Persian Shirazi Salad

Fresh and vibrant, Shirazi Salad is a wonderful Persian tomato and cucumber salad tossed with lime and olive oil dressing! An extremely versatile side dish, this salad from the city of Shiraz is a perfect example of how to make a delicious salad without lettuce! Fresh tasting and ready in 10 minutes, this is one of our favourite summer salads, when we have juicy tomatoes, cucumber and herbs growing in the garden!

Jump to:

• What Is Shirazi Salad? 
• Ingredients and Substitutes
• Method
• Tips and Tricks
• Recipe FAQs
• What To Serve Shirazi Salad With?
• Other Delicious Salad Recipes
• Persian Shirazi Salad

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost for you! Thank you!

What Is Shirazi Salad? 

Similar to Meditteranean Cucumber and Tomato Salad and Israeli Salad, Shirazi is a flavoursome Persian salad that is popular across Iran. The name Shirazi Salad (or more precisely sālād-é-shirāzi) refers to the city in Southwestern Iran (Shiraz).

Whilst the history of traditional Shirazi salad is not very long (since tomatoes were not introduced in the region until the late 19th century), it has quickly gained popularity across the country (and the world) due to its simplicity, wonderful fresh flavour and versatility. 

Typically made with crisp Persian cucumbers, frim tomatoes, red onion and tart dressing flavoured with dry mint, this simple salad certainly doesn't lack in flavour. Our version of this Iranian salad uses a mixture of fresh mint and coriander and has an addition of yellow pepper too! 

Ingredients and Substitutes

Simple everyday ingredients, but wow, does this salad taste special? Here's the ingredients list and substitution suggestions. 

Shirazi Salad Ingredients

The main ingredients in this salad Shirazi from Southern Iran are fresh chopped vegetables and herbs. You will need only a handful of simple ingredients:

• Cucumber: is a key ingredient! Ideally, you need a type of cucumber that doesn't have too many seeds (get seedless cucumbers if you can) and thin skin. Choose small Persian cucumbers if you can, but long English cucumbers will work just fine! If you have regular cucumbers, we recommend removing the seedy centre to avoid watery salad.
• Tomatoes: we use baby plum tomatoes or cherry tomatoes for this Persian Salad, however, if you can find Roma Tomatoes or any tomatoes with fewer seeds (less moisture in them) they will be perfect in this Shirazi Salad recipe.  
• Yellow Pepper: can be substituted with any other bell pepper you have on hand. We love using yellow or orange simply because it adds another colour to the salad, but green bell peppers are more traditional. 
• Onion: red onion works best, as it is sweeter and slightly milder in flavour than brown or white onions. Plus it adds another colour to your salad. 
• Coriander: fresh coriander adds heaps of flavour to this salad. Make sure to chop it finely (including the stalks) to distribute the flavour as much as possible. Substitute it with fresh parsley if you wish - it makes a great addition to this healthy salad!
• Mint: can be substituted with dried mint (which is actually a traditional way to make this Iranian Salad). We personally love fresh herbs in this salad.

Shirazi Salad Dressing

Traditionally made with verjuice (or ab-ghooreh), which is sour grape juice (unripe grape juice), we opted for a more available ingredient of lime juice, but if you can find verjuice, don't hesitate to use it instead for a Shirazi salad dressing that is typical to Persian cuisine. 

• olive oil: we used extra virgin olive oil, but cold-pressed rapeseed oil will work here too!
• lime juice: use lemon juice instead if you don't have any limes on hand. 
• a pinch of salt & black pepper.

Method

After cutting all the vegetables and chopping all the herbs, place them all in a large bowl.

To make the dressing, mix the fresh lime juice with extra virgin olive oil in a small bowl. Season with a generous amount of salt and pepper.

Pour the dressing onto the Shirazi salad and toss gently. Serve immediately!

Tips and Tricks

• If your tomatoes are really juicy and have lots of seeds in them, place the chopped tomatoes in a colander and leave them to drain for 10-15 minutes. This will ensure your dressing isn't diluted. 
• Whilst some claim that Shirazi salad should be made a couple of hours before serving for the flavours to amalgamate, we think it should be served immediately after making it. The herbs will stay fresh and the fresh vegetables won't have time to release too much water. But if you have made it in advance, store it in the fridge in an airtight container. 
• The vegetables need to be chopped into relatively small pieces for the Persian Shirazi Salad. You want the veg small enough so that every bite has all of the favours in it!
• Don't forget to season the lime-olive oil dressing with salt and pepper. I find I can be rather generous with the salt in this recipe!

Recipe FAQs

What To Serve Shirazi Salad With?

Extremely versatile, this salad makes a great side dish to just about any main course. We particularly like it with BBQ foods such as BBQ Pork Fillet or Lamb Shashlik, but it is also amazing with a simple cheese toastie or as a healthy side to pizza. Other recipes that Shirazi salad makes a perfect side dish include:

• Homemade Pizza with Parma Ham, Figs and Mozzarella
• Vegan Stuffed Butternut Squash
• Greek Quesadilla 

You may use it in any recipe instead of Pico de Gallo too. 

Other Delicious Salad Recipes

We love making delicious side salads to accompany our main meals. Here are some of the ideas:

• Courgette Ribbon Salad With Earl Gray and Honey Dressing
• BBQ Corn Salad 
• Asian Cabbage Slaw with Sesame Mayo
• Pea Shoot Salad Recipe With Lemon Dressing