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 ¾ 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
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.
Greek Salad with Avocado
Ingredients
- 2 English cucumbers , peeled in stripes and cut into ½ inch slices
- 1 ½ pounds medium tomatoes , (I use cocktail tomatoes), stemmed and quartered
- ¼ small red onion , thinly sliced
- 1 ½ cups kalamata olives , pitted and halved
- ¼ cup Italian flat leaf parsley , chopped
- 2 avocados , pitted and cut into chunks
- 1 cup feta cheese , broken into large chunks
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ 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.
Notes
Nutrition
More Fresh and Easy Salad Recipe Ideas
- Greek Salad with Chicken
- How to Make the Best Potato Salad
- Asian Ramen Noodle Salad Recipe
- Avocado Caprese Salad
- BLT Pasta Salad with Avocado
- Classic Shrimp Macaroni Salad Recipe
We send good emails. Subscribe to FoodieCrush and have each post plus exclusive content only for our subscribers delivered straight to your e-mail box.
Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter for more FoodieCrush inspiration.
As always, thank you for reading and supporting companies I partner with, which allows me to create more unique content and recipes for you. There may be affiliate links in this post of which I receive a small commission. All opinions are always my own.
This salad is full of flavor and very satisfying! I loved it, it’s going to be my go to salad from now on. :o)
Happy to hear you enjoyed!
Can I adjust the serving numbers on your recipes in order to make a smaller amount? Thank you
Hi Jim, you can definitely cut this recipe in half if you don’t want it to make as much. We hope you enjoy!
This my favorite salad now! I love the dressing with all the vegetables. I’ve substituted garlic stuffed green olives if I don’t have Kalamata, also flavored feta.
I’m glad you enjoy it!
I made this salad to go with the Best Greek Chicken Marinade recipe and it complemented the chicken beautifully. My husband and I both loved the freshness and brightness of the vegetables in the dressing and the addition of avocado is genius! A+!
made this for a block party and people loved it. the salad dressing is hands down the best dressing i’ve ever made. people wanted to drink it from the bowl. i should have followed the directions and reserved some of the dressing, because the juices from the veggies released just like the website said… but that was my fault, and still, no regrets. i’m keeping this recipe forever.
So glad you and the rest of the block enjoyed it Victoria. And you’re right, the dressing is a keeper. Thanks!
Wow, the salad looks very tasty. I will definitely try on this weekend.
Wow, the salad looks very tasty. Nice photos btw.
I love this recipe! I actually substituted the avocado for cucumber since I am making it for someone that is allergic to cucumber. The dressing is so flavorful; this recipe will definitely be my go-to for Greek salad! Thanks!!
Loved this salad. I found 1 TB of oregano to be over powering in the dressing and had to spoon some out after it was already mixed.
Oh, I LOVE the oregano taste, but if you’re not as big a fan, good idea to use less.
Just made this for lunch and it was amazing! Left out the avocado since those are hard to find (ripe anyways) where I live. Added some quinoa to make it more filling and it turned out great! Thank you :)
Thank you Amber!
To get the bitterness out of a cucumber, you need to milk it. You cut off about 1-1 1/2 inch off the end, and rub the cut edges together in circular motion. A white goo should seep from the skin. Do this to both ends, until you get no more goo. Rinse off and you’re good to go. Great recipe BTW :)
SO. GOOD.
I replaced some of the red wine vinegar with balsamic. Be still my heart <3
Very tasty! My very first view of heidi and I will be back! I like your style. Check more yummy taste from https://www.yolenis.eu/13894/greek_salad
Whoops, forgot to add: for more of a main dish, or for veggie people, I’ve added garbanzos to this to make it hardier. Great combination!
This is such a lovely salad, and so versatile. You can add, subtract, or tweak and it’s always good. Made just as is, it’s a winner. We like some fresh squeezed lemon right on top at serving. Thanks Heidi!!
I’m a sucker for Greek salads and this one looks perfect. Plus most of these ingredients are in season so I’m going to just go ahead and call it seasonal and add it to my round up! Thanks for being awesome!
Oregano…fresh or dried?
I used dried oregano, it has more concentrated flavor.
This looks REALLY yummy!! How do you think leftovers of this dish would do? I’m looking to maybe use it for lunch a few times during the week as well.
Im all about Greek salads all summer long or really any chopped salad but Greek is my favorite! You really don’t need lettuce for a good salad and sometimes it’s better without it.
I’ve never added avocado to my greek salad!! I have to try it ;-)
hahahaha, Dr. SummerHasArrived totally made me laugh, I liked it, didn’t think you’d hit writers block :) My writers block is not as creative, it’s like ‘I made this, it was good, here is the recipe’ lol. This salad looks super yummy :)
I tend to like most all of Jodi Piccoult books.
I always follow the Doctor’s orders. This beautiful, scrumptious, salad looks like the cure I’m searching for.
I love greek salads!I like the addition of avocados!
A refreshing salad, my all time favorite. Actaully anything with avocados is my all time favorite. Gorgeous photos Heidi, as always.
Lovely combination of fresh veggies and fruits. Is it bad I like the sugar being there to balance out the tartness?
This looks great! Greek Salad and avocados are two of my favorite things — why haven’t I been combining them?!
I actually just got back from Greece, and of course ordered many Greek salads, and almost NONE of them came with Kalamata olives. Can you believe that?! I was horrified! Of course, that’s one of my favorite parts. Love this simple, classic and RIGHT version. :)
Perfect summer salad, I could live off of this!
I love this salad. It for sure says “summer is here!!!!!”
I love the avocado here. Greek salad is my favorite now I have to have it with avocado.
Love the avocado and sugar addition – two ingredients I never add to Greek salads. Genius!!
How on earth have I never thought to add avocado to Greek salad? I mean, I add it to nearly everything else. Anyway, this Greek salad is amazing and I can’t wait to dig into it for lunch today!
LOVE the flavors of this salad. It’s gorgeous, too!
That’s all great, but I cannot find anywhere on this site the number of servings for this recipe. Looks huge and trying to bring it down to 4 servings, but not without knowing more. I have never seen a recipe that did not suggest the number of servings.
I’ve started adding avocado to my greek salad, too! I’m sure my Greek grandfather would be disgusted – haha! I consider myself a somewhat of a Greek salad aficionado and I’m definitely on the side of a more vinegary dressing as that’s the kind of dressing I’ve typically had in Greece, and it does such a wonderful job of highlighting the veggies.
Totally into sticking avocado into my Greek salad! Yum!
Everything’s better with avocado.
Looks lovely and refreshing and I love adding avocado to everything!! Makes it creamy and so yummy!
http://youtube.com/addalittlefood