This Vegan Greek-inspired Salad is a symphony of bright, tangy flavor! It's drizzled with a deliciously bold homemade dressing. Plus you can add chickpeas for a heartier main dish! (Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free.)
This vegan Greek-inspired salad is a beautiful symphony of flavor!
We toss together sweet tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, zippy red onion, briny olives, and earthy beets & artichokes. Then drizzle it with a tangy homemade Greek-style dressing. (Yum!)
It isn't an authentic Greek salad, but merely my own favorite version that I absolutely adore.
Traditional Greek Salad typically doesn't include romaine lettuce, but I do love the fresh, crisp texture it brings in this dish. (And if you want another version without lettuce, check out this Ultimate Greek Chopped Salad!)
Ingredients for Vegan Greek Salad
For this recipe you'll toss together in a large bowl:
- Romaine lettuce: We'll use one medium to large head romaine lettuce for this recipe. (I find this is about 4-5 cups chopped.) You could also try fresh kale or mixed greens for the lettuce base, although I prefer romaine in this dish.
- English cucumber: These are also called hothouse cucumbers. I enjoy them for their extra-crisp texture and thin skins, but you can also peel a regular seedless garden cucumber instead.
- Grape tomatoes: Or cherry tomatoes. I use these because they have bold, sweet flavor, but you can use roma or other tomato if you wish.
- Red onion
- Roasted beets: These may be a slightly unusual addition to the salad. But I always had them on my Greek salad when I was a kid, and it's stuck with me ever since. (Maybe it's a Michigan thing where I grew up?) I don't know the origin, but I do know they're tasty and antioxidant-rich! For convenience, I use Love Beets organic roasted beets found in the refrigerated produce section.
- Artichoke hearts: Either jarred or canned work great.
- Kalamata olives: You can omit these if you're not a fan, but I love the briny, salty flavor they add.
- Greek dressing: I use my homemade oil-free Vegan Greek Salad Dressing for this recipe. It's deliciously bold, tangy, and slightly creamy! It's made with ingredients like fresh lemon juice, red wine vinegar, hummus, garlic powder, Dijon mustard, and dried oregano. But feel free to substitute your own favorite store-bought version if desired!
Customizing
Add beans: For a more substantial salad, add garbanzo beans (chickpeas) or other white bean like navy beans. This adds extra plant-based protein and fiber, and is especially great if you're enjoying it as a main dish.
Make it "cheesy": Add vegan feta cheese crumbles, or your favorite tofu feta.
Other additions: Green bell pepper is a classic addition to traditional Greek salads, so feel free to include that if you wish. You could also toss in sun-dried tomatoes or pepperoncini. (Olive oil is also a staple in authentic Greek salads, but I omit it in this oil-free version.)
Serving
Garnish: Serve this salad as is, or top with fresh oregano, fresh parsley, black pepper or salt to taste, or a dollop of hummus.
Dressing: I find one batch of my homemade Greek Dressing is plenty for this salad. Simply use as much or as little as you prefer!
Side salad or main dish: This recipe can serve about 2-3 larger main dish servings, or 4-8 smaller side dish servings, depending on portion sizes. (It yields about 10 cups salad total.) Pita bread pairs nicely as well.
Storing
Store salad and dressing in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator. Then toss together when ready to serve. (This helps prevent the lettuce from getting soggy in the fridge.) I find it keeps for about 3-4 days.
For more inspiration, also browse all healthy vegan salad recipes.
Vegan Greek Salad (Oil-Free!)
Ingredients
- 1 head romaine (about 5 cups chopped)
- 1/2 English cucumber
- 1 cup grape tomatoes (about 5 oz.)
- 1 cup roasted beets
- 1 cup artichoke hearts
- 1/2 cup red onion
- 1/3 cup Kalamata olives (or more)
- 1 batch Vegan Greek Dressing
For serving (optional):
- Chickpeas, vegan feta cheese, dollop of hummus, fresh oregano or parsley, black pepper
Instructions
- Make the homemade Vegan Greek Dressing. (Or prepare this ahead of time and store covered in the refrigerator until ready.)
- Chop romaine and place in a large bowl. Dice cucumber, tomato, beets, and artichoke hearts. Thinly slice red onion. Halve olives. Add all veggies to bowl except beets. (For eye-appeal, I add these after tossing since they tend to stain the other vegetables.)
- Toss salad together, then add your beets. Plate salad and spoon desired amount of dressing on top.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving (Estimate)
Sodium: This is omitted as I cannot provide an accurate number. I encourage you to calculate your own to provide a much more precise reading based on the exact ingredients, brands, and amounts you're using.
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