Shopska salad is a Macedonian chopped salad recipe made with recent cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and peppers, with creamy feta and a drizzle of oil and vinegar. It’s the best salad with probably the most superb flavors!
For an additional conventional facet dish, strive my tomato onion salad and Russian salad recipes. Or, toss collectively the well-known La Scala chopped salad.
Macedonian Shopska salad is THE summer time salad. As quickly because the odor of recent cucumber hits your nostril, I’m certain you’ll agree! I feel I ate this conventional chopped salad for 4 weeks straight after I visited my sister in Macedonia years in the past.
It’s a scrumptious mix of every little thing I like to eat, primarily recent backyard cucumbers, tomatoes, and tangy feta. No fancy salad dressings right here, simply oil and vinegar. Full cease. With the assistance of the tomato juices and creamy feta, it’s like a taste explosion!
About This Macedonian Shopska Salad Recipe
- Easy to make. All of the greens get chopped after which tossed in a super-simple French dressing. The simplicity of this dish lets the components shine.
- Made for sharing. That’s the way you eat this salad in my homeland: All of the forks in a single salad bowl! When it’s not simply household, it’s simply as scrumptious dished onto plates.
- Solely the freshest components. Even higher when you’ve got the veggies in your backyard!
- Make it upfront. Since this salad wants just a little time to relax within the fridge earlier than serving, it’s an amazing choice to make forward for events and holidays.
What the Heck Is a Shopska Salad, You May Ask?
Shopska salad is a kind of chilly salad. This recipe consists of components like tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, banana peppers, and crumbly feta cheese. It’s possible you’ll already be conversant in its cousin, the Greek salad, which usually consists of olives. Bulgaria’s model of shopska is even its nationwide dish.
All the Balkan peninsula claims Shopska as its salad. We wish to debate possession of every little thing over there, from ajvar (crimson pepper relish) to baklava, kebapi (kebabs), musaka, and land. It’s the way it goes. All love!
Collect These Salad Substances
In her Mediterranean grandmotherly means, my Baba had a knack for turning the best components into the BEST meals, and that features a conventional chopped salad. When making Shopska salad, be sure that your tomatoes are juicy. I’ve included notes beneath, and you’ll discover the complete printable recipe within the recipe card after the put up.
- Ripe Tomatoes – The ripest you could find which might be plump, agency, and juicy. Good decisions are Roma tomatoes, vine tomatoes, and heirloom tomatoes. I wish to roll bigger tomatoes gently towards the countertop, such as you would a lemon, to launch their juices earlier than I chop them up.
- Banana Peppers – These gentle peppers are a staple in Macedonian cooking, and my grandmother would at all times develop them in her backyard. When you can’t discover banana peppers, inexperienced bell peppers make a superb substitute.
- Cucumber – I exploit English cucumbers, which are typically lengthy. Mediterranean/Persian cucumbers are shorter with fewer seeds. Each will work on this recipe; it’s possible you’ll simply want an additional Persian cucumber in the event that they’re on the smaller facet.
- Yellow Onion – Select a light yellow or white onion, like Vidalia or shallot. Pink onion additionally goes properly on this salad.
- Olive Oil – High quality counts! You can also make the easy dressing with a light or extra sturdy olive oil, relying on what you like.
- Vinegar – Pink wine vinegar is my first alternative, however you need to use white wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or balsamic.
- Feta Cheese – Conventional shopska salad recipes use a brined cheese known as sirene. It’s just like feta, solely milder. I exploit feta cheese because it’s available in most shops. Goat cheese or shaved Parmesan cheese are additionally good alternate options.
- Parsley – Freshly chopped. You too can use basil.
Pin this now to seek out it later
-
Mix the veggies. Place the chopped tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and onions in a big serving bowl.
-
Toss with dressing. Add salt, pepper, oil, and vinegar to a bowl and whisk to mix. Pour the dressing over the salad combination, toss it, and blend till effectively blended. Style for seasonings and alter accordingly.
-
Add cheese. Prime with crumbled feta cheese and sprinkle with recent chopped parsley.
-
Chill and serve. Refrigerate for about 20 minutes, or till prepared to make use of. Serve.
Energy: 62kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 2g | Fats: 3g | Saturated Fats: 1g | Ldl cholesterol: 11mg | Sodium: 145mg | Potassium: 269mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 740IU | Vitamin C: 15.7mg | Calcium: 82mg | Iron: 0.5mg
Dietary information is an estimate and supplied as courtesy. Values could differ in line with the components and instruments used. Please use your most popular dietary calculator for extra detailed information.
How you can Make Shopska Salad
The longest step is the chopping, however I’ll typically get my women concerned, and it goes rapidly! To make this straightforward shopska salad the Macedonian means, observe alongside beneath:
- Get out a big serving bowl. Add your chopped tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and onions.
- Make the French dressing. In one other bowl, whisk collectively the salt, pepper, oil, and vinegar. Pour the dressing over the chopped salad.
- Toss, then add cheese. Toss the salad with the French dressing. Give {that a} style and alter the seasonings as wanted, then crumble over the feta cheese. Sprinkle the salad with chopped parsley.
- Chill and serve. Refrigerate the salad for no less than 20 minutes so all of the flavors have an opportunity to mingle. It is a nice salad to prep the day earlier than, too. When it’s time to serve, go across the forks, and revel in!
Storing Leftovers
Shopska salad shops very effectively within the fridge for as much as 3-4 days. Retailer leftovers hermetic and revel in them for straightforward lunches. I wish to high my leftover salad with cooked rooster or fast air fryer salmon for a lightweight meal.