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Shopska salad is a Macedonian chopped salad recipe made with fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and peppers, with creamy feta and a drizzle of oil and vinegar. It’s the simplest salad with the most amazing flavors!
For another traditional side dish, try my tomato onion salad and Russian salad recipes. Or, toss together the famous La Scala chopped salad.
Macedonian Shopska salad is THE summer salad. As soon as the smell of fresh cucumber hits your nose, I’m sure you’ll agree! I think I ate this traditional chopped salad for four weeks straight when I visited my sister in Macedonia years ago.
It’s a delicious blend of everything I love to eat, mainly fresh garden cucumbers, tomatoes, and tangy feta. No fancy salad dressings here, just oil and vinegar. Full stop. With the help of the tomato juices and creamy feta, it’s like a flavor explosion!
About This Macedonian Shopska Salad Recipe
- Simple to make. All the vegetables get chopped and then tossed in a super-simple vinaigrette. The simplicity of this dish lets the ingredients shine.
- Made for sharing. That’s how you eat this salad in my homeland: All the forks in one salad bowl! When it’s not just family, it’s just as delicious dished onto plates.
- Only the freshest ingredients. Even better if you have the veggies in your garden!
- Make it in advance. Since this salad needs a little time to chill in the fridge before serving, it’s a great option to make ahead for parties and holidays.
What the Heck Is a Shopska Salad, You Might Ask?
Shopska salad is a type of cold salad. This recipe includes ingredients like tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, banana peppers, and crumbly feta cheese. You may already be familiar with its cousin, the Greek salad, which typically includes olives. Bulgaria’s version of shopska is even its national dish.
The entire Balkan peninsula claims Shopska as its salad. We like to debate ownership of everything over there, from ajvar (red pepper relish) to baklava, kebapi (kebabs), musaka, and land. It’s how it goes. All love!
Gather These Salad Ingredients
In her Mediterranean grandmotherly way, my Baba had a knack for turning the simplest ingredients into the BEST meals, and that includes a traditional chopped salad. When making Shopska salad, ensure that your tomatoes are juicy. I’ve included notes below, and you’ll find the full printable recipe in the recipe card after the post.
- Ripe Tomatoes – The ripest you can find that are plump, firm, and juicy. Good choices are Roma tomatoes, vine tomatoes, and heirloom tomatoes. I like to roll larger tomatoes gently against the countertop, like you would a lemon, to release their juices before I chop them up.
- Banana Peppers – These mild peppers are a staple in Macedonian cooking, and my grandmother would always grow them in her garden. If you can’t find banana peppers, green bell peppers make a good substitute.
- Cucumber – I use English cucumbers, which tend to be long. Mediterranean/Persian cucumbers are shorter with fewer seeds. Both will work in this recipe; you may just need an extra Persian cucumber if they’re on the smaller side.
- Yellow Onion – Choose a mild yellow or white onion, like Vidalia or shallot. Red onion also goes nicely in this salad.
- Olive Oil – Quality counts! You can make the simple dressing with a mild or more robust olive oil, depending on what you prefer.
- Vinegar – Red wine vinegar is my first choice, but you can use white wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or balsamic.
- Feta Cheese – Traditional shopska salad recipes use a brined cheese called sirene. It’s similar to feta, only milder. I use feta cheese since it’s readily available in most stores. Goat cheese or shaved Parmesan cheese are also good alternatives.
- Parsley – Freshly chopped. You can also use basil.
What to Serve With a Macedonian Chopped Salad
If you want to eat Shopska the authentic way, it’s one bowl, several forks, and a big feast of grilled meat on the side. I serve it with grilled steak skewers, chicken skewers, or seafood, like tilapia. It’s also a delicious light side to a fried pork pizza. Don’t forget Macedonian dinner rolls (kifli), and give this bambus cocktail a try, too.
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Shopska Salad
Ingredients
- 3 to 4 ripe tomatoes, chopped
- 2 green banana peppers, chopped, or you can use a green bell pepper
- 1 long English cucumber, chopped
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, or to taste
- ½ cup crumbled feta cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Combine the veggies. Place the chopped tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and onions in a large serving bowl.
- Toss with dressing. Add salt, pepper, oil, and vinegar to a bowl and whisk to combine. Pour the dressing over the salad mixture, toss it, and mix until well blended. Taste for seasonings and adjust accordingly.
- Add cheese. Top with crumbled feta cheese and sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley.
