Loaded Greek Salad Recipe (2024)

This light and healthy Loaded Greek Salad is perfect to make when you don’t have much time but want to make something that doesn’t sacrifice on flavor! It is as perfect for a weeknight meal as it is to bring to a potluck or brunch. This salad is loaded with everything that is Greek inspired and delicious, then a homemade Greek dressing poured over top ofthis salad, it will make even the doubters fall in love with salad as a main entree. And with all this goodness you won’t believe how quickly it all comes together!

No one ever would have guessed a little kiosk in the mall would be the spark to ignite my love of food. I grew up with a pretty simple palette. I ate the basic kid food, but not much more, and I don’t think there is anyone who would have not classified me as a picky eater for the first 10-15 years of my life. You see there was a tiny little Mediterranean restaurant in the food court there at our neighborhood mall. As you might remember from you tween and teen years, the mall used to be THE place to see and be seen. I spent many a summer day wandering around it with friends, and one of those days, I don’t know how or why, we decided to venture out of our normal lunch of pizza or chicken tenders and got in line at the Greek place. I scanned the menu, not really sure what I would order but knowing the mousy brown meat rotating on the stick behind the register was WAY too far out of my comfort zone. I ended up with a chicken pita with a side salad which seemed like the safest bet I could decipher from what I even knew on the menu.

It wasn’t good. It was AMAZING! I had never had feta cheese, pita bread, or those little pickled sweet peppers before, but after approximately 1.5 bites, I was hooked, and quite possibly the rest of my life changed a bit. The little place in the mall eventually went out of business, but my love for Mediterranean food never waned. After finding this little place in the mall, I was much more open to trying other new foods and I started making them myself so that I could have it on more of a regular basis.

Greek salad is still one of my favorites today. There are so many fresh flavors packed into such a healthy dish. I love to load my salad up with as much veggies and goodness as possible to pack the punch of lots of different vitamins and flavors in a low calorie dish, then use the dressing to bring it all together and amplify the flavor. In this loaded version, it includes just about everything you could want to put on a Greek Salad. The beauty of it is, that you can leave off things you don’t like, or add things I may not have listed and the salad will be just as delicious! Salad does not require an exact recipe and can be easily customized to fit your tastes perfectly with little thought. You can add more of one thing you love and less of another that isn’t or favorite or add and subtract things completely. It is up to you, and you really can’t mess it up!

Loaded Greek Salad Recipe- Step by Step

Follow along here for my tips and tricks for this recipe, or if you just want therecipe card, you can scroll to the bottom of the post to grab it.

Ingredients

• 2-3 romaine hearts, washed and chopped- Make sure to dry the lettuce in a salad spinner or by hand for the best result.
• 1 cup rotisserie chicken, chopped- I use the white meat but again, it is all preference here.
• 1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
• 1/2 cup chickpeas- for an extra treat, try making crispy chickpeas to add to the salad… HEAVEN!
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives
• 1/2 cup peperonchinis, sliced- You can buy these whole or sliced. Taste-wise either work great, depending on preference, but I really like sliced because I feel like they are already ready to eat and there is less cutting involved.
• 1/2 cup cherry tomatos
• 1/2 cup canned artichoke hearts, drained and quartered- I use them either marinated or not, with the dressing it doesn’t seem to impact the flavor much so whichever
• 1/2 cup red onion, finely diced
• 1/2 cup cucumber, diced
• 1/2-1 cup Greek Dressing (see recipe below)
• Pita Bread (optional)

Instructions:

1. Place the romaine lettuce in a large bowl. Make sure you have plenty of room for loading up the salad in your bowl! Also, once you have everything in you will still need room to toss the salad without making a huge mess, so just give yourself enough space.
2. Layer the remaining toppings, as desired on top of the lettuce. This is where you really make it yours! Add the toppings you like, omit anything you don’t really like. Put in a little extra of those you really love or a little less of those you don’t. This is all really subjective to taste, so load it up how your family loves it!
3. Right before serving, pour the dressing over top and toss the salad to coat everything with the dressing. I added a pretty wide range of dressing on the ingredient list. Because the size of the heads of lettuce vary so widely and depending on how much you load the salad up with could make it much more or less, you can start with a generous drizzle, then toss, then add more as needed. I always think the perfect amount of dressing will coat everything, but not pool at the bottom of the bowl.
4. If you want to serve the salad with pita bread, lightly toast each sideon a griddle with a little butter, then cut it in quarters and server on the side of the salad. This is a extra delicious, but if you are low carb, or trying to eat on the healthier side, then you might want to skip this one.
5. Enjoy! It is a delicious meal for lunch or dinner! If you aren’t serving a crowd, you can toss without the dressing and then serve and pour the dressing on individually. The salad will then save better in the fridge for later!

Homemade Greek Salad Dressing – Step by Step

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp crushed garlic- I love to use the kind sold in a tube or jar that you can find in the refrigerated area of the produce section. You can also use fresh if you prefer.
• 1 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
• the juice of 1/2 lemon- Fresh is really important to the flavor here, so don’t short cut this one!
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried basil leaves
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves
• 1/2 tsp dried parsley leaves

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients and whisk until everything is well combined and the honey is dissolved. You can do this in a bowl or do it in a mason jar and shake then just pop the lid on to save it.
2. Pour over a greek salad, gyro, or use as a dipping sauce for pita bread. Make sure you can shake or whisk it prior to serving as it will separate as it sits.
3. Enjoy! You can save any extra dressing in an air tight container in the fridge.

I really, really hope that your family loves this recipe as much as we do! There are few healthy meals I crave more than this Loaded Greek Salad! If you get a chance to try it, I would love to hear about it here in the comments below, or you can tag me on Instagram @easyfamilyrecipes so that I can see your delicious creations! Nothing makes my day more than knowing someone tried and loved one of my recipes! Enjoy guys!