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Our vegan greek salad with tofu feta is very easy to make and tastes delicious. Perfect for weekday meal prep, family meals, and more.
What’s a Greek salad?
A traditional greek salad includes greens, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, feta cheese, and olives. My vegan greek salad includes all of those ingredients but with a twist. Instead of using store-bought dairy-free feta, I decided to make my own by marinating tofu in some apple cider vinegar. This isn’t the first recipe that features some form of marinated tofu feta… In fact, you can check out my recipe for Mediterranean dill salad if you end up liking the tofu feta addition.
As far as dressings go, Greek salads are typically topped with oregano and olive oil. In the United States, I’ve concocted my own “Greek dressing” that I used to top this vegan greek salad with. My Greek dressing is awesome because it’s oil-free and is made with aquafaba, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, and more. The steps to making the dressing are simple and it’ll be ready to toss on your vegan greek salad within five minutes.
I absolutely love greek salads. They’re bright and flavorful, require minimal ingredients, and take just a few minutes to prep once you’ve made the tofu feta.
A note on the tofu feta
I absolutely love the addition of tofu feta to any salad, but I do want to call out that it doesn’t come close to the flavor of real feta cheese. If this is something you’re after, I would recommend skipping the tofu feta and seeking out a store-bought Violife Feta block.
If you’re like me and prefer to keep things on the cheaper side, marinating your own tofu can be a great way to get a nice zingy flavor, extra calories, and some protein to boot. Before you prep your salad, you should make sure that your tofu feta has been marinating for at least one hour. I typically marinate the tofu the night before and take the cubes out as I need them. You can keep the tofu submerged in the marinade for up to 4-5 days.
What ingredients do you need to make vegan Greek salad?
Greens: The base of greek salad is a good amount of greens. For vegan Greek salad, I went with romaine hearts. I’ve seen some other recipe blogs use spring mix or even iceberg lettuce but I love a good romaine!
Tofu, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice and water: The tofu feta for vegan Greek salad is made with super firm tofu, apple cider vinegar, and water. I recommend picking up the firmest tofu you can find for this recipe. I use the one from Sprouts that’s “super firm” and comes in a shrink-wrapped plastic casing instead of a bed of water. You will also need some apple cider vinegar and lemon juice for getting a nice flavor out of the tofu and water to thin out the potency. If you have some fresh spices feel free to toss these in the marinade too. Thyme, oregano, parsley, or tarragon would work great.
Cucumbers and tomatoes: Definitely necessary for vegan Greek salad. I prefer to use English / hot house cucumbers for most of my recipes because they have more flavor and this recipe is no exception. As far as tomatoes go, I used a mix of little heirloom tomatoes but any small tomato like grape or cherry will do.
Red Onion: Any great Greek salad has to have red onion! This gives the salad a nice flavor kick and compliments the acid from the olives and peperoccinis. I prefer to use red onions but I could also see shallots or green onions working well for this recipe.
Kalamata olives: If you are an oil-free vegan, keep an eye out for the olives that are sold in brine instead of oil. I prefer to buy the ones in water anyways because they refrigerate well without getting clumpy from the oil.
Pepperoncinis: Here’s my wild card to this vegan Greek salad. If you like them, pepperoncinis aka banana peppers are go so good on this salad. They’re not too spicy and are full of flavor. If you like them, definitely add them.
Fresh parsley: I like to top my vegan Greek salad with a few tablespoons of fresh parsley. For salads, I prefer to use curly parsley for the texture, but Italian parsley will work too. Alternatively, dried parsley would taste ok as well. Just be conservative with the volume.
Oil-free greek dressing: If you haven’t already made my oil-free Greek dressing yet, you should get on that! I use my dressing as the final addition to vegan Greek salad. If you aren’t oil-free, you can also substitute this dressing for olive oil and red wine vinegar. Again, I absolutely love this dressing because of how low-cal and flavorful it is. Don’t be afraid of the aquafaba. It is your friend!
