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    Home » Recipes » Sides and Drinks

    Turkish Shepherd Salad

    Published: Feb 8, 2022 · Modified: Feb 8, 2022 by Nicole · This post may contain affiliate links · 2 Comments

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    This homemade Turkish Shepherd Salad mezze (appetizer) is made with fresh vegetables: tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion and a yummy lemony dressing. It can be used as a dip or rolled up in a pita/ flatbread with falafel. The secret ingredient with this recipe is sumac. It gives it that wonderful authentic flavor.

    Turkish salad on a plate, with tomatoes and parsley.

    This was inspired by our easy greek salad, and pairs well with our chicken vegetable shawarma with tzatziki.

    Try our other great sides like Roasted Sunchokes with Thyme, Jerusalem Artichokes.

    Jump to:
    • Ingredients
    • Instructions
    • Substitutions
    • Variations
    • Equipment
    • Storage
    • Top tip
    • Recipe

    Ingredients

    cucumber, parsley, olive oil, tomatoes, mint, lemon and fresh spices.
    • Roma tomatoes- you can use any tomato, but I've found this works best with a more firm tomato. Cherry or grape tomatoes cut in half lengthwise also work great.
    • Cucumber
    • Red Onion- for an authentic taste, stick with red.
    • Fresh Flat Leaf Italian Parsley- for the best taste, use fresh!
    • Green Bell Pepper
    • Shallot- minced garlic will also work
    • Fresh Mint
    • Lemon Juice
    • Olive Oil
    • Red Wine Vinegar- apple cider vinegar will work in a pinch, but red wine is recommended
    • Sumac
    • Parika
    • Salt
    • Black Pepper

    See recipe card for quantities.

    Instructions

    chopped tomato, cucumber, onion, mint and parsley in a bowl.

    Start by chopping the vegetables and herbs. Chop tomatoes and cucumber up into cubes roughly ½" wide or slightly smaller and place them in a medium sized mixing bowl. Thinly slice the red onion, then chop some of them a few times into smaller pieces and add to the bowl. Finely chop the shallot and add to bowl. Chop the parsley and mint and add to the bowl.

    olive oil being drizzled over a bowl of fresh vegetables.

    Drizzle olive oil then red wine vinegar over the vegetables.

    lemon juice being squeezed onto tomatoes cucumber and parsley.

    Squeeze lemon juice over the vegetables. Stir to combine.

    vegetables for turkish salad in a bowl with sumac and paprika on top.

    Next sprinkle spices (sumac, paprika, salt and pepper) over vegetables and herbs and stir to combine again.

    Hint: fresh lemon juice is more flavorful than lemon juice concentrate, but concentrate will do in a pinch.

    Substitutions

    • Colored Bell Pepper - instead of a green bell pepper, substitute a colored one in.
    • Grape or Cherry Tomatoes - use grape or cherry tomatoes for a little bit more tomato flavor.
    • Apple Cider Vinegar- feel free to use apple cider vinegar instead of red wine vinegar. It won't change the taste very much.

    Variations

    • Spicy - add 1 teaspoon chili pepper flakes to the spices for a little extra spice!
    • Extra Vegetables - add one zucchini and one summer squash for some extra vegetables and flavor. Greens beans and more colored bell peppers would make a great addition too.
    • Deluxe- top with avocado, Greek yogurt and feta cheese.
    turkish salad in a bowl, pitas, tomato and parsley in the background.

    Equipment

    • mixing bowl
    • measuring spoons
    • spatula
    • sharp knife

    Storage

    Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Turkish shepherd salad is best eaten fresh, but it will hold up for about 2 days. After 2 days the tomatoes will start to mush and the leaves will wilt.

    We do not recommend to freezing this salad.

    Top tip

    Use fresh ingredients. It might be tempting to use dry herbs, but the flavor is so much better when using fresh!

    Print

    Recipe

    clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon
    turkish salad on a plate with pitas, tomatoes and parsley.

    Turkish Salad


    ★★★★★

    5 from 2 reviews

    • Author: Nicole
    • Total Time: 15 minutes
    • Yield: 6 servings 1x
    Print Recipe
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    Description

    This homemade Turkish Shepherd Salad is full of flavor and made with mixed fresh vegetables: tomatoes, cucumber, parsley and more!


    Ingredients

    Scale
    • 3 Roma tomatoes
    • 1 regular sized cucumber
    • 1 green bell pepper
    • 1 large red onion, thinly sliced
    • 1 shallot or ½ teaspoon minced garlic
    • ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
    • 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh mint
    • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
    • 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
    • juice of one lemon, about ⅓ cup lemon juice
    • 2 teaspoons sumac
    • ½ teaspoon paprika
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • fresh black pepper

    Instructions

    1. Chop green bell pepper, cucumber and tomatoes into ½" or slightly smaller chunks. Place in a medium sized mixing bowl. Finely chop shallot and add to the bowl.
    2. Finely chop parsley and mint and add to the bowl. Stir to combine.
    3. Drizzle on the olive oil and red wine vinegar. Stir to combine.
    4. Squeeze the lemon juice over the mixture and stir to combine. 
    5. Top with sumac, paprika, salt and pepper and stir to combine.
    6. Enjoy! Refrigerate for 1 hour to serve cold.

    Notes

    This salad is best eaten fresh but can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

    It is not recommended to freeze this.

    • Prep Time: 15
    • Category: appetizer
    • Method: chopping
    • Cuisine: Turkish

    Keywords: turkish salad, turkish shepherd salad, how to make turkish salad, homemade turkish salad, turkish salad and tzatziki, turkish salad with tomato and cucumber, turkish salad mezze,

    Did you make this recipe?

    Share a photo and tag us @simplyscrumptiouseats_


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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Nicole

      February 08, 2022 at 3:48 pm

      This is so full of flavor and simple to make! I love a good Turkish salad. We used it as a dip and with falafel and tzatziki sauce on flatbread. We used cherry tomatoes and it was amazing. Will make again.

      ★★★★★

      Reply
    2. JC

      May 27, 2022 at 3:46 pm

      This turkish salad was sooo good. It's light and fresh. I loved the use of fresh ingredients like cucumber and tomato and fresh parsley. I loved the sumac in it. Delicious and nutritious!

      ★★★★★

      Reply

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    nicole and andrea

    Hi, we are Nicole and Andrea! As busy moms our favorite meals are easy, healthy and delicious. While we love eating nutritious meals, we also strongly believe in moderating them with yummy desserts! We love hiking, going to the beach and doing Spartans.

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