This easy Jerusalem salad recipe is ready in 10 minutes! Toss juicy, ripe tomatoes, cucumbers, and fresh herbs with a simple lemon and olive oil dressing to make a simple Middle Eastern salad dish you can pair with any entree.
What Is Jerusalem Salad?
Jerusalem salad (also called Israeli salad or Arabic salad) is a popular variation of a cucumber tomato onion salad enjoyed throughout the Middle East. It has different names in each country, each one putting slight tweaks on the combination of fresh ingredients. Try Persian Shirazi salad or Turkish Coban salatasi for another take on the salad.
What is Jerusalem Salad Made of?
- Tomato: Roma tomatoes work best since they have less moisture than other varieties. Cherry tomatoes also work, but I recommend deseeding the tomatoes before including them in the salad.
- Cucumber: Persian cucumbers have the best crunch, which I love! English cucumbers are an excellent alternative.
- Onion: I prefer red onion, but you can use shallots or white onions.
- Parsley: Garnish with fresh parsley.
- Lemon Juice: Fresh lemon juice provides a citrusy, bright flavor.
- Olive Oil: Dress the salad with high-quality, extra-virgin olive oil.
- Spices: Finish the easy Jerusalem salad with salt and black pepper.
Additions and Substitutions
- Use red wine vinegar or pomegranate molasses instead of lemon juice.
- Include couscous, quinoa, or bulgar to make the side dish more filling.
- Add chopped olives, green bell pepper, leafy greens, chickpeas, white beans, or crumbled feta cheese to the salad.
- Massage ground sumac into the onions like you would prepare sumac onions. The ground sumac berries provide a tart and sweet flavor. Sumac is a popular Middle Eastern spice found online and in health stores. However, I recommend visiting a local Middle Eastern grocery store to explore.
- Include a pinch of ground Aleppo pepper or Urfa pepper flakes for even more flavor and a bit of heat.
How to Make Jerusalem Salad
The full recipe with measurements is in the recipe card below.
Step 1: Use a sharp knife to finely dice the ingredients and transfer them to a serving bowl.
Step 2: Combine the vegetables with lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and black pepper.
Expert Tips
- Use fresh vegetables and herbs to prepare the classic summer salad.
- Uniformly dice the vegetables into small pieces. You can cut them into larger pieces, but I like the small diced vegetables because they absorb the dressing quickly, like vegetable chopped salad or kachumber salad.
- Consider peeling the cucumbers and scooping out the seeds and soft center if using English cucumbers.
If you enjoy the salad, pair it with one of these dinner recipes!
What to Serve this Salad With?
Serve the simple salad dish with savory meals like boneless leg of lamb, maqluba, musakhan, or qidreh. It’s a perfect side dish for kabobs and other grilled meat entrees such as shish tawook, chicken kabobs, or grilled chicken drumsticks.
You can also use the vegetables as a filling for sandwiches, pitas, or Mediterranean protein bowls.
More Tasty Pairings:
- Butter Bean Hummus
- Vegetable Crudite
- Piyaz
- Pita Bread or Pita Chips
What to do with the Leftovers
- Can I make this recipe in advance? Sure you can, but I recommend storing the chopped vegetables and salad dressing in separate containers for optimal freshness.
- Refrigerate: Store the leftover Jerusalem salad in an airtight container for 3-4 days. However, the vegetables will lose their crispness after 1-2 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Israeli salad and Shirazi salad?
The two salads share many of the same ingredients, and their names are used interchangeably. The primary difference is that Shirazi salad (a similar Persian salad) features fresh mint leaves as the main herb.
Jerusalem Salad
- 4 Roma tomatoes, finely diced
- 6 Persian cucumbers, finely diced
- ½ large red onion, finely diced
- ¼ cup fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
- lemon juice, 1-2 lemons
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- Use a sharp knife to finely dice the ingredients and transfer them to a serving bowl.
- Combine the vegetables with lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and black pepper.
- Use fresh vegetables and herbs to prepare the classic summer salad.
- Uniformly dice the vegetables into small pieces. You can cut them into larger pieces, but I like the small diced vegetables because they absorb the dressing quickly, like vegetable chopped salad or kachumber salad.
- Consider peeling the cucumbers and scooping out the seeds and soft center if using English cucumbers.
- The nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for professional advice.