American Greek Salad with Lettuce
This American Greek Salad with Lettuce is the salad I make all summer long, and Greek Salad is something I’d never get tired of eating! This recipe includes a good dressing for the salad, but I love this with all types of dressings, even Blue Cheese!
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This American Greek Salad with Lettuce is something that’s on the menu at my house for every single family party, and I make it all summer long just for a quick lunch or dinner as well. Definitely this is one of my signature salads, and I never get tired of it, so today I am reminding you about this recipe as my Friday Favorites pick! Sometimes I even make this in the winter if I can get good cherry tomatoes and cucumbers.
I’ve been making different types of Greek salads like for years, but when I finally went to Greece, I discovered that what many American restaurants called Greek Salad didn’t really exist there! Greek Village Salad has cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, Kalamata olives, green pepper, and Feta and a dressing made from olive oil and vinegar or lemon juice and seasoned with a little dried oregano.
But no lettuce in the salads in Greece. NEVER lettuce! So of course this is not a recipe for traditional Greek Salad! It was a Mediterranean restaurant in Salt Lake that gave me the idea to call this combination American Greek Salad when it included lettuce. I like my Greek salads both with and without the lettuce, but the version with lettuce is the one I make the most.
What ingredients do you need?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- Newman’s Own Olive Oil and Vinegar Dressing (affiliate link)
- extra-virgin Olive Oil (affiliate link)
- fresh-squeezed lemon juice, I used my fresh-frozen lemon juice
- Capers (affiliate link)
- caper brine from the jar
- Dried Oregano (affiliate link)
- Romaine lettuce
- cucumbers
- cherry or grape tomatoes
- green pepper (optional)
- green onion (optional)
- Kalamata olives or black olives
- Feta cheese
Should you make this Greek Salad with Lettuce in the winter?
I love this salad in the summer when I can use fresh garden tomatoes and fresh cucumbers. But I make this all year, using cherry tomatoes and European cucumbers from Costco when I can’t get fresh garden produce.
What variations do I like for Greek Salad with Lettuce?
I used to skip the green bell pepper, but the last few years I’ve realized that thin slivers of green pepper and even some sliced green onion add a lot of flavor to a salad like this. I’m also pretty insistent on the addition of some caper juice and capers in the dressing, and I actually like this salad with blue cheese dressing too, which is most definitely not Greek! And occasionally I add things like Peperoncini Pepper, artichoke hearts, or hearts of palm if I have some in the fridge.
My thoughts about Feta Cheese:
I have a strong preference for sheep’s milk Feta in a salad like this. To me, the sheep’s milk Feta is creamier and a little milder. Whatever Feta you buy, avoid the pre-crumbled type; it simply does not last long. If you’re lucky enough to have a FoodSaver machine (affiliate link) which vacuum packs food in plastic bags, it’s perfect for sealing those big blocks of Feta from Costco, and Feta is something I always have in my fridge.
How to make American Greek Salad with Lettuce:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- Cut up the Romaine lettuce and if it’s even the slightest bit limp let it crisp in a salad spinner with ice cold water for a few minutes.
- While the lettuce soaks, whisk together the dressing ingredients.
- Cut up cucumbers, and cut cherry tomatoes in half.
- You’ll also want crumbled Feta cheese (although it’s usually served in a block on top of the salad in Greece).
- And prepare Kalamata olives cut in half, as well as thin slivers of green bell pepper and some sliced green onion if you’re using them.
- Spin the lettuce very dry, then toss together the lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers and green onions with enough dressing to moisten the salad to your preference.
- Add the crumbled Feta and olives and gently toss to combine. (I like to save some tomatoes, Feta, and olives to garnish the top of the salad.)
- Season salad to taste with salt and fresh-ground black pepper and enjoy!
Make it a low-carb Meal:
I served this recently with Low-Carb Steak and Mushroom Kabobs and it would be a good side dish for any of my Low-Carb Grilling Recipes.
More Tasty Salads with Feta Cheese:
American Greek Salad with Lettuce
American Greek Salad with Lettuce is my signature salad to take to family parties, and this is a recipe I've enjoyed for many years! And if you want to make this salad even more American and less Greek, sometimes I eat it with Blue Cheese dressing!