- Chill and serve. Refrigerate for about 20 minutes, or until ready to use. Serve.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
How to Make Shopska Salad
The longest step is the chopping, but I’ll often get my girls involved, and it goes quickly! To make this easy shopska salad the Macedonian way, follow along below:
- Get out a large serving bowl. Add your chopped tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and onions.
- Make the vinaigrette. In another bowl, whisk together the salt, pepper, oil, and vinegar. Pour the dressing over the chopped salad.
- Toss, then add cheese. Toss the salad with the vinaigrette. Give that a taste and adjust the seasonings as needed, then crumble over the feta cheese. Sprinkle the salad with chopped parsley.
- Chill and serve. Refrigerate the salad for at least 20 minutes so all the flavors have a chance to mingle. This is a great salad to prep the day before, too. When it’s time to serve, pass around the forks, and enjoy!
Storing Leftovers
Shopska salad stores very well in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. Store leftovers airtight and enjoy them for easy lunches. I like to top my leftover salad with cooked chicken or quick air fryer salmon for a light meal.
You can just call it Macedonian salad, no problem. Greeks will call it Greek salad, Serbs – Serbian salad, whatever. It is a Balkan salad.
But claiming “Shopska salad” Macedonian? Where do you suggest “Shopska” comes from? Last time I checked it was not from Macedonia.
Among other things…
You’re right that it’s called Shopska salad, but the Shopska region also stretches into Macedonia and Serbia, not just Bulgaria. Recipes travel all over the Balkans, and everyone has their own version and name for it. Greeks have claimed everything, including yogurt as Greek; are you going after them yet? Chill out, honestly.
Loved it!!! Perfect light salad. Thanks!
I’m so glad you loved it! Enjoy the perfect light salad! Thank YOU! 🙂
Love this. My go to regularly. Thr Macedonian’s have some really good stuff
That’s awesome to hear it’s become your go-to! Macedonian cuisine indeed has some delicious offerings. Glad you’re enjoying the flavors! Thank you! 🙂
So where the name Shopska come from again?
Made this and it was so good! I’m going to make it for my Macedonian boyfriend now. <3
That’s great! I’m very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
This is a gorgeous salad. I eat it every week, if not every day.
Otherwise, all people from all countries are welcome to enjoy this dish.
I ate this salad first in Bulgaria, being an international trucker from the Netherlands. I’ve never seen it in the other countries, though they all have dishes alike. The Turks also add hot green peppers, which I like.
I’m not saying who invented it though, there are so many dishes in all named countries, that it’s easy to overlook some of them.
Anyway, I like these kinds of salads, the fact that I got it first in Bulgaria is purely coincidence, I think. Back in the time most restaurants had a limited choice (eighties, early nineties), so probably it was the only available salad. Never mind who was first, I just enjoyed it
I have a co worker from Macedonia and just this week a few of us gathered again at his house for the full Macedonian feast. Coarse after coarse but it began with this salad. Absolutely delicious. Going to be making it at home often. As for the other dishes, I’ll have to get the names written down as I don’t recall the names. All fantastic and I’m a fan!
I have a question about feta cheese. I learned to make this salad when I was a exchange student in 1980-1981. I’ve been making it ever since. My difficulty is finding the right feta cheese!!!
Does anyone have an exact brand that would keep this “Macedonian” rather than salty-Greek? Something that might be sold at a well-known store?
I was used to buying fresh from big vats at Macedonian markets, which don’t exist here. I just haven’t found the right one … yet. Help, please.
Maybe try a Mexican cotija cheese.
I love this salad sooo much! I was taught how to make this a few years ago by my awesome Macedonian friends. This salad will always be Macedonian to me, just like pasta will always be Italian! Bon Appetito!
Thank you so much! I’m very happy you loved it! 🙂
I have to agree with all those who said that it’s always THEIR culture’s salad. My late husband was born and raised in Beograd and he was adamant than any variation of this salad was Serbske’ salate (spelling?). 😆. Since he passed, I’m left with his grandmother’s old tattered cookbook, in Serbian, which I can’t read and, even if I did, there’s no standard of measurement to be found…it’s a ‘large spoonful’ or ‘small handful’ or ‘a slightly hot oven’ 🤣 so for years it was trial and error.
Ive tried to recreate the old dishes from recipes I’ve found on line but none come close…except for this one!!! Thank you SO much Katerina for sharing this recipe. I’m going to make this for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow night for my kids to get an authentic taste of their fathers’ culture.
p.s. if anyone has an authentic recipe for Gibanica, please share