Check out the recipe: www.allrecipes.com/Recipe/267974/My-Big-Fat-Greek-Salad/

"You are the Plato of when to plate bro" That one was beautiful

Dear Chef John, I've just lost my father. You probably couldn't believe what a simple support you've been to me. More power to your elbow. Keep on feeding the hungry. From Ireland, Lewis

“Optional, but also mandatory.”

I have made this salad for years in the summer, but today I learned 3 new tricks. Same size veggies, salting and vinegar before oil. You are the best Chef John!

Made this exact recipe about 3 hours ago. It’s perfection!! I did not change a thing. Highly recommend this Big Greek Salad. Thank you Chef Jon!!

The best part of the greek salad is dip a nice chunk of sourdough bread in the leftover juices^^ Btw, I'm from Italy, and my grandma always ate something very similar as Summer dish, basically the greek salad without feta and bell peppers and with Tuna as main protein.

Horiatiki, Chef John. Also - The Greeks like to use dry oregano and sprinkle it on large chunks of feta. The feta in Greece is sold in wood barrels and it's insanely good. Here's another food wish for the future - Dako salad.

A little tip I got from an greek chef, is actually to "marinade" the red onion in juice from half a lemon and 3-4 dl (I'm from Norway, believe it's 1,5 cup) of water, and let it be in the solution for 15-20 minutes. it realy makes a difference and take out the sharpness from the onion :-) Love your chanel !

In Greece, we like our salad the same way that we like our debt: as BIG as possible. BTW Chef John, capers are optional.

Tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, feta cheese, olive oil, oregano (usually dry) is the basis. Olives, peppers, vinegar are optional but very welcome. Add in some crumbled rusks/crackers/sippets (paximadi in Greek) and you have a salad made in heaven. Quick, easy and delicious.

Nice twist. Alternatively. In the classic Greek salad served all over Greece: - vinegar is optional if not forbidden - the feta cheese is served as a whole in top of the salad. This way you can see that it's actual feta cheese and not cheese barrel trimmings and leftovers. Furthermore you can set the feta aside and eat it separately because it can dominate the taste of the salad. - Dry oregano. - No cucumber drying through salting. We want the juices. Dipping fresh Bread in this salad's juices is half of the whole satisfaction. - No black pepper in classic Greek salad. - Don't cut to much olives especially when they are cured in brine with vinegar. It dominates the taste over the vegetables. Olives should few in numbers and not sliced. - A lot of good quality olive oil. Hugely important. Preferably Greek extra virgin olive oil with low acidity.

Brought this to a friend's house today and it was a hit! Left with an empty bowl.I used Roma tomatoes and crumbled feta. Also only had dried oregano, but it was still great. Chef John wins everytime!

With Chef John it's got to a point where whenever I see any other chef doing a video, I just feel like they have no idea what they are talking about.

I just wanted you to know, Chef John, that ever since I started watching your videos a few years ago, I have started making my own Cayenne pepper powder from my own recipe. I have never used it in my dishes before watching your video. Jump to present day, I am now fermenting batches of cayenne peppers for around 3 months along with various spices and garlic. Drying them out and pulverizing them into such a delicious "Shake of cayenne" I add to almost all of my dishes. Much respect, my man.

I love this salad. It is one of my favorites. (Although I like a little banana peppers and more cheese) Seeing it makes me miss one of my ex-girlfriends. We spent a wonderful summer together a few years back, attending music festivals and camping pretty much every weekend. She was Greek/Palestinian in heritage. I learned a lot that year and we had the greatest times.

I love Greek salad and never made one at home that I found satisfactory...now I don't have to go out. And BTW you don't know how good a Greek salad is until you reach the bottom and everything is melding together. Thank you Chef John!!

_You are, after all, the culinary ballad of your big fat greek salad!_

We tried this recipe today and the family says it’s a keeper! Thanks for another great recipe 😋

I'm in my 60's and my simple eating go to's are relatively heathier and more easily digestible foods = salads, soups, stews, and chowders. thanks for this one Chef John 👍

Anyone else notice that yellow pear-shaped tomato throughout the entire video? Just me? Oh okay. Lol!

I'm Greek and you should 100% serve it immediately. Tomatoes and cucumbers lose their nice flavor when chilled in the fridge. Whatever folks say overnight, they like a mushy tasteless salad.

I’ve always made this with salad greens, but this looks much better. Some beets, warm pita, and grilled chicken and it’s a meal.

