Shirazi Salad

Shirazi salad has always been one of my top three favorite salads. It’s deceptively simple with just a few ingredients. But it tastes so freakin good. 

The simple combo of tangy lemon juice, fresh mint and fresh veggies is just perfection. And the juice at the bottom of the salad is the best, iykyk!!

Serve this salad with buttery saffron rice and a middle-eastern inspired chicken or lamb dish, stuff it into a pita wrap, or enjoy it on it’s own.

Shirazi Salad Ingredients

• Tomatoes: Make sure to get super firm tomatoes so they slice well – I love using sweet cherry tomatoes.
• Persian cucumbers: These cucumbers work best, because well, this is a persian shirazi salad. They also happen to have the best flavor profile and they’re the sweetest cucumber variety.
• Red onion
• Lemon
• Fresh mint: Fresh mint is not really traditional, but I like the bright vibrant flavor it brings to the salad.
• Fresh dill: This is not traditional at all, but I have a dill problem and have to add it to almost every salad I make.
• Extra virgin olive oil: Use a good quality evoo, it will shine through in the salad. My favorite brands are California Olive Ranch, Terra Delyssa (Costco carries this now), and Brightland.
• Kosher salt

Notes & Tips

Listing out a few pointers to this fresh and easy shirazi salad recipe.

• Chop all the veggies super small and uniform. One of the defining qualities of shirazi salad is the uniformity of the veggies. Highly recommend taking the time to properly chop the cucumber, onion and tomato into perfectly tiny cubes. The salad just tastes better like this, iykyk!
• Make this salad when you’re ready to eat. The longer it sits, the soggier the veggies get – it’s not the type of salad you can meal-prep. You can chop the veggies one hour before serving, and dress the salad right before you’re ready to eat.
• Keep all the ingredients cold. Nothing is worse than warm tomatoes or cucumber imo. Plus, this salad is just so much more refreshing when it’s cold. 
• Final tip, the key to good shirazi, besides chopping the veggies perfectly, is the ratio of cucumbers, tomatoes, and onion. I like to use equal parts chopped cucumber and tomatoes and a quarter of that amount of onion. So, if I’m using 1 cup of chopped cucumber, I’ll use 1 cup chopped tomatoes, and 1/4 cup chopped onion. Knowing this ratio makes is SUPER easy to scale this salad up and down as needed.

Shirazi Salad

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• Author: Yasmeen
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 20 minutes
• Yield: 5 1x
• Category: Salad, Side Dish
• Cuisine: Iranian

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Description

Shirazi salad is the perfect combo of sweet tomatoes, summer cucumbers, onion, and fresh mint aka the perfect summer side salad!

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 3 cups finely diced persian cucumber (about 5 persian cucumbers)
• 3 cups finely diced cherry tomatoes (about 1 pint or 12 oz)
• 3/4 cup finely diced red onion (about 1/2 small red onion)
• 1/4 cup loosely packed mint leaves, finely minced
• 2 tbsp loosely packed dill, finely minced
• 1 large lemon, juiced
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt to taste

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Instructions

1. Prep the veggies. Finely chop the cucumbers, tomatoes and onion into little cubes. The goal is to have them as uniform as possible, but essentially you want them small enough that you can get each veggie in the same bite. Add the chopped veggies into a large salad bowl, along with the herbs.
2. Dress and serve. Pour over the lemon juice, drizzle about 2-3 tbsp of olive oil and a generous pinch of salt over the salad. Toss to mix and adjust salt as needed. Serve immediately!

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Notes

The key to good shirazi, besides chopping the veggies perfectly, is the ratio of cucumbers, tomatoes, and onion. I like to use equal parts chopped cucumber and tomatoes and a quarter of that amount of onion. So, if I’m using 1 cup of chopped cucumber, I’ll use 1 cup chopped tomatoes, and 1/4 cup chopped onion. Knowing this ratio makes is SUPER easy to scale this salad up and down as needed.