This light and refreshing Greek salad with avocado and an herby red wine vinaigrette is just the right recipe for simple no-cooking eats all year long.
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“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.” -Victoria, FoodieCrush reader
This Veg-Heavy Salad Is Perfect for Picnics and Potlucks
Standard-staple recipes in and out of the kitchen are what I crave. You know, the simple stuff. Recipes that let the best salad ingredients shine.
This Greek avocado salad 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.
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 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 its formula. But few are as elementary as this one.
Enjoy!
What You’ll Need
The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.
- Tomatoes — I use medium-size tomatoes like Campari or cocktail tomatoes so I don’t end up with a lot of watery seeds. Cherry tomatoes cut in half work great too.
- Cucumber — I like using seedless cucumbers for this recipe.
- Red onion — Thinly slice your red onion to keep the flavor in check. Or, use my favorite handheld mandoline to do the job.
- Kalamata olives — Kalamata olives have a special tang that is less briney than regular black olives. I look for olives that have already been pitted, then cut in half so I get more olive bites in each forkful.
- Italian flat-leaf parsley — Brightens up the already fresh and crunchy salad. If you’re a fan of curly parsley, sure, go ahead and use it instead.
- Avocado — If your avocado is rock hard, here’s how to ripen it fast so you can make this salad ASAP.
- Feta — I always buy my feta in a block. Pre-crumbled feta can taste chalky. I prefer to break it apart myself so I can get big, delicious, salty chunks.
- My simple Greek dressing — I added extra dried oregano to this batch of dressing. Some readers have said it’s too much oregano for their taste, so feel free to start with 1 teaspoon, taste it, and add more as desired.
Want to make this a main dish salad? Add grilled salmon, baked shrimp, or Greek chicken for a protein boost.
How to Make a Greek Avocado Salad
- Toss together the cucumber, tomato, red onion, and olives. Wait to add the avocado until 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.
- Shake together the dressing ingredients in a jar. 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.
- Dress the salad. When tossing the dressing with the salad, first add about ¾ of the dressing, then toss to coat. Taste the salad the add more dressing to your liking.
Make Ahead Tip
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.
Serving Suggestions
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
Salad
- 2 English cucumbers , peeled in stripes and cut into ½ inch slices
- 1 ½ pounds medium tomatoes , stemmed and quartered (I use cocktail tomatoes)
- 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
Greek Dressing
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup red wine vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic , peeled and minced
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon 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 Refreshing Greek Salad Recipes
More Salad Recipes with Avocado
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Suzi Cruzen
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!
Suzi Cruzen
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!!
Becky
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!
Jenny
Oregano…fresh or dried?
I used dried oregano, it has more concentrated flavor.
Angie
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.
Becky
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.
Olivia - Primavera Kitchen
I’ve never added avocado to my greek salad!! I have to try it ;-)
Phi @ The Sweetphi Blog
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 :)
Linda
I tend to like most all of Jodi Piccoult books.
Patti
I always follow the Doctor’s orders. This beautiful, scrumptious, salad looks like the cure I’m searching for.
ami@naivecookcooks
I love greek salads!I like the addition of avocados!
Kathy @ Olives & Garlic
A refreshing salad, my all time favorite. Actaully anything with avocados is my all time favorite. Gorgeous photos Heidi, as always.
Farah @ The Cooking Jar
Lovely combination of fresh veggies and fruits. Is it bad I like the sugar being there to balance out the tartness?
Becky @ Fun Fresh Feast
This looks great! Greek Salad and avocados are two of my favorite things — why haven’t I been combining them?!
Nicole ~ Cooking for Keeps
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. :)
Laura (Tutti Dolci)
Perfect summer salad, I could live off of this!
Sandy | Reluctant Entertainer
I love this salad. It for sure says “summer is here!!!!!”
Norma | allspice and nutmeg
I love the avocado here. Greek salad is my favorite now I have to have it with avocado.
Liz @ The Lemon Bowl
Love the avocado and sugar addition – two ingredients I never add to Greek salads. Genius!!
Kelli @ The Corner Kitchen
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!
Christine from Cook the Story
LOVE the flavors of this salad. It’s gorgeous, too!
Elisabeth
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.
Louisa [Living Lou]
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.
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar
Totally into sticking avocado into my Greek salad! Yum!
Kathryn
Everything’s better with avocado.
Millie l Add A Little
Looks lovely and refreshing and I love adding avocado to everything!! Makes it creamy and so yummy!
http://youtube.com/addalittlefood