Dear Chef John: 1) I don't know if the English cucumbers are bitter but here in Drapetsona, Greece are sweet so we don't have to extract any of their juices. In the end we have more of the gazpacho-style juice and we use more bread (toasted of course) to clean the bowl. 2) I was expecting to add AND dried oregano! As you always say, it's totally another flavor. Actually, if some old Greek lady tells me that they used to dry the oregano just to put it on this salad, I wouldn't be surprised. 3-and most important) TOMATOES IN THE FRIDGE? Letting the salad 10-15' -outside the fridge- is the best you can do for all those flavors. But chilling the tomato? You'll end up with a beautiful Greek salad without its main ingredient! (You know we love you - @Teletai_Mpouk)

Yay! Love Greek salad

I'm Greek and I make my salads almost exactly like this.... I prefer to only let it sit for about 5-10 minutes in the fridge and I use lemon instead of vinegar. It's also great to add quinoa (which is totally un-Greek, but really fantastic too :)

looks amazing. heres a nice tip, discard the middle part of the cucumber before dicing it up (its the softer part with the seeds), that way the salad becomes even more crunchy. thats how they do it in the restaurants in my country. also, refrigirate your vegetables before cutting, that way you dont need to let the salad rest in the fridge.

A Greek grandma that lived near me before used to replace some of the oregano with fresh dill, idk if that's a personal thing or what but it really tastes great too

I made this for dinner tonight! adding leftover diced, grilled chicken & crusty croutons to soak up the yummy dressing was all it took to have an amazing main dish salad for a holiday weekend!

TWO! Woah, is this unprecedented? I feel honored to be here with an unsung ballad, of your Grecian salad.

All the thing in greek salad is the leftover juice from tomato and olive oil with the feta cheese for doing "papara" with the bread. Chef i love your channel

after all is said and done, this Greek salad is #1!

This is amazing!!! I made it today. I added Garbanzo beans for some protein. The flavors and the texture is fantastic!!

I love that you end the videos with “as always, enjoyyyyyy” lol it makes me happy for some reason!!

Chef John I love watching you everyday. You make cooking an art...thank you!

I love you Chef John!! I always learn so many things watching your videos, and I've been cooking for like 30 something years, and my mom was a Home Ec teacher, and so was my grandma. you're simply amazing!!! thanks again and again for all your help! xoxo

Just made this and it was a humongous hit. Adults and kids devoured it ❤️

My mom made this salad and it was absolutely delicious. I will ask her to make another one today.

Love Greek salad also ad fresh lemon to mine. Like watching what you cook. Joanne

Perfect timing Chef. I was planning on making Greek salad for lunch next week.

You are a rock star! I like the Greek recipes - a Mediterranean diet is a healthy one for us all. Thank you.

What I learned from making this dish: I like red wine vinegar. (I normally HATE vinegar.) I learned what a pepperoncini was. Never ever buy whole olives with the pit still inside. I learned I can tolerate raw red onion a lot better than I thought. (I normally don't like raw onion AT ALL) Thanks Chef John!

Chef John, in this recipe you mentioned the cucumbers being bitter. I had someone to let me know that if you cut both ends off of the cucumbers it takes away the bitterness rather than just cutting one end off. It worked for me even if I only use half of the cucumber I still cut the end off of the other half before storing it.

Watched within the first 50 views! Love this channel and every dish you make!!

You are always my go to....love your recipes and techniques

I made this for family a couple of nights ago, fantastic salad, great combination of ingredients, red wine vinegar, olive oil, paprika just perfect!

“…while I did say this step was optional, it’s also mandatory.” Love it.

On a trip to Greece years ago, I ate only Greek salad for lunch everywhere we went. The interesting thing was, it was never prepared the same way. Each of the salads was different. But mostly cucumbers and tomatoes were the main ingredients.

I have been making this salad a lot since moving to Sweden because it is delicious and so easy to make and cheap ingredients. One thing I picked up was using feta that is marinating in oregano infused olive oil... You can always add more oregano if need be and if you add too much oil.. using citrus to cut through the thickness of the oil adds a really nice freshness to the salad. It is a huge hit for everyone that eats it.

Chef John. I have just put this salad together, as well as cooked your roasted Greek chicken, minus the potatoes, and my GOD! Every bite is exploding with flavor! I’ll definitely be making these regularly for years to come. Thank you

I add sweet, red seedless grapes to my Greek salads and the combination with the veggies and salty, tangy feta is phenomenal!

Chef John as a Greek I should say that Greek "village" salad should be chunky and rustic and messy, like our economy. Love you chef John!

Chef - My only comment of a negative nature is - No gazpacho - One must enjoy a salad such as this with really good, rustic and crusty loaf od bread...Dipped INTO the sauce. AHHHH, one of life's joys........I really enjoy and learn from ALL your videos, so thank you, this too is another superb instructional and fun video.

“This step is optional but also mandatory “ 🤣

Chef 👨🏾‍🍳 John! That is beautiful!!! 🥗 I will be making it!!

Awesome!!! When I make Traditional Greek Salad, I use all Greek ingredients... Even my Feta comes from Greece... I learned something from your method that had never occurred to me... Put the Vinegar in before the Oil... I should have known, but Dauh... lol Thanks for the tip... I'm sure it will make a difference... I just finished a Greek Salad today... It usually takes me 3 days to get through it... However, the juice in the bottom of my bowl is incredible... I drink it... :-)

Great video. Never knew about the salt and rinse trick for cucumbers. More salad videos please!

