Loaded Greek Salad

Loaded Greek Salad — An amped up version of a classic Greek salad with avocado, artichokes, garbanzo beans, and more!! The tangy Greek salad dressing is ready in seconds and is a major flavor booster! Naturally gluten-free and vegetarian!!

What Makes This a Loaded Greek Salad?

I took some liberties and enhanced a traditional Greek salad. This loaded version is loaded with extra goodies.

Namely, the addition of artichoke hearts, garbanzo beans, and creamy avocado gives it a leg up on classic Greek salads. I wouldn’t want to have a Greek salad any other way from now on.

This salad has so many awesome and amazing textures and flavors in every bite. Crunchy red onions and cucumbers, juicy tomatoes, chewy artichokes, buttery garbanzo beans, creamy avocado, and salty olives and feta.

The Greek salad dressing adds so much tangy, sharp flavor and really is a big time flavor powerhouse.

When you look at the big bowl of ingredients and the relatively small quantity of vinaigrette, you’ll wonder how it can flavor everything in that bowl, but it can and does. It’s such a filling and flavorful salad that you never feel like you are ‘missing’ a thing.

What’s in a Greek Salad?

For this loaded Greek salad, you’ll need:

• Red onion
• Cucumber
• Tomatoes
• Black Kalamata olives
• Artichoke hearts (I used Trader Joe’s frozen that I allowed to thaw)
• Garbanzo beans
• Feta cheese
• Avocado

For the Greek salad dressing, which is actually much more along the lines of a vinaigrette, you’ll need:

• Olive oil
• Red wine or balsamic vinegar
• Lemon juice
• Dijon mustard
• Dried oregano
• Salt and pepper
• Sugar (optional)

This isn’t sponsored in any way, but every single item I used above is from Trader Joe’s. Just pointing that out for easy one-stop-shopping if you have one in your area.

How to Make Greek Salad

For the salad itself, simply chop up the veggies and toss them together in a bowl. 

For the dressing, add all ingredients except the sugar to a small bowl and whisk vigorously to combine. Taste, and optionally add the sugar.

If desired, add a final drizzle of olive oil over the salad, and serve immediately.

What to Serve with Greek Salad

You can enjoy this Greek salad recipe on its own or alongside a heartier main. Here are a few ideas for what to serve with this Greek salad: 

• 20-Minute Oven Baked Chicken Breasts
• Grilled Lemon Chicken
• Honey Dijon Salmon
• Sweet Chili Grilled Chicken
• Grilled Steak Kabobs
• Baked Chicken Nuggets with Honey Mustard
• Kicked Up Cornflake Chicken

Greek Salad Variations to Try

Most salad and vinaigrette recipes are pretty flexible and these are no exceptions.

Ideas and suggestions:

• Add red or green bell peppers
• Add green onions
• Use cherry, grape, or another favorite tomato
• Use marinated feta cubes
• Use another kind of olive such as fancier ‘olive bar’ olives
• Adjust the olive oil-to-vinegar ratio to your liking, such as more oil and less vinegar
• Swap grainy mustard for Dijon
• Use a champagne vinegar
• Add garlic to the vinaigrette 

Tips for the Best Greek Salad 

The salad is naturally gluten-free and vegetarian. If you could find a vegan swap for the feta cheese and omit the Dijon mustard and use a grainy mustard instead, this would become a vegan recipe.

I indicated that the salad serves 8 and if you’re serving it with other things, that’s totally reasonable. However, if you’re just having this salad, I would say it serves four. Of course, appetites vary, so your mileage may vary with the yield.

After being dressed, I suggest consuming the salad as soon as possible. However, it will keep airtight for up to 3 days in the fridge noting that it will become more watery as the vegetables release their juices and the avocado oxidizes.

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4.70 from 23 votes

Loaded Greek Salad

By Averie Sunshine

An amped up version of a classic Greek salad with avocado, artichokes, garbanzo beans, and more!! The tangy Greek salad dressing is ready in seconds and is a major flavor booster! Naturally gluten-free and vegetarian!!

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 8

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Ingredients 

Salad

• ▢ 1 small red onion, sliced into thin strips
• ▢ 1 medium English cucumber, diced small
• ▢ 2 medium Roma tomatoes, diced small (another type of tomato may be substituted)
• ▢ ⅔ cup black kalamata olives, pitted
• ▢ 12 ounces artichoke hearts, I used Trader Joe’s frozen that I allowed to thaw
• ▢ one 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• ▢ 4 ounces feta cheese
• ▢ 1 medium Hass avocado, cubed

Greek Dressing/Vinaigrette

• ▢ ⅓ cup olive oil, plus more for final drizzling if desired
• ▢ 2 to 3 tablespoon red wine or balsamic vinegar, balsamic is stronger and will give more bite
• ▢ 2 to 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• ▢ 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ▢ 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
• ▢ ¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
• ▢ 2 to 3 teaspoons granulated sugar, optional

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Instructions 

For the Salad:

• Add all ingredients to a large bowl; set aside.

For the Greek Dressing:

• Add all ingredients except sugar to a small bowl and whisk vigorously to combine. Taste, and optionally add the sugar. I personally couldn't go without it because I use the higher end of the spectrum of both vinegar and lemon juice. As desired, add more oil, vinegar, salt/pepper, etc. as desired. Tweak the ingredients to make it your own and suit you.
• When you're happy, pour the dressing over the salad and toss well to coat evenly.
• If desired, add a final drizzle of olive oil over the salad, and serve immediately.

Notes

• After being dressed, I suggest consuming salad as soon as possible, but it will keep airtight for up to 3 days in the fridge noting that it will become more watery as the vegetables release their juices and the avocado oxidizes.

Nutrition

Serving: 1, Calories: 279kcal, Carbohydrates: 27g, Protein: 9g, Fat: 16g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 11g, Cholesterol: 13mg, Sodium: 699mg, Fiber: 8g, Sugar: 7g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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