Middle Eastern Salad Shirazi
Middle Eastern Salad Shirazi is a light and fresh chopped salad with tomato, cucumber, red onion, parsley, and lemon juice. Great served with hummus and pita or rice bowls!
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My family and I have what we call “Mediterranean Night” for dinner about once a week.
It’s a hodgepodge of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean dishes, and usually consists of hummus, pita bread, tzatziki sauce, tabouli, and Middle Eastern Salad Shirazi.
Sometimes we go vegetarian with falafel, and sometimes we have kubideh or grilled chicken.
Mediterranean Night is one of our favorite dinners because it’s not only healthy and fresh, but delicious too.
When you’re finished eating, you feel satisfied but not weighed down from greasy or heavy food.
Mediterranean Balela Salad is another great fresh salad!
Ingredients needed (scroll down to recipe card for complete recipe):
- Persian cucumbers – snacking cucumbers or English cucumber also work
- Roma tomatoes
- Red onion
- Parsley – flat Italian or curly
- Lemon
- Sumac
- Salt & pepper
📍The full recipe with exact ingredient amounts and instructions is on the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Salad Shirazi is really easy to make. It’s just a lot of chopping of ingredients, but what you get when it’s ready is a side salad that’s fresh, crunchy, a little lemony, and really good for you!
What kind of cucumbers are best?
Persian cucumbers are traditional for this salad, but if you can’t find them, you can use a seedless English cucumber or small, snacking cucumbers.
These types of cucumbers have less seeds and water than traditional slicing cucumbers and will stay crunchier longer.
How to serve salad shirazi
- This salad is often served on a platter with kabobs, rice, hummus, and pita bread.
- It’s a great addition to One-Pot Spiced Rice & Chickpeas.
- A great summer potluck item!
- It’s so good in rice bowls either vegetarian (shown below) or in Middle Eastern Bowls with Spiced Beef.
More Middle Eastern/Mediterranean recipes:
- Toasted Za’atar Pita Chips
- Middle Eastern Pickled Turnips
- Harissa Garlic Hummus
- Lemony Greek Chickpeas
NOTES:
- Sumac is a maroon-colored spice that adds a tangy, lemony flavor. It’s perfect in this salad and is amazing sprinkled over hummus. It may be hard to find in a traditional grocery store, but you can get it in the recipe card.
- This post was updated 3/22/26 with new photos and easier to read instructions on the recipe card.
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Middle Eastern Salad Shirazi
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
- 1 cup chopped Roma tomatoes 1 1/2-2 Roma tomatoes
- 4 Persian cucumbers chopped (about 2 cups)
- 1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley
- sumac couple dashes
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1/2 lemon, the juice of save the other half if needed later
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a medium-sized bowl. Stir and taste. If desired add more lemon juice for a brighter, more tangy salad. Taste for salt and pepper, and adjust as needed.
- Garnish with extra sumac when serving. It tastes the best after the flavors have melded for a couple hours. Enjoy!
Notes
- Store leftover salad in an air-tight container in the fridge. Best if eaten within 3 days.
- Some people like to add a drizzle of olive oil to this salad. I don’t, but feel free to use it if desired.
Did you make this recipe? Rate it and let me know in the comments below! ♥
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Made this for a cook out for coworkers light and refreshing.