When I first started watching Chef John’s videos, his voice creeped me out sooo badly that I unsubscribe... I just resubscribed because every time I run across a yummy recipe and great method...I run into chef John ....over and over again....chef John your videos and recipes are super fabulous...and your voice doesn’t creep me out anymore since I saw what you look like in person. Thank you sooooo very much for sharing ! You have fabulous skill and love the guidance you share. Happy New Year! 🥳

You did it right.....I like a light touch of fresh lemon myself, but As you I also have used a Good aged Red Wine Vinager.

Optional but required...don't be a hero...people like pointy food...the Plato of when to plate bro...AWESOME MADNESS!

Gotta love a new Chef John video!

Thanks for another great recipe Chef and for teaching me that I am the Plato of my heirloom tomato.

Looks Amazing!!! Love your videos!! 😁

One of my favorite salads/meals/things ever!!! I Do not want wait to make this version!! Wow...simply delicious!

Chef, I just made this beautiful salad. Thank you for the recipe. And yes, salting the cucumbers and letting them sit for a bit made a wonderful bit of difference.

I love how you explain every step in a fun and natural voice. I want to eat healthier, hope this Greek salad is healthy. 😊

One of the best recipes I've seen on KZfaq

Chef John may not have come up with the salad's name, but he is the inventor of the optional yet mandatory step. Take a bow, sir.

John, I made this as an entree salad for Saturday night dinner for my wife & I. We loved it and I think it renewed her love for me. ;-) Thanks, man.

Tarpon Springs is so close to where I live and it's a Greek community in Florida. I love going to there for food!

You definitely want to serve the salad as soon as possible, to have the freshest and crunchiest vegetables. And don’t dehydrate your cucumbers, loose all the vitamins, and make your life harder than it has to be, just find a proper delicious cucumber sort. The thinner the cucumber, the crunchier it is. Also green pepper, red pepper in a greek salad is a sacrilege.

Gday mate this is paul from Adelaide Australia i love your videos please keep it up. love 2 see more salad videos if possiable thanx mate; regards paul brown

i love greece and greek salads

I was ready to rant about this not being close to Greek, but it actually is pretty accurate and looks delicious!

This looks FANTASTIC! Yum!😀

Looks like a tasty salad! But, not totally traditional. If you like it to be totally traditional use the following changes: - Use large sun-ripened tomatoes, must be sweet (Peak of summer is the only season we make this salad!) - It must be green bell pepper to get that hint of bitterness (The bitter flavour is missing from Chef John's salad) - No vinegar at all, but extra oil This salad is always eaten with bread, so make sure to leave pieces of bread soak in that juice. When the salad is finished so should the juices!

I've been saying WOW a lot when I watch your cooking videos. But this salad watching ypu pit ot toogether rates another wow!

Not enough feta.

I watch this video 17 minutes after it dropped and have had this salad in my fridge ever since. It's become a staple of my diet lol.

I’ve always made this salad at home! I just tried this recipe for today’s lunch and what a difference salting the cucumbers 🥒 can make! Also, I don’t know why oregano 🌿 wasn’t added in our recipe!! A more intense flavor!

Solid timing considering tomorrow is national Gyro day. Stay Greek.

Chef John I love your recipes, but oregano in Greek salad is always dry. Fresh oregano is not strong enough. A Greek salad should smell like walking on a Greek mountain on a late summer day i.e. it should smell of oregano. Also vinegar is optional.

Wow. Both Socrates and Plato got a look in here

It's making my mouth water!

Great tip with the oil and vinegar!

Great salad. Loved the fresh oregano in it. I didn't add any extra salt except for what I used to salt the cucumbers, and it was PERFECT. Thanks.

....while the step of salting and draining the cucumber is optional, it is also Mandatory.....love your videos! Best!

I love Greek salad A Greek cook soaked his onions in white vinegar I didn't know the salt cucumber rule Thank you This salad with grilled chicken or steak or fish

Super simple flavors and wonderful textures it was a huge hit at the family get-together! I lost the crazy uncle label until later in the party. 🤪

No way I just got back from a greek restaurant and ate this salad so good. You always release the best videos at crazy good times

Yum! I was just thinking about making a Greek salad.....

"Optional but mandatory!". Gotta love it. 😂

I clicked so fast love greek salad!

bro adds the perfect amount of personality to a (what I think should be succinct) recipe video

Thanks for this one Chef John! Wonderful!

I am from Bulgaria and we have salad similar to this. Treating cucumbers with salt will make them soggy, same will leaving the salad for long with the acid. The best is to serve right away.

One thing missing is bread , to dip in the salad dressing for maximum flavour delivery!! Lovely outcome for a traditional dish chef John :)

So colorful and fresh. I bet with the cucumber and vinegar, it smells great too! This is definitely one I'll be making at sone point.

You are after all, the #1 ballot of your Greek salad...

This is why my Greek salad never tastes as good as in restaurants. I’ve looked up so many recipes. No one gives these tips. Thank you Chef John!