
- all soaked onion from step 2
- all salted tomatoes from step 1
Add the feta
Put the whole block of feta on top of the salad without crumbling it; in Greece everyone breaks off their own piece at the table. Rub the oregano between your fingers over the feta.
- 200g feta cheese
- 1 tsp dried Greek oregano
✅ Done when: oregano is scattered evenly over the whole feta block
Dress and serve
Pour over the vinegar, then all of the olive oil (80ml); some should collect at the bottom of the bowl. Season with black pepper and serve right away with the bread to soak up the juices.
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 80ml extra-virgin olive oil
- to taste black pepper
- 4 slices crusty bread
Salt the tomatoes
Put the tomato wedges in a wide, shallow bowl and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Leave for about 5 minutes so they release some juice, which will become part of the dressing.
- 4 tomato wedges
- a pinch salt
✅ Done when: tomatoes look slightly glistening with juice pooling in the bowl
Soak the onion
At the same time, put the onion slices in a bowl of cold water for about 5 minutes to make them milder. Drain well and pat dry with a towel.
- 1 small, sliced red onion
- 500ml cold water
✅ Done when: onion slices look softened and taste less sharp
Mix the salad
Add the cucumber, green pepper rings, drained onion, olives and capers to the bowl with the tomatoes. Mix gently with your hands so you don't crush the tomatoes.
- 1, sliced cucumber
- 1, sliced green bell pepper
- 100g
- 1 tbsp capers
- all soaked onion from step 2
- all salted tomatoes from step 1
Add the feta
Put the whole block of feta on top of the salad without crumbling it; in Greece everyone breaks off their own piece at the table. Rub the oregano between your fingers over the feta.
- 200g feta cheese
- 1 tsp dried Greek oregano
✅ Done when: oregano is scattered evenly over the whole feta block
Dress and serve
Pour over the vinegar, then all of the olive oil (80ml); some should collect at the bottom of the bowl. Season with black pepper and serve right away with the bread to soak up the juices.
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 80ml extra-virgin olive oil
- to taste black pepper
- 4 slices crusty bread
The Story Behind the Dish
Horiatiki simply means 'village salad', and that is exactly what it is: the summer produce of a Greek kitchen garden, cut up and dressed with the olive oil and cheese that every rural household had on hand.
It became a fixture of Greek tavernas in the second half of the 20th century, as tourism brought visitors to the islands and the dish they ate there — always without lettuce, always with feta on top — became what the world calls 'Greek salad'.
Its simplicity is the point. With so few ingredients, the quality of the tomatoes, the oil and the feta is everything.
⭐ Why It's Famous
Horiatiki is the taste of a Greek summer, served at nearly every taverna table alongside grilled fish or meat. It's naturally vegetarian, gluten-free and needs no cooking at all.
💡 Fun Fact
Since 2002, only brined white cheese made in specific regions of Greece from sheep's milk (or sheep's milk with up to 30% goat's milk) can legally be sold as 'feta' in the European Union.
Rural Greece
37.98°N, 23.73°E
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