Persian Shirazi Salad

4.93 from 14 votes

Persian Shirazi Salad

Persian shirazi salad is a crunchy, fresh, and delicious finely chopped Persian cucumber and tomato salad with dried mint, lemon (or lime), and extra virgin olive oil. It's an excellent salad side dish to accompany grilled meats.

Servings:

Ingredients

6 Persian cucumbers or 2 English cucumbers
6 medium Roma tomatoes
1 small red onion
3 small Persian limes or 1 large lemon about 5 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoon dried mint
3 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Peel and finely chop the red onion.
Cut the ends off the cucumber. Cut in half. Slice longways into fourths. Chop the Persian cucumber finely.
Cut the Roma tomato in half. Remove the seeds. Finely chop the Roma tomato.
Squeeze the lemon. Add the salt, pepper, and dried mint.
In the same bowl, add the finely chopped Roma tomatoes, red onion, and Persian cucumbers. Pour the lemon juice, salt, pepper, and dried mint on top. Mix together well.
Add high quality extra virgin olive oil prior to serving.

Video

Notes

Chop the Roma tomatoes, Persian cucumbers, and red onion into fine pieces of the same size.
Only use Persian cucumber or English cucumber because they are not bitter in taste.
Use Roma tomatoes because they don't have many seeds. Remove the seeds from the Roma tomatoes before chopping.
Add the olive oil right before eating.
Make ahead: Don't add lemon juice, olive oil, or salt to the chopped vegetables. These ingredients break down the cucumbers and tomatoes, altering the taste. Also, the salad will not be crunchy.
Storage: Store the chopped cucumbers, onions, and tomatoes in the fridge without the salad dressing for up to 2 days. Once you are ready to eat the salad, mix the dried mint and lemon juice. Add the salt and pepper to taste. Pour the olive oil at the end.

Nutrition