Ingredients
Dressing Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup Newman's Own Olive Oil and Vinegar Dressing (see notes)
- 1 T extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 T lemon juice
- 2 tsp. capers, chopped chopped (see notes)
- 1 tsp. caper brine from the jar
- 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
Salad Ingredients:
- 4 cups Romaine lettuce, broken or chopped into bite sized pieces, washed and dried
- 1 cup cucumbers, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1/4 cup green pepper, cut into thin slivers (optional)
- 2 T thinly sliced green onion (optional)
- 1/4 cup Kalamata olives or black olives, cut in half if desired
- 1/2 cup crumbled Feta cheese (or more; see below for more about Feta)
Instructions
- If the lettuce is at all limp, chop lettuce and put into the salad spinner (affiliate link) with ice cold water and let it sit for about 5 minutes to crisp. This will make a HUGE difference in the quality of the salad.
- While lettuce crisps, whisk together the purchased vinaigrette, olive oil, lemon juice, caper juice, capers, and dried oregano and let the dressing stand while you prep other ingredients.
- Cut up cucumbers and tomatoes into bite-sized pieces.
- Crumble the Feta, slice olives in half, and thinly green pepper and slice green onions if using peppers and green onions.
- When you're ready to assemble the salad, spin the lettuce very dry in the salad spinner, or drain well and dry with paper towels.
- In large salad bowl toss together lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, green peppers and green onions with desired amount of dressing.
- Add crumbled Feta cheese and olives and gently toss again.
- I like to save out some Feta, cucumbers, and tomatoes to garnish the top of the salad.
- Season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper and enjoy.
Notes
I like Newman's Own Olive Oil and Vinegar Dressing (affiliate link); choose dressing with not more than 2 grams of sugar per serving for low-carb diets or original South Beach Diet. Use more capers if you're a capers fan like I am!
Recipe created by Kalyn many years ago, and this is a salad that I've made hundreds of times!
Nutrition Information
Yield
4Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 121Total Fat 9.5gSaturated Fat 3.6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 5.5gCholesterol 17mgSodium 283mgCarbohydrates 6.6gFiber 2.2gSugar 3.2gProtein 4g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
This Greek Salad with Lettuce would be a great main dish salad for low-carb or Keto diet plans. For strict Keto, use fewer tomatoes and more Feta. This would also be great for the original South Beach Diet, although South Beach would recommend going a bit easy on the Feta.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Salads to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe was first posted in 2006 and I have made it many, many times since then. It was last updated with more information in 2023 .
36 Comments on “American Greek Salad with Lettuce”
I brought this to a potluck and it was the only salad that was gone. Don’t leave out the feta. It’s an important part of the flavor.
So glad that people enjoyed it, and yes, Feta is definitely essential!
Thank you for this recipe. I have made it twice with terrific results. It makes a plain tossed salad special. The veggies are also common to my summer garden so i don’t have to buy a lot of extras just feta and olives. I highly recommend it.
Thanks for the nice feedback Katherine! So glad you are enjoying it!
This looks AMAZING!!! I love Greek flavors in anything, and can’t wait to make this salad!
I hope you love it as much as I do!
What a rude comment. Obviously you didn’t bother to read the post where I talked about how Greek Salad in Greece doesn’t ever have lettuce, but in American Restaurants it often does.
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I like to use yellow or orange bell pepper to add another pop of color to the salad! I like mine with or without lettuce. Sometimes I'll make up the more traditional Greek salad and let it marinate for a while, and then just spoon it over a bowl of lettuce and mix it up, so you get the marinated flavor of everything and the fresh crunch of the lettuce.
There are so many good ways to make Greek salad!
Thanks Deborah. That was exactly my thoughts about it!
I love anything with Greek flavors – I think it's because I love that saltiness. This looks fantastic – and a perfect way to feel better after eating too much on Thanksgiving!
Lesly, thanks. I love it too.
Dara, I always love the salads at that place. Fun memory!
