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    Home » Recipes » Sides and Drinks

    Turkish Shepherd Salad

    Published: Feb 8, 2022 by Nicole · This post may contain affiliate links · 7 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
    shepherd salad in a bowl.

    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 dish is light, fresh and satisfying. It has a variety of textures from the bursting tomatoes to the crunchy peppers and cucumbers. It has a delicious robust flavor and is so good with shawarma and other Mediterranean dishes.

    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, dinner roll recipe, or Broccoli Salad.

    Jump to:
    • What You'll Love About This Recipe
    • Ingredients
    • Instructions
    • Substitutions
    • Variations
    • Equipment
    • Storage
    • Top tip
    • Recipe

    What You'll Love About This Recipe

    • Family Friendly - This salad is perfect for the whole family. It's fresh and delicious and tastes amazing. Kids love it too and love to dip things like pita and flatbread into it.
    • Quick and Easy - chop a few vegetables and stir together some spices and you're basically done! Quick and easy and made with fresh ingredients is a win all around.
    • Great For Entertaining - with it's vibrant color, it is perfect for entertaining. It's perfect to serve as an appetizer or side dish.
    • Gluten Free- this dish is naturally gluten free and doesn't require any tweaking for those who are gluten free in your life.

    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!

    What is Turkish Salad?

    Turkish salad is a delicious dish made with fresh vegetables like bell pepper, cucumber and tomato. It's seasoned with delicious spices and a touch of lemon. It's fresh and so full of flavor!

    How to Make Turkish Salad

    Make Turkish Salad by chopping up the vegetables and placing them in a bowl. In a separate bowl combine the ingredients to make the dressing. Pour dressing on the vegetables and combine.

    Recipe

    turkish salad on a plate with pitas, tomatoes and parsley.

    Turkish Shepherd Salad

    Nicole
    This homemade Turkish Shepherd Salad is full of flavor and made with mixed fresh vegetables: tomatoes, cucumber, parsley and more!
    Prevent your screen from going dark
    5 from 8 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 15 mins
    Total Time 15 mins
    Servings 6 servings
    Calories/serving 53 kcal

    Ingredients
     

    • 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
     

    • 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.
    • Finely chop parsley and mint and add to the bowl. Stir to combine.
    • Drizzle on the olive oil and red wine vinegar. Stir to combine.
    • Squeeze the lemon juice over the mixture and stir to combine. 
    • Top with sumac, paprika, salt and pepper and stir to combine.
    • 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.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1scoopCalories: 53kcalCarbohydrates: 6gProtein: 1gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 0.4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.3gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gSodium: 395mgPotassium: 244mgFiber: 2gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 942IUVitamin C: 30mgCalcium: 28mgIron: 1mg
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was in the comments below
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Nicole

      February 08, 2022 at 3:48 pm

      5 stars
      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. kushigalu

      February 25, 2022 at 11:39 am

      5 stars
      This Turkish salad is so light and refreshing. We loved all the fresh ingredients and it was so flavorful. Thanks for sharing. Can't wait to make again.

      Reply
    3. Tara

      March 31, 2022 at 12:21 pm

      5 stars
      Oh yum! I love all the flavor packed into this salad. It tastes so good with the variety of vegetables and herbs.

      Reply
    4. Anita

      April 19, 2022 at 2:27 pm

      5 stars
      This turkish salad is such a refreshing salad. I love the addition of sumac in this, adding such a great flavor to it. So fresh and yummy.

      Reply
    5. Jamie

      April 28, 2022 at 2:57 pm

      5 stars
      I love all the fresh vegetables in this Turkish salad! It's all such a lovely flavor along with the dressing!

      Reply
    6. Andrea

      May 21, 2022 at 1:19 pm

      5 stars
      The whole family loved it!Thanks so much for the recipe. My kids gobble up anything with tomatoes and cucumbers.

      Reply
    7. JC

      May 27, 2022 at 3:46 pm

      5 stars
      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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