Easy Shirazi Salad

Fresh, refreshing, and full of healthy veggies, this easy Shirazi Salad is a fabulous addition to any meal! But, with all that chopping, they’re a pain to make! Check out my simple hack for making the easiest Shirazi Salad ever!

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Loaded with cucumber, tomatoes, onions, and herbs, and with a tangy lime dressing, Shirazai Salad, also known as a Persian cucumber-tomato salad, is crisp, tangy, and packed with flavor. It pairs so well with so many different dishes, but all that dicing and trying to get the same sized bits of tomato, cucumber, and tomato can be daunting.

But there’s an easy gadget out there that’ll do all the work for you! I did all the chopping for this salad in a fraction of the time it would have taken with a knife. Sure, as a retired professional chef I’ve got the knife-skills to make this salad the old-fashioned way, but why bother when a simple shortcut makes light work of the dicing of the veggies in this salad.

Alligator Chopper Is My Secret Tool

Restaurants don’t chop gallons and gallons veggies by hand to make this salad. Instead, they use a professional version of an alligator chopper. This simple tool is so easy to use! Load the hopper with your veggie planks, and press down on the handle. Voila, now you’ve got perfectly cut diced veggies, and in a fraction of the time.

I bought this handy gizmo on Amazon, but you can find it at specialty kitchen stores, too. It pays for itself over and over again with the time and energy I save dicing veggies for pico de gallo, this Shirazi Salad, and other tasty dishes.

Ingredients

• Fresh tomatoes – Roma (or plum) tomatoes.
• English cucumber – Snip the ends but leave the skin on.
• Red onion
• Parsley – Fresh parsley, chopped finely.
• Dill
• Mint – Fresh mint, or use 1 teaspoon dried mint.
• Lime juice – Fresh lime juice.
• Olive oil – Use a good-quality olive oil.
• Salt and pepper – To taste.

What Are The Best Tomatoes For Shirazi Salad?

Ultimately, garden-fresh tomatoes make the best Shirazi Salad. But if it’s winter or you don’t have fresh tomatoes growing, look for store-bought roma or plum tomatoes. They have less water content and fewer seeds which makes this the best Shirazi Salad.

How To Make The Best Shirazi Salad

For a full list of ingredients and instructions, please scroll down to the recipe near the bottom of this page.

1. Finely dice the tomato and cucumber, trying to keep the dice all the same size.
2. Dice the red onion.
3. Chop the parsley, dill, and mint.
4. Mix the tomato, cucumber, and onion in a large bowl. Add the herbs and mix well.
5. Add the lime juice to a smaller bowl and whisk in the olive oil in a thin stream, whisking as you add it, to create an emulsion.
6. Toss the veggies and herbs with the dressing, season with salt and pepper, and serve.

Chef Jenn’s Tips

• If you’re using roma or plum tomatoes, which I highly suggest, cut them in half and scoop out the seed pulp. This will keep your salad from getting too runny or seedy.
• You can eat the skin on English cucumbers – they’re the long, skinny cucs that are usually individually wrapped in plastic. You can also eat the seeds – they’re small and soft or nearly nonexistant.
• Mix and match the herbs to suit your tastes.
• Fresh lime juice works best in this recipe.

Recommended

Shirazi Salad VS. Tabbouleh

Are you wondering what the differences are between Shirazi Salad and Tabbouleh? While similar in many ways, tabbouleh contains bulgur wheat and much more parsely. There are tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers, too, but the parsley and bulgur are the main ingredients. Naturally low carb, Shirazi Salad is also gluten-free whereas tabbouleh is not.

Make It A Meal

I’ve been known to just feast on a bowl of this delicious and easy Shirazi Salad, but if you want to make it a meal, you can pair it with so many different dishes. I love it with anything off the grill or smoker, but I’ll also pair it with light eats like fresh tomatoes and ricotta on toasted bread, Mediterranean cod, or kabobs. I also love it with this ground turkey sweet potato skillet. Yum!

Storage

Any leftover Shirazi Salad can be kept in an airtight container for about 2 days. After that the veggies will start breaking down because of the lime and salt in the recipe. Soak up all the juice in the bottom of the bowl with crusty bread – that’s a meal all on its own!

Step By Step Process

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