Hailing from the city of Shiraz, Salad Shirazi is a staple in nearly every Iranian household. A kaleidoscope of summer vegetables, it’s quite possibly the perfect salad to beat the heat!
I grew up eating Salad Shirazi on a nearly weekly basis. My mom would prepare it as a side dish to her Persian stews and kabobs. Our Salad Shirazi is adapted from my mom’s recipe. Her original recipe calls for white onions, which we replaced with red ones for a splash more color. Otherwise, it’s very similar to the tangy, textural delight I ate as a child.
🇮🇷 WHAT IS SALAD SHIRAZI?
Named for the Iranian city in southwestern part of the country, Salad Shirazi is a tangy and herby salad. It consists of chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, and tossed in olive oil, lime juice, chopped mint and parsley.
Salad Shirazi is considered the national salad of Iran. During the hot summer months, Salad Shirazi is enjoyed by itself, as a light meal. Year-round, it’s served as a refreshing side. In some ways, Salad Shirazi is similar to both pico de gallo and Israeli chopped salad.
📝 INGREDIENTS
- Cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, and bell pepper: the base of the salad.
- Dried mint and fresh parsley: the herby elements of the salad.
- Extra virgin olive oil and lime juice: the fat and acid components of the dressing.
- Salt & freshly cracked black pepper: to season the dressing.
🔪 STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS
- Chop the cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, bell pepper.
- Combine vegetables with dried mint and parsley in a mixing bowl.
- Whisk together the olive oil and lime juice.
- Pour the olive oil mixture over the vegetables and mix well to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
💡RECIPE TIPS
- After tossing the salad, it’s best to let it chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. If you can spare it, a couple of hours are ideal. The salt will draw out some of the liquid in the vegetables, and the acid from the lime will mellow out the raw onion a bit. A little bit of patience helps bring all the flavors of the salad together.
- When deciding on cucumbers, we recommend going with Persian cucumbers, because…well, duh! But seriously, Persian Cucumbers are the best. They’re packed with flavor and the skin doesn’t have that weird filmy wax you find on other cucumbers.
💕 MORE SALAD RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE
DID YOU MAKE OUR PERSIAN SALAD SHIRAZI?
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👩🏽🍳 RECIPE
PERSIAN SALAD SHIRAZI
Ingredients
- 3 Persian cucumbers chopped
- 3 medium tomatoes chopped
- ½ red onion diced finely
- ½ large bell pepper or 4 mini bell peppers, chopped and pith/seeds removed
- 1 Tbsp dried mint
- 2 Tbsp fresh parsley chopped
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- Juice of 1 ½ limes
- Salt to taste
- Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, dried mint and parsley in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the olive oil and lime juice. Pour the olive oil mixture over the vegetables and mix well to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Enjoy!
Notes
- After tossing the salad, it’s best to let it chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. If you can spare it, a couple of hours are ideal. The salt will draw out some of the liquid in the vegetables, and the acid from the lime will mellow out the raw onion a bit. A little bit of patience helps bring all the flavors of the salad together.
- When deciding on cucumbers, we recommend going with Persian cucumbers, because…well, duh! But seriously, Persian Cucumbers are the best. They’re packed with flavor and the skin doesn’t have that weird filmy wax you find on other cucumbers.
- When deciding on cucumbers, we recommend going with Persian Cucumbers, because…well, duh! But seriously, Persian Cucumbers are the best. They’re packed with flavor and the skin doesn’t have that weird filmy wax you find on other cucumbers.
Whoa, the bell pepper addition was a game changer.
The dried mint put this over the top. FANTASTIC.