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The BEST Shirazi Salad (Salad-e Shirazi) Crisp Persian cucumber, diced tomatoes, and chopped onions with fresh herbs and the most refreshing lemon-lime dressing! I could eat this salad every day!
Shirazi Salad is totally on the list of the top 10 best salads I’ve ever eaten or made.
I honestly could eat this salad every single day. It’s bright, colorful, lots of crunch, and so refreshing – not to mention it’s definitely a healthy salad that goes with just about everything.
It’s the perfect side dish to serve along with Middle Eastern dishes like homemade ghormeh sabzi, persian beef stew with okra, shawarma bowls, hummus, baba ganoush, falafel, arayes, vermicelli rice, and grilled kofta or jujeh chicken.
I won’t bother to tell you how many times we make this salad in a week – spoiler alert: it’s definitely A LOT.
Perfect! Delicious and will always use this recipe! Thank you for sharing!
What is a Shirazi salad?
Shirazi salad or Salad-e Shirazi is a salad from Iran or more specifically, the Southern city of Shiraz. Traditionally, the salad dressing is made with ab-e-ghooreh which is made from unripe sour grape juice.
How is Shirazi salad different from Tabbouleh?
Tabbouleh is made with a larger quantity of parsley and bulgur wheat. It does contain cucumbers, onions, and onions but in a slightly smaller quantity. Shirazi salad is usually made with equal parts Persian cucumbers, onions, and tomatoes and lightly dressed with a sour dressing.
Ingredients for homemade Shirazi salad recipe
- Persian Cucumbers: I like to use small Persian cucumbers because they have fewer seeds than English cucumbers or hothouse cucumbers. All of these will work though. Chop cucumbers into small bite-sized pieces for the best Persian salad.
- Roma tomatoes: I like to remove the seeds before dicing them finely when making tomato salad. You could leave the seeds in if you prefer but they do make the salad a bit watery.
- Red Onion: I use a red onion for this recipe because it gives it so much color. You could also use white or yellow onion if you’d like. A local Middle Eastern restaurant in town uses the whites of green onions because they have thin skin. Shallots work too!
- Fresh Parsley: Adds a bit of color and lots of flavor. Keep in mind that you only need a quarter cup of fresh parsley for this recipe, not a lot like you would use to make tabbouleh. You can also add a handul of cilantro if you’d like!
- Olive Oil: I suggest using a high quality extra-virgin olive oil for the olive oil dressing. Since the dressing is added on and the salad is served cold, you’ll really be able to taste the quality of olive oil you use.
- Citrus juice: I use a combination of lemon juice and lime juice here to give it the best tangy flavor
- Dried Mint: I always have dried mint on hand so I add a couple of teaspoons to the dressing. Feel free to use fresh mint leaves here.
- Seasonings: Basic seasonings like kosher salt and black pepper to season the dressing with. You could even add a sprinkling of dried dill or sumac.
How to make a Shirazi salad
- Start by chopping the veggies. The great thing about this salad is that most of these ingredients are refrigerator and pantry staples, with the exception of one. You want the Persian cucumbers, onions, and tomatoes to all be roughly the same size. Take your time here, really cut the veggies slowly to make sure they’re all roughly the same size. I like to chop the veggies into just smaller than ½-inch pieces.
- Add them to a bowl. Add the cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, and chopped parsley to a large bowl.
- Make the dressing. In a mason jar with a tight-fitting lid or in a small bowl with a whisk, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, lime juice, dried mint, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Stir, shake, or whisk to combine the dressing.
- Combine and serve. Add the combined dressing to the chopped vegetables. I use all of the dressing. Taste the salad and adjust with more kosher salt and black pepper as needed. It’s usually perfect for us at this point!
- Serve immediately with grilled kabobs, your favorite dip, or anything else you like! As the prepared dressing marinates the vegetables it builds extra flavor – so good you could practically slurp it with a straw!
FAQs about this recipe
Yes, absolutely. A lot of restaurants will take the liberty of making the recipe their own. And if you enjoy it with a specific ingredient such as green bell peppers or scallions, feel free to swap something out or add that in!
You can prepare the dressing up to a week in advance. Chop the cucumbers, onions, and parsley up to a day in advance. However, I suggest chopping the tomatoes and toss the salad with the dressing right before serving for best results.
Store them in an airtight container in the fridge and consume them within 24 hours. Any longer and the vegetables break down quite a bit.
Other Cucumber salads to try
- Bright Cucumber Chickpea Salad with Feta
- Refreshing Cucumber Melon Salad
- Summer Tomato and Cucumber Quinoa Salad
- Cucumber and Shrimp Salad
- Sweet and Tangy Thai Cucumber Salad
Shirazi Salad (Salad-e Shirazi)
Equipment
Ingredients
Salad:
- 5 Persian cucumbers chopped
- 4 Roma tomatoes deseeded and chopped
- 1 small red onion chopped
- ¼ cup chopped parsley
Dressing:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 ½ tablespoons lime juice or use 3 tbsp total and omit the other
- 2 teaspoons dried mint
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- IN A BOWL: Add the chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, and parsley to a medium bowl.
- DRESSING: In a mason jar or in a bowl with a whisk combine all the ingredients listed under the dressing section.
- COMBINE: Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to combine. Taste and adjust with additional salt and pepper as desired. Serve!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This? Leave a comment & rating below!
Perfect! Delicious and will always use this recipe!
Thank you for sharing!
Hi! Made this tonight in honor of the warmest spring day this year! It’s delicious- especially the dressing with the lemon, lime, and mint. Might throw some quinoa in there for lunch tomorrow. Thx for another great recipe
Hi Sandy! So glad to hear you have this salad a try and your additions for next time sound delish! Appreciate you circling back to leave a review 🙂
A delicious, easy to make, and refreshing salad, that will be even better once tomatoes are in season. We do have some leftover, so I’m thinking breakfast salad with a hard boiled egg on the side. Next time, I may add a little sumac, as it seems to fit this flavour profile. Thanks for a great recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it, Vivian!
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I’m from Switzerland, and probably the worst cooker you can find here. But since I stumble on your site, I improved soooo soooo much. All the recipes I tried are an instant hit at my place, thank you so much for sharing all of your knowledge !