Horiatiki-Style Greek Salad with Barrel-Aged Feta
The classic Greek village salad: ripe tomatoes, cucumber, and green pepper topped with a slab of barrel-aged feta and olives.
Horiatiki, the actual Greek village salad, looks nothing like the chopped versions you often see elsewhere — no lettuce at all, just thick wedges of ripe tomato, sliced cucumber, and green pepper, topped with a whole slab of feta rather than crumbles, and finished simply with olive oil, oregano, and a splash of vinegar.
Barrel-aged feta has a firmer texture and sharper flavor than the softer versions sold in brine, and it holds its shape beautifully sitting on top rather than melting into the vegetables.
This salad leans heavily on ripe, in-season tomatoes and good olive oil, letting a handful of simple ingredients do all the work rather than a long dressing list. It's best made in peak tomato season, when the vegetables genuinely don't need much help to taste like something, and it needs nothing more than good bread on the side to feel like a full meal.
Ingredients
- 4 large ripe tomatoes — cut into wedges
- 1 English cucumber — sliced
- 1 green bell pepper — sliced
- 1/2 red onion — thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup Kalamata olives
- 6 oz barrel-aged feta — sliced into 4 slabs
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
These ingredients are standard at most major European supermarkets.
Instructions
- 1Arrange tomato wedges, cucumber, pepper, and red onion on a large platter.
- 2Scatter olives over the vegetables.
- 3Place the feta slabs on top of the salad.
- 4Drizzle everything with olive oil and red wine vinegar.
- 5Sprinkle with dried oregano and black pepper.
- 6Serve immediately, letting everyone break the feta apart at the table.