Home › Recipes › Greek salad (Choriatiki)

Salads and sides

Greek Salad (Choriatiki), the Real Way

Χωριάτικη σαλάτα (Choriatiki salata) · Say it: hoh-RYAH-tee-kee sah-LAH-tah

Tomato, cucumber, onion, pepper, olives and a slab of feta. No lettuce, ever.

⏱ 7 minServes 1Lunch · Dinner · Salad⏳ Some Ypomoni
VegetarianVegan option

By The Pomoni Kitchen · Jump to recipe ·

The village salad Greeks actually eat. Choose a nice bowl, preferably one you bought on holiday in Greece, and keep a slice of bread close for the juices.

Method

  1. Cut the tomato in half and remove the stem and any marks on the bottom.
  2. Cut the tomato into pieces however you like, in an unruly way: no slicing, no dicing, just pieces.
  3. Slice the onion and pepper into thick, long slices. Halve the cucumber lengthwise and chop it into semicircles.
  4. Pour the olive oil into the bowl in a slow circle, then mix everything gently so the oil coats every piece.
  5. Place the feta on top in the middle (skip it for the vegan version), drizzle a little more olive oil over it and add the oregano.
  6. Add the Kalamata olives. If you use capers, rinse them under the tap first, as they are very salty, and add them too.
  7. Serve with the bread, and don’t forget to dip it in the salad juices.

Kitchen notes

The recipe says 2 tablespoons, but honestly, most Greeks pour straight from the bottle in a slow circle until everything glistens.

Greeks usually add a pinch of salt, but we leave it out: the feta and capers bring plenty.

Any salad that calls itself Greek, or worse, choriatiki, and contains lettuce is an impostor. Don’t let the feta fool you.

From the kitchen

Finished Greek salad (choriatiki) topped with feta

Say it in Greek

WordGreekSay itMeaning
Olive oilελαιόλαδοeh-leh-OH-lah-thohOlive oil
OreganoρίγανηREE-ghah-neeOregano, which gives riganada its name
FetaφέταFEH-tahBrined sheep’s and goat’s milk cheese
Breadψωμίpsoh-MEEBread
KalamataΚαλαμάταkah-lah-MAH-tahCity in Messinia, the region where our olives grow

Καλή όρεξη (Kali orexi, kah-LEE OH-reh-ksee): enjoy your meal.

Pomoni High-Phenolic Olive Oil bottle
Pomoni High-Phenolic Olive Oil

The oil is the star here, and it’s used raw.

Early-harvest Koroneiki from a single grove in Messinia, Greece, measured at 635 mg/kg total polyphenols by HPLC (Modern Olives, July 2026). That peppery catch at the back of your throat is oleocanthal.

500ml · $75.00250ml · $49.00100ml · $29.00

Shop the oil · from $29.00

You might also like

Finished Kefalonian Riganada with tomato, feta and oregano, close up
10 min · Snack, Lunch

Kefalonian Riganada

Garlic-rubbed bread, grated tomato, feta and oregano, all held together with olive oil.

VegetarianVegan option
⏳ Some Ypomoni
Greek potato salad with onion and parsley
30 min · Side dish, Salad

Greek potato salad

Warm boiled potatoes dressed with olive oil and vinegar, onion and parsley. No mayo needed.

Vegan
⏳ A lot of Ypomoni
Ladolemono being whisked in a steel bowl, with a lemon squeezer and a bottle of olive oil on a lemon-print tablecloth
5 min · Sauce

Ladolemono sauce

Olive oil and lemon whisked until milky, the classic Greek sauce for fish and seafood.

Vegan

← All Greek olive oil recipes