Maria, me too! I cut up the onions, cucumbers, and peppers and keep them in the fridge; then I eat salad every day until they're gone!
I could eat this salad every day!
I remember enjoying a really good American Greek Salad with you at a restaurant near your house. This version looks even better.
That's the most favorite salad!!! I like Greek salad!!!
Katie and Jeanne, I have to admit that having the summer off is a pretty great employee benefit!
LOL – Americans and South Africans have more in common that we ever thought! The absolute standard salad on any South African restaurant menu is this exact “Greek” salad. I thought it was a worldwide thing, got to England and discovered it certainly isn’t! When I go home for holidays I always gorge on this salad, and grilled haloumi salad (another South African favourite that doesn’t really feature here in the UK).
And can I just say how jealous I am of your summer vacation?? It’s the thing I miss most about being a lecturer…
School’s out!!!! Yippee!!!
Great salad!
Maria, thanks. I’m obviously very happy about summer, and looking forward to the wedding. I’ll be there!
jancd, lucky you. I love garden cucumbers!
Ivy, thanks for clarifying. I hadn’t hard of coriander on Greek salad (but of course I’d love it.) I only got to go to Athens, but I want to go back to Greece!
bestcaesarsalad, it’s really good with the blue cheese.
I love it when the summer comes. Time to try new salads. This is an interesting variation. I loooove blue cheese too 🙂
You are right that in most parts of Greece they make the salad the way you describe it. In Cyprus we make the Greek salad or Horiatiki as we call it (village salad) with lettuce, fresh coriander and all the other ingredients of the Greek salad.
The addition of a blue cheese salad sounds good. I shall give it a try. I would add (this is my personal opinion) what makes a Greek salad is Greek olive oil, Greek oregano, kalamata olives, onion and the combination of certain vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, coriander, etc.
I love everything in your salad. I think I could eat this every day in summer when the veggies come out of the garden. I ate my first garden cucumber tonight–just sliced in rice vinegar and salt. Delicious. Even through a few cherry tomatoes in, too. I love summer.
I see there are a lot of Greek Salad fans, whether or not you add lettuce! I do love the idea of sun-dried tomatoes in this!
I always add sun dried tomatoes to my greek salad.. maybe not as authentic but its delicious!
I love American Greek salads! 😉
Paz
Kalyn, I love how colorful and fresh this is. My kind of salad!
I will continue to consider this a classic! My experience with this salad: A friend whose family still lived in Greece served this at a teacher appreciation dinner! Go figure.
Comments before this one were from 2006 when this recipe was first posted. You will see there is some lack of agreement about what truly constitutes “Greek Salad.”
I live in Tampa and our Greek salads are the best in the country. No lie.
Potato salad
Lettuce
black olives
beets
cucumbers
tomatoes
feta cheese
greek dressing
anchovies
Amazingly good and, due to our rich greek heritage here, VERY authentic.
Amy
Tampa, FL
This is nice… I really like it.
Ciao.
To further confuse things, I ordered a “Greek” salad in a restaurant in Tampa FL, and what I got was a lettuce salad that had a scoop of potato salad in the middle, a piece of feta on top and some olives and pickled beets as well.
Apparently this is a regional thing and hopefully it stays that way.
Crystal, I’m with you on the blue cheese!
Pille, very interesting that the Santorini salad had lettuce. I didn’t get to go there. I got the name “American Greek Salad” from my favorite Mediterranean restaurant in Salt Lake.
PatL, my house was built in 1912 and had one of those porches that go all the way across the front of the house. I love my porch, but it’s rotting away and needs to be replaced!
Oh, the front porch! I am green with envy! Our front deck is (a) completely saturated with rain and (b) prime staging ground for hordes of mosquitoes. I daren’t pray for a drought, but it’s my secret desire right now!!
Kalyn – I had lots and lots of amazingly tasty Greek salad during my trip last week – sans lettuce, of course (though Santorini salad has lettuce:) Your blue cheese dressings sounds delicious – I might try that soon..
Also – I realised that in Greece feta cheese is usually laid on top as a block, and not crumbled onto the salad, although most cookbooks say so. Go figure..