Horiatiki (Greek Village Salad)

Name: Horiatiki (Greek Village Salad)
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 1 large tomato (cut into wedges then halved); 1 medium medium cucumber (I used seedless); 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion; 12 kalamata olives; 2 ounces feta cheese (cut into thick slices or cubes); 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar; 1 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (plus more for drizzling); dried oregano (for serving); salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

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by Marcie // July 16, 2018 (updated 6/9/21)

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Horiatiki, or Greek Village Salad is a classic Greek salad with no lettuce. It’s simple, rustic and chunky, and it’s tossed in homemade Greek dressing!

overhead shot of horiatiki in bowl with fork

I visited Greece many years ago, and ate some of the most delicious food I’ve ever had in my life. I ate my weight in chicken souvlaki, tzatziki, Greek yogurt with fresh fruit and honey, along with an array of Greek pastries that surpassed anything I’d ever eaten here at home.

The interesting thing was that it was the Greek village salad, which is known as horiatiki salata in Greece, that really blew my mind. The ingredients were simple, but they were so fresh and flavorful.

The quality of these simple ingredients came together and shined. Once I returned home, I couldn’t eat Greek salad for a very long time because I knew it wouldn’t hold a candle to the salads that I had in Greece.

Of course, quality tomatoes and cucumbers at their peak of freshness are the key to preparing a mind blowing Greek village salad.

I’ve been making horiatiki with my garden grown tomatoes and cucumbers, and it definitely rivals the ones I had on my trip.

Minus the Greek island of course. 🙂

Greek village salad in wooden bowl with fork, front view

Village style Greek salad is rustic and simple, with large chunks of tomato and cucumber, thinly sliced red onion and whole kalamata olives.

It’s typically topped with a thick slab of feta cheese, which is drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled with dried oregano.

Horiatiki is a great way to bring the flavors of the Greek islands into your home. It’s effortless yet mind blowing at the same time, but nobody needs to know that.

It’ll be our little secret. 🙂

Village Salad vs. Greek Salad

The biggest difference between Greek village salad and Greek salad is that Greek salad normally includes lettuce. Here in the United States, if you order Greek salad at a restaurant it almost always includes crisp, chopped romaine lettuce.

Salads that don’t include lettuce are a nice change of pace for me I love that there’s one less ingredient to chop, and that there will be no wilted lettuce!

Next, Greek salad isn’t rustic and chunky. The vegetables are chopped smaller, the olives are halved and the feta cheese is crumbled into smaller bits.

Another difference between Greek village salad and Greek salad is the dressing. As I mentioned, horiatiki is simply dressed with red wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil, whereas Greek salad is tossed with something similar to my Greek Salad Dressing.

Greek salad, or horiatiki, in teak bowl with fork, front view

How to make this recipe

This Greek Village Salad is extremely easy to make, and it’s tossed with a simple dressing of red wine vinegar and olive oil!

Place all of the vegetables in a large bowl.
Toss the vegetables with red wine vinegar first, so that the vegetables can absorb it, then toss with some extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and stir to combine.
Serve the salad topped with a thick rectangle of feta cheese, topped with dried oregano and a drizzle of olive oil.

close up of Greek village salad, front view

Recipe Tips

Make sure you have quality ingredients for this salad to truly shine. Use the freshest tomatoes and cucumbers that you can find! I love using a block of feta in its brine for this recipe, as well as a good quality red wine vinegar. There’s no need to buy a $20 bottle of vinegar — I use Colavita Aged Red Wine Vinegar which is under $10 and it’s perfect.
Horiatiki is a great make ahead salad because there’s no lettuce to wilt down on you. You can put it together a few hours in advance, or assemble it mason jar style in beautiful layers for picnics or your work week lunches.
The recipe below is for 2 servings, but it’s easily scaled to feed a crowd! You don’t even have to dress the salad in advance — simply place the red wine vinegar and olive oil out for guests to drizzle for themselves if you prefer.

horiatiki in teak bowl with crumbled feta cheese, front view

See all of my salad recipes for more inspiration.

More Greek recipes you’ll love:

If you make this recipe I’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment and rating below, or tag me at @flavorthemoments on Instagram!