I Tried the Viral “Greek Lady Salad” and Want to Thank the Grandmother Who Invented It

Coming across a good salad can be tricky. But social media is a great place to discover new salad recipes that might fit your palate. I’ve found some of my favorite salads — like the spicy Southwest salad and the Kate Middleton watermelon salad — just by perusing social sites. 

While Greek salads haven’t always been my favorite (although this diner-style variation is worth a try), I recently came across a few tips from content creator @_eating_with_emily that promise to make the salad the best you’ve ever tasted. Revealing that these “secrets” to making the best Greek salad come straight from a Greek lady in Crete, I figured that it wouldn’t hurt to give the salad another try and see if these tips really do make a difference.

Get the recipe: Greek Lady Salad

For this recipe — which yields four portions — you’ll need chopped tomatoes, thinly sliced red onion, diced green pepper, cubed cucumber, a large handful of finely chopped dill, a block of feta (crumbled or diced), lemon juice, four handfuls of olives, red wine vinegar, a pinch of sea salt, and — as Emily puts it — “a few generous glugs” of extra-virgin olive oil. At first glance, all of these ingredients are seemingly normal to include in a Greek salad, but according to Emily (by way of said Greek lady from Crete), the secret for this recipe comes in the next step.

Once you’ve added the green pepper, onions, tomatoes, a squeeze of lemon juice, sea salt, olives, cucumber, block of feta, and olive oil into a large bowl, mix well and set aside. Now here’s the step that will change your Greek salad game: Take another block of feta, a tablespoon of red wine vinegar, the remaining juice from your lemon, and four more tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil and mash together. Stir this additional mixture into the salad, top with a generous amount of dill (which Emily says will make it taste “extra delicious”), and enjoy.

As I said earlier, I’ve never been a huge fan of Greek salads. This tip from Emily, however, may have shifted my heart — and stomach — a bit in its favor. 

The feta mix added a little extra oomph to the salad that I feel had been missing. I probably wouldn’t go so heavy on the dill or onions the next time I make it, but I could definitely see myself throwing this together as a summer side or a filling and refreshing lunch.

• Don’t be afraid to make this salad your own. Play around a bit with the amount of each ingredient added and if you don’t have any red wine vinegar on hand, feel free to sub white or apple cider vinegar instead.

Get the recipe: Greek Lady Salad