Turkish Cucumber Salad

5 from 4 votes

Turkish Cucumber Salad

This salad, also known as Shepherd's Salad, is fresh and crunchy with a vibrant dressing. It goes beautifully with all kinds of Middle Eastern or Mediterranean dishes.

Prep Time15

Cook Time0

Total Time15

Course: Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine: Mediterranean, Middle Eastern

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings: People

Author: Katie Workman

Ingredients

For the Dressing:

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (please use fresh!)
2 teaspoons sumac (see Note)
2 teaspoons Aleppo pepper (see Note)
1 teaspoon kosher salt

For the Salad:

4 large tomatoes (cored, seeded and diced)
2 large seedless cucumbers (unpeeled and diced)
1 green bell pepper (cored, seeded, and diced)
1 large red onion (diced)
1 cup roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
½ cup roughly chopped fresh mint leaves

Instructions

In a small container or bowl, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, sumac, Aleppo pepper, and salt.
In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, cucumbers, bell pepper, onion, parsley, and mint. Pour the dressing over and toss. Refrigerate for one hour, if possible, before serving. It is best eaten the day it is made, but it can be eaten up to 2 days after making.

Notes

This salad should be refrigerated for an hour before serving to allow the dressing to flavor the vegetables. It will keep for up to 2 days in the fridge, covered, though the tomatoes will collapse a bit and release more of their juices.
You can dice all of the ingredients a day ahead of time and store them in the fridge. Cut the tomatoes shortly before adding them, and if possible, never refrigerate whole tomatoes, which can make them mealy.
You can also make the dressing up to a day ahead of time.

Nutrition