Shirazi Salad Recipe

Today’s Shirazi Salad Recipe is hands down one of my favorite salads to make.

I make this simple salad year round but it is especially great for summer garden and farmers market produce.

It is similar to this Lebanese Salad, Arabic Salad or this Israeli Salad that I also love to make with my Mediterranean meals.

The shirazi salad, also known as Persian Cucumber Tomato Salad or salad-e shirazi, is a salad that originates from Iran. It is named after the city of Shiraz in southern iran known for its rich culture and culinary traditions.

The traditional shirazi salad is typically diced cucumber, tomatoes and onion along with fresh herbs like mint and parsley.

If you like salad recipes check out more of my salad recipes here. You also might like this Lemon Arugula Salad Recipe, Mediterranean Bean Salad or this Summer Orzo Pasta Salad.

The dressing uses Ab Ghooreh (an unripe sour grape juice), olive oil and salt. The key to this salad is the small dice of the vegetables.

My version is slightly modified to add green bell pepper along lime juice {instead of the sour grape juice} with sumac.

Traditionally this salad is serve alongside grilled meats like kebabs or kafta, rice dishes, or even as a refreshing appetizer on a hot summer day. I also love adding it to my favorite main dish, rice and hummus bowls or in wraps or even as an addition to a soup.

This also is a nice salad to make and serve over a bed to lettuce or romaine leaves. Sometimes I even make a wrap with lettuce or pita bread and add hummus and this shirazi salad. It is a great vegetarian meal!

Why You Will Love this Shirazi Salad

• Fresh and Light: This salad shirazi is a light salad filled with fresh veggies and fresh herbs. It always makes me feel good eating a healthy salad like this. In the warmer months it is a great way to use up that garden or farmers market produce like heirloom tomatoes for the perfect side dish.
• Easy to Make: Other than chopping, this salad involves minimal work. You can have this on your table in under 15 minutes. I love how easy it is to make and serve alongside my favorite Mediterranean meal.
• Great for Meal-Prep: This is a good one to make on the weekend for the week ahead. I suggest you leave the dressing off until you are ready to eat it. I love it paired with grilled meat or seafood, soup or as an addition to a rice bowl or wrap.

Recipe Ingredients You’ll Need

• Vegetables: This salad mixes together diced Roma tomatoes, english cucumbers, red onion and green bell pepper. If you want you can use Persian cucumber. I would use 4 small Persian cucumbers.
• Fresh Herbs: One of my favorite parts about this salads is the fresh herbs. It uses fresh dill, fresh parsley and fresh cilantro.
• Sumac: I love the sumac in this salad. It adds a tart flavor alongside the lemon juice. If you don’t have sumac skip it or you could try za’atar.
• Lime Juice: Lime juice adds that tangy, citrus flavor. It is so good in this salad. If you don’t have lime juice or don’t want to use limes you can sub in lemon juice. Try adding lemon zest for extra flavor!
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil: As always use a good quality extra virgin olive oil when making salad dressings. This ensures you get a robust flavor in the salad.

How to Make a Shirazi Salad

Step 1: Mix Salad Ingredients: In a large bowl add the tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, bell pepper, parsley, cilantro, dill and fresh mint. Gently mix.

Step 2: Mix the Dressing: In a separate bowl, mason jar or salad dressing container combine the sumac, lime juice, olive oil and mix well.

Taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and gently toss.

Step 3: Serve: Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 4 days.

Ways to Modify this Shirazi Salad

• Protein: Add grilled chicken, beef, shrimp, falafel or salmon to this salad.
• Beans: Beans will help add protein and bulk up the salad. I especially like chickpeas, white beans and black beans.
• Dressing: Switch up the dressing by adding pomegranate molasses, balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar or Greek yogurt.
• Cheese: If you like cheese I think that feta cheese works really well in this salad. I suggest using crumbled feta cheese.
• Vegetables: Additional vegetables are always good in this salad. I like to add avocado, artichokes, roasted red peppers, carrots, radish, celery, white onion or jalapeños.
• Grains: Mix in cooked quinoa, bulgur wheat, couscous, brown rice or farro.
• Pickled Vegetables: I love adding pickled vegetables to my salads like pickled red onions and pickled vegetables. 
• Nuts and Seeds: Add sesame seeds, pine nuts, sliced almonds or walnuts.

Recipe Tips

• Tomatoes: When you choose tomatoes make sure they are slightly firm but also have slight give to them. You can remove the seeds from your tomatoes if you want to which helps to ensure the salad doesn’t get too watery but you don’t have to. Another option is before adding the dressing draining any excess liquid.
• Cucumbers: You want to make sure you use either a large english cucumber or about four Persian cucumbers in this salad. I do not like regular cucumbers as I find them to have less crunch and a tougher skin. I like to dice them small and leave the seeds in the cucumbers. If you want to remove them you can.
• Onions: I used red onion but you can leave it out, use sweet onion or shallots. If you aren’t a fan of a lot of onion flavor just use a small amount or leave it out.
• Bell Peppers: When I ate this salad growing up my grandma always added bell pepper. I love the crunch it adds so I added it. You can leave it out. Another option is to use red bell pepper.
• Fresh Herbs: If you don’t have fresh herbs like fresh mint leaves on hand you can sub in dried mint and other dried herbs but I highly recommend trying to use fresh. The flavor it adds to this salad is so nice!
• Dressing: If you are meal-prepping ahead of time I suggest creating the salad and dressing separately and adding the dressing about 10 minutes before you eat. I don’t like the dressing to sit on the salad too long as I find it becomes mushy.

What to Serve with This Salad

• Soup is a great main to serve with this salad. I love this Moroccan Carrot Red Lentil, Lebanese Lentil Soup or this Moroccan Red Lentil Soup.
• Seafood is another nice option to pair this shirazi salad with. I enjoy this Easy Pan Fried Fish, Black Sea Bass or Air Fryer Cod.
• Other dishes that are a great pairing for this salad are these Moroccan Chicken Thighs, Lebanese Meat Pies, Mediterranean Baked Turkey Meatballs or these Greek Marinated Chicken Thighs.
• Rice and hummus bowls are a great way to use this salad as a topping. Some favorites are these Mediterranean Hummus Bowls, Mediterranean Buddah Bowls, Mediterranean Salmon Bowls or this Greek Quinoa Bowl.