Greek salad with Greek yogurt dressing and every possible Mediterranean topping- tomatoes, red onion, avocado, cucumber, feta, and black olives. To make it an entree salad, you can add either grilled chicken or chickpeas for some protein!
The first recipe I ever posted on the blog was for a Greek salad with Greek yogurt dressing. It seemed fitting since I think Greek salads are the best salads ever, but I think it’s safe to say that it wasn’t the best post I’ve ever written.
The entire post was just 140 words (not characters- it was longer than a Tweet, fortunately!) I promise the salad was delicious even back then, but this was picture that accompanied it:
I took the photo using my iPhone when it was dark outside under my harsh kitchen lights on a plastic plate. Little did I know that I was breaking just about every basic rule of food photography that exists. (Locate source of natural light! Use white dishes! Take a big step away from the food!) At the time, I didn’t think the picture was great but I didn’t think it was too bad, either. Now, while I still only know the very basics of food photography, the basics have made a big difference. 
Since I still make this Greek salad with Greek yogurt all of the time, I decided a do-over was in order because I wanted the photos and post to do it justice.
The ingredients are pretty typical of a Greek salad, although I don’t think I’ve ever ordered a Greek salad at a restaurant that came with avocado. It seemed like a natural addition, though, since avocado fits really well with Mediterranean dishes.
The dressing is probably my favorite part, and I love that it has no added sugar or anything unhealthy in it. It’s just Greek yogurt, olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, and spices. Like most homemade oil-based dressings, it separates quickly as it sits, so pouring from a shaker-jar or stirring before each use is probably the best bet. 
When my family makes this Greek salad at home, we usually have it for our main course and my dad will grill some lemon rosemary chicken to go on top for some protein. When I make it for myself at school, my protein source is usually chickpeas (so good on Greek salad!) since I can live without meat and it saves a lot of time. Either way is delicious. Hope you give it a try and love it as much as I do!
If you try out the recipe, I’d love for you to let me know in a comment or take a picture and tag me @livbane on Instagram. Hope you enjoy!
Greek Salad with Greek Yogurt Dressing
Ingredients
- Romaine lettuce washed chopped
- Tomatoes cut into thin circles
- Cucumber cut into thin circles
- Red onion thinly sliced into rings
- Feta cheese
- Olives optional
- Pepperocinis optional
- For protein: grilled chicken or chickpeas optional
Creamy Greek Yogurt Dressing
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- ½ cup red wine vinegar
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Toss salad ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix dressing ingredients in a mason jar with a lid or a shakeable container. Shake or stir dressing well before each individual use. Store dressing in the fridge for up to one week.
Questions for you:
Do you ever make your own salad dressing? Any tips for keeping it blended?
I loveeee greek salads and this dressing sounds like the PERFECT addition! I definitely need to try this ASAP!
I used to avoid Greek salads because for some crazy reason I thought I didn’t like feta and I’m not crazy about olives, so… that basically takes the “Greek” out of the salad. I now adore feta and love the simple freshness of Greek salads. Your dressing sounds delicious!
Oh, and food photography is SUCH a journey. I work on it pretty much daily and still take some serious horrible pictures sometimes. That just makes the good ones better 😉 Your photos are stunning! 😀
I actually used to avoid Greek salads for the exact same reasons! I used to really dislike and somehow I love it now. Olives…I’m still working on, but at least I don’t hate them anymore.
I read food blogs for years but had NO idea the amount of effort that went into taking pretty food pictures! I have major respect for big food bloggers with incredible photos– some are practically art!
When I go to the grocery store today, I will get the ingredients for the salad. I know how good the salad tastes.
Awesome! Hope you enjoy it!!
Yum! Greek salads are one of my favorites and this dressing looks perfect! Can’t wait to try it 🙂 Thanks!
I love Greek salads. They have some of my favorite flavors! Now I’d love some feta cheese after looking at this.
You know what they say…feta is betta! 🙂
Mmmmm Greek salads are my favorite!! I look at my old food photos and seriously cringe. Who knew there was a whole world of food photography out there?! lol
Haha I can definitely relate to the cringe-factor 🙂 Luckily, we’ve both come a long way. The photos of your peanut butter-swirled brownies the other day were seriously droolworthy!
I use plain soy yogurt, nutritional yeast, onion powder, salt and parsley flakes to make dip and dressing. It is really savory and I like it with everything. I don’t really have any tips to keep it mixed. I think most dressings separate when they sit, so I just shake em up! Beautiful pictures Liv! You accomplished your goal.
Oh yum, that sounds like a delicious combo! Thanks for sharing, Ellie!
Greek salads are my FAVORITE! Love your idea for a creamy guilt-free dressing!
Even though I make myself Greek salads all of the time, whenever I see one on a restaurant menu, I almost always order it! They’re too good to pass up.
Yum! I love your idea for a creamy greek dressing. Seriously the best salad out there!
Good luck with all the end-of-the-year fun 😉
Thanks, Kate! Good luck with your last few weeks of grad school!!
ummm YUP this looks amazing! and the photo haha, its sooo funny to see how far we have come. I am almost too embarrassed to see what i used to post..
i make greek salads every now and then for lunch, but never had a good dressing to put on it. love that you made your own! saving and pinning for l8rrrr
Hope you get a chance to make it, Beverley! And YES it’s so fun to see how far we’ve come!
Ok, I literally want to drizzle that dressing all over my face. Holy YUM girl!! Ive been on such a salad kick lately due to the weather here, and this dressing just sounds absolutely incredible.
That sounds messy but I wouldn’t stop you! 🙂
yum! I love making my own dressings, but this one is so simple yet look so flavorful with all the herbs and spices 🙂
xo,
Sarah Grace
Love the dressing. I’m dairy free so I found a plain cashew milk yogurt that tastes like regular yogurt, great tangy flavor. I’m going to try some of the left over dressing as a meat marinade.
So glad you enjoyed the recipe, Ramona! Let me know what you think as a marinade 🙂