How to make a vegan Greek salad
The first step in making vegan Greek salad is making the tofu feta. Start by adding water, lemon juice, and apple cider vinegar to a container. Then, remove your tofu from the package and gently dab with a towel to remove some of the water. Slice the tofu into ½ inch cubes and gently submerge them in the marinade. Then, let the tofu marinate for at least 1 hour on the counter. If you’re planning to make the rest of the vegan Greek salad later, you can store it in the refrigerator and break it out as needed. The tofu will last for about 4-5 days in the refrigerator.
If you haven’t already, prepare your oil-free Greek dressing. It should take you about five minutes. Feel free to store the dressing in the refrigerator until you are ready to assemble your salad.
After the tofu has marinated for a while, it’s time to assemble your vegan Greek salad. Break out a large bowl or four medium-sized bowls and chop six romaine hearts, a package of small tomatoes, half a cucumber, a jar of kalamata olives, a jar of pepperoncinis, and a half a cup of red onion. Then, top with tofu feta, fresh chopped parsley, and oil-free Greek dressing. I also like to top my vegan Greek salad with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper.
Serve the salad with crusty bread, pasta, or on its own as a meal.
Substitution ideas and more
The best part about salads is how flexible they are. Here are some of my ideas to adapt vegan Greek salad to your liking.
Use Violife feta instead of marinated tofu feta: If you’ve been wanting to try out Violife’s feta cheese, I feel like this is the recipe to try it out with. The cheese has a great flavor and as long as you can deal with the subtle coconut flavor, will taste great on this salad.
Add fresh herbs and spices: Parsley is just one addition, but if you have some oregano or thyme on hand, feel free to toss it in the marinade for the tofu feta or on top of the salad.
Add pasta: Since this salad is so low cal, it might not fill you up for a long period of time. Adding some pasta will help make it more of a meal and will keep you satisfied until your next meal. My favorite is always cavatappi, but fusilli or bowties would work great too.
Add avocado: Another way to up the calories in this salad would be to add avocado slices. The avocado will also provide a nice creamy contrast to the marinated tofu and peperoccinis.
Sub chickpeas: If you made the oil-free Greek dressing and have leftover chickpeas, marinate those instead of tofu.
Add more ingredients: Consider adding sweet peppers, white beans, quinoa, or any other ingredient you think would go well in vegan Greek salad.
Sub oil and vinegar: If you don’t have the ingredients on hand to make my oil-free Greek dressing, you can always substitute a simple blend of extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar.
Want more recipes?
If you liked my vegan Greek salad, you might like some of my other oil-free recipes. Check out these below.
Recipe jam
In this segment, I suggest a song for you to listen to while you make vegan Greek salad! You can even stream it right here in your browser. Today’s recipe jam is Heart Over Head by Saâda Bonaire.
If you try this recipe, I want to hear about it! Feel free to post your creations to Instagram or Facebook and tag Hell Yes It’s Vegan or #hellyesitsvegan. I look forward to seeing what you make!
Vegan Greek Salad with Tofu Feta
Equipment
- medium-sized bowl
- whisk
- cutting board
- knife
- measuring cup and spoons
- large salad bowl or four medium-sized serving bowls
Ingredients
- 1 block super firm tofu
- ¾ cup water
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 6 romaine hearts, (chopped)
- ½ cucumber, (sliced)
- 16 oz pepperoncini, (sliced)
- 10 oz small tomatoes, (sliced)
- 7 oz kalamata olives, (pitted and sliced)
- ½ cup red onion, (sliced)
- ½ cup parsley, (finely chopped)
- ¾ cup oil-free Greek dressing
- sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, and water.
- Gently dab tofu with paper towel and cut into half-inch cubes. Add to marinade and let sit on the counter for 1 hour. If you are making the salad later, feel free to toss the cubes in the refrigerator. They will keep for 4-5 days.
- Chop the romaine, cucumber, onion, tomatoes, olives, pepperoncini, and parsley for the salad and add to a large bowl or four smaller bowls.
- Add the tofu feta and toss the entire salad with oil-free Greek dressing. Add salt and pepper and serve.