Shirazi Salad

This Shirazi Salad is a crunchy, refreshing Persian salad perfect as a side dish or light meal with bread like Barbari, the Persian flatbread. Plus, it is super easy to make with just a few ingredients and is naturally low-carb, gluten-free, and vegan, so you can share it with all your guests.

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There’s something special about Middle Eastern and Iranian cuisine. It’s simple but also healthy and packed with flavors. This Persian salad is a popular summer recipe that tastes between tabouli and pico de gallo.

It’s packed with fresh herbs, cucumber, and tomatoes, just like tabouleh without the couscous, but it has a fresh, crunchy texture similar to Pico de Gallo. While Iran is not geographically part of the Mediterranean, its cuisine is very similar and uses the same healthy ingredients. Let me share with you how to make this amazing side dish for your next Mediterranean dinner.

A Shirazi Salad is a Persian salad made with cucumber, tomatoes, and red onion finely diced into small pieces and served with an olive oil sour grape juice dressing. The salad comes from the city of Shiraz, where the Syrah grapes come from. It’s similar to the popular Mexican side dish Pico de Gallo but with Mediterranean flavors.

Ingredients and Substitutions

All you need to make this salad are:

• English Cucumber – These are regular cucumbers found in most supermarkets. You can also use small Persians cucumbers. These cucumbers have fewer seeds in the center.
• Roma Tomatoes – Or any of your favorite tomatoes rich in flavors.
• Red Onions – or white onions.
• Fresh Parsley – Or more cilantro.
• Fresh Mint Leaves – or Thai mint.
• Fresh Cilantro – Or more parsley.
• Dried Mint or dried oregano
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil – Pick olive oil of the highest quality for better taste.
• Lemon Juice or lime juice. But if you can find a classic unripe sour grape juice called Ab Ghooreh in Persian, the salad will taste even better.
• Sumac or Za’atar – both are optional but add a delicious middle-Eastern flavor to the dressing.

How To Make A Shirazi Salad

A Shirazi salad is a simple recipe that doesn’t require much preparation or kitchen skills. The secret of a tasty Shirazi salad is to finely dice the vegetable.

1. Lay the tomatoes upside down with their stem on the chopping board. Hold on one side and cut horizontal slices of identical thickness using a sharp knife.
2. Lay each piece flat on the board and cut a series of vertical slices with the same spacing.
3. Repeat in the opposite direction, perpendicular to the slices you just cut to dice the tomato.
4. Place the diced tomatoes in a colander over the sieve to discard the excess juice.
5. Half peel or fully peel the cucumbers. It’s up to you. Some people don’t digest the skin of cucumbers well.
6. Cut off both cucumber ends and discard them.
7. Next, if you are using regular cucumbers, cut them in half vertically, so you end up with two small cucumbers.
8. Then, cut each cucumber piece horizontally into thin slices.
9. Finally, place each slice on the cutting board, cut into long stripes and then cut stripes vertically to make dice.
10. Cut the red onion into thin horizontal slices.
11. Then cut slice into small cubes.
12. Discard stem of each herbs, keep only the leaves and chop has fine as possible.
13. In a large bowl, combine all the diced vegetable cucumber, tomatoes, and onions. Stir to combine evenly. Sprinkle some fresh chopped herbs on top, olive oil, and lime juice.
14. Stir to coat and add a pinch of Za’Atar or sumac, if you like.

Serving

This is a great salad to serve as a side dish to grilled meat, fried eggs, crusty bread, and more. Below are some great recipes to serve with this salad.

• Lemon Pepper Chicken
• Cast-Iron Chicken Breast
• Roasted Cauliflower
• Greek Chicken using my Greek Chicken Marinade
• Baked Pork Chops

You can also serve this salad as an appetizer or dip, along with some crackers and chips like:

• Pita Chips
• Almond Crackers
• Flaxseed Crackers
• Crusty Bread Slices
• Low-Carb Pita Bread

Storage Instructions

This salad is better fresh but can be stored well in the refrigerator for up to 3 days in a sealed container. It’s a great healthy lunch to meal prep and add to a lunchbox or as a side to a high-protein meal.

Allergy Swaps

If you are allergic to some of these ingredients, you can use some of the substitution options below:

• Low-FODMAP – Skip the red onion.
• Olive Oil – Any other healthy oil can be used in this salad, such as avocado oil or almond oil.
• Lime Lemon Swap – You can use red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
• Red Onion – You can replace the red onion with a yellow or brown onion.

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are my answers to your most frequent questions about this recipe.

More Salad Recipes

If you like easy, healthy salads, you’ll love these other salad recipes: