There’s no better summer side dish than this Easy Greek Cucumber Salad Recipe. This fresh summer salad is loaded with juicy tomatoes and cucumbers, red onion, feta, and a homemade dressing. 

Summers in Florida. I dread them! The rain. The humidity. The heat. Hurricanes. It’s just the worst time of the year here. 

For someone who loves being outdoors by the lake, it’s hard being secluded indoors for days at a time because of rain and nasty weather. It’s no wonder the minute I see a little ray of sunshine peeking through the clouds that I’m darting out the door and heading straight for the pontoon or jet ski.

It’s pretty much like clockwork here. On a typical summer day in Florida, you’re bound to see rain somewhere around the 3 o’clock hour. That usually leaves you with a good window of sunshine in the earlier part of the day to get outdoors and do ALL THE THINGS.

With a window that small, it’s super important to be organized and ready to go at any given moment. I like to have my lake bag already packed with our essentials and then a few quick cocktail and food recipes that I can whip together quickly with minimal effort so I can get outside ASAP.

A few of my summer favorites in terms of easy cocktails are my flavored vodka sodas, White Claw wine spritzers, and my pineapple Sex on the Beach drink recipe. All of the recipes are perfect for any day by the water!

For an easy summer side dish, my go-to recipe is always my Mediterranean orzo salad. It’s a super yummy pasta salad with zero mayonnaise making it a perfect dish to bring on the boat with us. The only problem is, it takes a few hours for the flavors to come together in the fridge…same with my macaroni salad. 

Both recipes are all fine and dandy when I know ahead of time that I’ll be heading outside for some lake fun, but sometimes a girl just wants an option available for those impromptu times too. And that is exactly how this Easy Greek Cucumber Salad Recipe was born!

From start to finish, this Mediterranean cucumber salad takes about 15 minutes to make. It might even be quicker if you’re a faster chopper. For me, a novice chef, I like to be a little cautious when working with a knife. I still need all my fingers to do a million other fun things like laundry and cleaning toilets!

The inspiration for this dish came from our family’s trip last summer to Greece. Yes, you heard me right. Our family took a dream vacation to Greece this time last year and had the best time ever.

Greece is everything we dreamed it would be. The people, scenery, and the food were amazing beyond words! I would go back in a heartbeat if I could.

 

While in Greece, we enjoyed our fair share of Greek salads. We basically had one as an appetizer every night at dinner. Unlike the Greek salads we see here in the states, a traditional Greek salad has no lettuce in it at all. You do see tons of tomatoes, cucumbers, and an abundance of salty feta cheese. The Greek salad is then drizzled with olive oil and some seasonings and then they call it a day. 

It’s simple yet so flavorful and refreshing. And let’s not forget the fact that it’s healthy too, making the recipe perfect for bathing suit season.

So while I was in Trader Joe’s for the first time since MARCH (I missed TJ’s so much!), I made sure to pick up all the ingredients I would need to make my own Greek cucumber salad at home. Of course, I grabbed some of my other favorite Trader Joe’s items like flowers, chicken fried rice, and their tzatziki dip. 

On a side note, my friend Jaclyn put together an awesome Trader Joe’s Summer Shopping List with all the essentials you NEED for the season. I’m definitely going to be heading back to Trader Joe’s soon to get some of the favorites from her list. Definitely go check it out!

Within five minutes of putting all my groceries away, I pulled out all the ingredients to make this easy summer salad and started chopping away. Ten minutes later, I had a delicious and healthy lunch ready to go. You’ve got to see how easy it is to make.

Easy Greek Cucumber Salad Recipe

Easy Greek Cucumber Salad Recipe16 oz. cherry tomatoes (could also use 2 pints), 2 English cucumbers, 6 oz crumbled feta cheese with Mediterranean herbs, 9 – 12 oz. Greek Kalamata olives (I used jumbo, pitted olives), small red onion

Dressing

⅓ cup olive oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp red wine vinegar, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp dried oregano, ½ tsp dried basil

 

Begin by halving your cherry tomatoes. For the larger tomatoes, I cut them into quarters.

Add your chopped tomatoes to a large bowl.

Next, chop your English cucumbers. I left the skin on my cucumbers but if you’re using regular cucumbers I recommend peeling them first before adding them to your salad. 

Third, dice your red onion up and add it to the bowl with the tomatoes and cucumbers.

Drain your Kalamata olives and cut them in half before adding them to the bowl. 

Add your crumbled feta cheese to the bowl. I like to use the feta cheese with Mediterranean herbs because it has such a yummy flavor. 

Now for the dressing, add all your ingredients into a mixing cup or bowl and stir it together.

Pour the dressing over the ingredients in the bowl and give everything a nice big stir. 

All that is left to do is enjoy this refreshing and easy Greek cucumber salad recipe with your family! It really is that simple to make, my friend. If you give it a try, let me know how long it takes you to chop all the ingredients. Not that it’s a competition or anything…

Want to remember this? Post this Easy Greek Cucumber Salad Recipe to your favorite Pinterest board!

 

WELCOME TO THE WEDNESDAY LINK PARTY! MEET YOUR HOSTS:

Jaclyn from Coffee, Pancakes, and Dreams
Brittany from Dreams and Coffee
Mary Leigh from Live Well Play Together
Tiffany from Lake Life State of Mind
Lindsay from Lindsay’s Sweet World
Keri from Cultivate an Intentional Life 
Holley from Simply Holley Marie