Easy Spanish Summer Salad Recipe

Take the hot summer days as the perfect excuse to try and make more recipes of salads from Spain.

We can assure you that the Spanish summer salad will take your breath away as soon as you try it.

Scroll down this article and you will learn more about its history, how to make it at home, and some recommendations for storing and serving, as well as more information about different Spanish salads.

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Background of the Dish

Spanish summer salad is one of the traditional Spanish salads and combines fresh ingredients like tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, and feta cheese.

Its origin dates back to the Mediterranean regions of Spain, where local vegetable products were abundant during the warm summer months, becoming an emblematic dish of Spanish cuisine for that time of year.

Over the years, the Spanish summer salad has become a classic on the menus of Spanish restaurants and homes thanks to its simplicity and the quality of its ingredients.

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Things You’ll Need for Spanish Summer Salad

To prepare this Spanish summer salad you will need cucumber, tomatoes, onion, olive oil, and sherry vinegar as the main ingredients.

Ingredients

• 4 tomatoes
• 1 cucumber
• 1 red onion
• 1 green pepper
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup (100gr) of pitted black olives
• 1 cup (200 gr) of feta cheese
• 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Fresh basil leaves (optional)

How to Make Spanish Summer Salad – Step by Step Guide

1. To start making this Spanish salad recipe, you have to wash and cut the tomatoes into slices or square pieces (optionally, you can peel them and remove the seeds). Then place the tomatoes in a large salad bowl.

2. Now, peel the cucumber and cut it into thin slices. Add the slices to the bowl with the tomatoes. You can also choose to cut it into small squares if you prefer.

3. After that, peel the red onion and cut it into julienne strips. Add it to the bowl. If you want the onion to have a milder texture, just soak it in boiling water for a bit, and then dry them well.

4. Then, wash the bell peppers, remove the seeds, and cut them into strips (or small squares). Add them to the bowl.

5. For the next step on this Spanish summer salad, cut the black olives in half and add them to the bowl. You can replace them with green olives or skip them.

6. After that, crumble the feta cheese and add it to the salad. 

7. Now grab a separate bowl and mix the olive oil with the sherry vinegar, salt, and pepper. Beat the ingredients well so they emulsify. With that, you have the dressing for the Spanish style salad.

8. Then, pour the dressing over the ensalada española and mix gently so that all the ingredients get covered in it.

9. As an optional step, you can add some clean fresh basil leaves for additional flavor.

10. For the final step, let the Spanish summer salad sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving, so the flavors can blend and the salad cools properly.

Substitution of Ingredients

If you want to prepare this recipe but you don’t have all of the Spanish salad ingredients, then don’t worry, there are a lot of changes that you can make.

First, you can take inspiration from other Spanish salad ideas, and add more vegetables, seafood, or protein.

For example, you can take inspiration from the Spanish octopus salad or the Spanish tuna salad and add those ingredients for the protein.

For a vegan version of this Spanish summer salad just replace the feta cheese for your favorite vegan cheese, or even some tofu cubes can work too.

If you don’t have tomatoes then remove them from the recipe and you will still have a delicious Spanish cucumber salad.

For an even fresher Spanish summer salad, mix it with the classic Spanish green salad by adding clean iceberg lettuce.

Tips on Serving Spanish Summer Salad

The Spanish summer salad is the best side dish or appetizer that you can find.

It is mostly eaten during summer and spring because it calls for fresh vegetables and it is meant to be served cold.

To serve it as Spanish tapas you can toast some slices of your favorite bread with olive oil and garlic, and serve them with your salad.

You can prepare other salad recipes from Spain to serve this one with, like the ensalada de aguacate or the ensalada de pollo.

How to Store Spanish Summer Salad

What makes this salad stand out from other Spanish salads is how fresh it is, so unfortunately that means that you can’t store it for too long.

You can store the Spanish summer salad in a covered container (with a lid, a clean plastic bag, or plastic wrap) and store it in the fridge for 12 hours before adding the dressing.

Once you add the dressing, you have up to 60 minutes to serve the Spanish summer salad, or the ingredients will get a weird flavor and a soggy texture.

Some Spanish salad recipes that can be stored for longer are the Spanish seafood salad and the ensalada de bacalao.

Recipe Card: Spanish Summer Salad

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