Craving a meatless option? This Greek Lentil Salad is made with creamy feta and tossed in a delicious lemon honey dressing. It’s super easy to make and infused with mouthwatering Mediterranean flavours. Make up a batch in advance for a healthy lunch or dinner throughout the week. It can be made in less than 30 minutes! {Vegetarian & gluten-free}
If you’re looking for a quick and healthy lunch or dinner or you’re trying to incorporate more meatless meals into your menu, this Greek Lentil Salad recipe is definitely worth incorporating into your weekly routine.
Made with Mediterranean ingredients like feta, red onion, fresh parsley and lemon, this cold lentil salad is perfect to enjoy anytime of the day and is so easy to prepare!
Whether you’re a lentil lover or a complete lentil newbie, this refreshing Mediterranean lentil salad will not disappoint! Loaded with fresh and tangy flavours, it’s one tasty way to get some goodness onto your plate.
Be sure to try my Lemon Lentil Soup and Lentil Bolognese too!
Table of Contents
Why we love this lentil feta salad recipe
- Quick and easy: Made with canned lentils, this delicious salad is super convenient and only takes about 15 minutes to prepare.
- Make ahead: Make up a big batch of this salad to enjoy throughout the week. It’s perfect for meal prep and can last in the fridge for days.
- A real crowd pleaser: Great for barbecues, picnics, potlucks and entertaining. Everyone always raves about this salad!
- Healthy: This vegetarian lentil feta salad is a good source of fibre, protein, iron and healthy fats. It’s nutrient packed and satisfying too!
- So delicious! Packed with Mediterranean ingredients, this lentil tabbouleh is totally flavourful and mouthwatering. It’s the type of salad you could eat for days, especially when paired with some crispy pita chips!
Ingredient notes
- Lentils: I like to use canned lentils for ease and convenience, but you can also use dried lentils and cook them. If you go with canned, be sure to drain and rinse them well before using.
- Vegetables: Cucumber, cherry tomatoes and red onion incorporate some refreshing Mediterranean inspired flavours into the salad. You could also add peppers as well.
- Feta: This Greek cheese adds a creamy texture and briny flavour. You can use light or full fat feta cheese. Goat cheese could also be used.
- Chopped parsley: Parsley is a key ingredient in a traditional tabbouleh. It adds a great freshness to the salad. I typically use curly parsley, but you can use flat-leaf Italian parsley as well.
- For the honey lemon dressing: Extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, honey, garlic and salt are combined to form a refreshing dressing that is incredibly versatile and can be used on lots of different salads.
Step by step instructions
- Step 1 – Add all of the ingredients for the salad into a large bowl.
- Step 2 – Mix the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl or jar. Pour desired amount of dressing over the salad and toss to combine. I only used half the dressing.
- Step 3 – For optimal taste, allow to sit in fridge for at least half an hour to allow flavours to come together.
Recipe Tips for Cold Lentil Salad
- I recommend allowing the salad to sit for at least 30 minutes to absorb all of the delicious flavours. It tends to taste better the longer it sits.
- If you’d prefer to cook the lentils from scratch as opposed to using canned, you’ll need about 4 cups of cooked green or brown lentils.
- I only used half of the dressing on this salad. You can always use the rest on another salad; it tastes great on pasta or quinoa salad too, or save the rest for another batch of this lentil salad! It should keep well in the fridge for up to two weeks.
- The nutritional information is based on using all of the dressing. If you choose to use less, the nutritional facts will be different.
- I love serving this lentil salad with homemade pita chips. To prepare: Brush some pita wedges with olive oil and fresh garlic or garlic powder and sprinkle with some salt and pepper. Bake at 375 degrees F for about 5-10 minutes or until lightly browned and crispy.
Recipe FAQs
This salad can be stored in the fridge covered or in an air-tight container for up to five days. Make up a big batch and enjoy it throughout the week.
For the purpose of this recipe, I went with the canned lentils. For one, it makes this recipe so easy, and we could all use a little more convenience in our lives, right?
Another reason why I recommend the canned variety for this recipe is the lentils tend to keep their shape. Sometimes, I find when you cook lentils from scratch, they tend to get a little mushy and while that might be appropriate for other recipes, we don’t want no mush in this salad. Just make sure that you give them a good rinse to remove some of that excess sodium before adding them to the salad.
If you’d like to make them from scratch, by all means, cook those lentils up. It really is a personal preference.
This lentil salad is best served cold. The canned lentils do not need to be heated up. If the lentils are warm, the parsley will wilt and the rest of the salad ingredients may develop a funny texture. If cooking lentils from a dried state, rinse them under cold running water once they are cooked to cool them down quickly. The salad can be served straight from the fridge.
Serving suggestions
Although this lentil tabbouleh salad tastes great on its own, I highly suggest serving it along with crispy pita chips. Scooping up the salad with the crunchy pita chips takes it to a whole new level!
You can also serve it on a bed of spinach, arugula or lettuce or along with some of this Roasted Cauliflower or grilled chicken (marinated in one of these healthy chicken marinades).
Recipe variations
- Add more herbs: Try adding fresh mint, basil or oregano.
- More veggies: Try diced peppers or add some black olives.
- Make it vegan: Leave out the feta cheese and use maple syrup instead of honey for the dressing.
More similar recipes
- Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
- Lentil Pesto Pasta Salad
- Greek Cucumber Noodle Salad
- Chickpea Avocado Feta Salad
- Steak and Avocado Salad
- Greek Quinoa Salad
- Healthy Pasta Salad
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Greek Lentil Salad
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 2 19 oz cans of lentils drained and rinsed
- 1 cucumber halved and sliced
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes halved
- 1/4 medium red onion diced
- 3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 2 cups finely chopped fresh parsley
For the dressing:
- 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- Juice of one lemon
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients for the salad in a large bowl.
- Mix the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl or jar. Pour desired amount over the salad and toss to combine (I only used half the dressing).
- For optimal taste, allow to sit in fridge for at least half an hour to allow flavours to come together.
Notes
- I recommend allowing the salad to sit for at least 30 minutes to absorb all of the delicious flavours. It tends to taste better the longer it sits.
- If you’d prefer to cook the lentils from scratch as opposed to using canned, you’ll need about 4 cups cooked green or brown lentils before adding in with the rest of the ingredients.
- I only used half of the dressing on this salad. You can always use the rest on another salad; it tastes great on pasta or quinoa salad too, or save the rest for another batch of this lentil salad! It should keep well in the fridge for up to two weeks.
- The nutritional information is based on using all of the dressing. If you choose to use less, the nutritional facts will be different.
- I love serving this lentil salad with pita chips. To prepare: Brush some pita wedges with olive oil and fresh garlic or garlic powder and sprinkle with some salt and pepper. Bake at 375 degrees F for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned and crispy.
Nutrition
This post was originally posted in July 2019 and was updated November 2021 to include more helpful tips and photos.
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