Turkish tomato salad made with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and crunchy walnuts is absolutely delicious. This salad is flavored with pomegranate molasses and is the perfect side dish. You can make this fresh and tasty salad in only 15 minutes!
I love sharing tasty Turkish recipes here on the blog. From Turkish traditional bread, simit and Turkish white bean salad to yogurt and cucumber (cacik), Turkish cuisine always calls for fresh and seasonal ingredients that make the dishes light and bright. Today I'm going to show you how to make my favorite Turkish tomato salad, also known as gavurdagi.
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About this recipe
Fresh produce is essential for maximizing the flavor in Mediterranean recipes and tomatoes are very common in Turkish cuisine and you can see them used in so many different recipes. They're always so plump and juicy in Turkey and they're similar to roma tomatoes. Gavurdagi (gavurdağı salatası) is a delicious Turkish classic salad that's made mainly with tomatoes and is packed with amazing flavors.
Gavurdagi is from the Gaziantep region in Turkey where it's popular for delicious food. What's special about this recipe is the dressing. The combination of pomegranate molasses and sumac gives this salad a nice flavor that's tart and bright.
What tomatoes are good for salad?
Heirloom tomatoes are the best for salads because of their delicious and bright flavor. However, since they're not available year round and in every supermarket, my second choice is roma tomatoes because of their thin skin and bright flavor. Tomatoes are widely used in Mediterranean salads such as fattoush and Greek salad.
Ingredients
- Tomatoes: I prefer roma tomatoes because of their firmness and flavor. If available, heirloom tomatoes would work too.
- Green Italian pepper: This type of pepper has a light flavor and texture. You could also use sweet banana pepper.
- Onion: White onion is best for this salad.
- Cucumbers: Persian cucumbers are preferred because they don't have seeds. If not available, use English cucumber.
- Walnuts: They add a nice crunch and pair so well with the vegetables.
- Olive oil: Always try to get high quality extra virgin olive oil.
- Pomegranate molasses: Adds so much flavor to the salad. You can find pomegranate molasses in supermarkets or Middle Eastern and Mediterranean shops. You can also make it at home.
- Sumac: If you have never used sumac, it's a spice made from sumac berries and it's tart.
Instructions
- Chop the tomatoes and place them in a large bow. Add chopped green peppers to the tomatoes.
- Add chopped white onion, cucumber and chopped parsley.
- Add in the chopped walnuts as well and give it a nice toss so all ingredients are combined.
- Season the salad with sumac, salt, olive oil and pomegranate molasses.
- Mix until all is well combined. refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.
Serving suggestions
I love serving this tomato salad alongside dishes such as Turkish stuffed eggplant (karniyarik), bulgur pilaf with some kofta kebab, and lahmacun. It will add the right amount of brightness and tangy flavor to the dish that will make you want to take a few more bites!
You can also serve gavurdagi as part of a mezze platter with vegan lentil balls, hummus, muhammara and bulgur salad (kisir).
Frequently asked questions
Turkish salads are usually made large tomatoes and cherry tomatoes are normally served for breakfast. Since cherry tomatoes have thinner flesh, they're not suitable for this salad recipe.
Because tomatoes tend to release their juice pretty soon after they're chopped, this salad is best served right away. However, you can keep the leftovers in an airtight container for up to 24 hours.
It's best to serve this salad within a few hours of making as the tomatoes would start releasing their juices. You can make this salad up to one hour before serving.
You can use pecans. If you're allergic to nuts in general, you can just leave the walnuts out.
Notes and tips
- Persian cucumbers have less seed than English cucumbers therefore they're perfect for this tomato salad.
- The tomatoes you're going to use for this recipe should be firm and plump. Soft tomatoes will release their juice easier.
- If pomegranate molasses is not available, a splash of balsamic vinegar would work, too.
- You can add more chopped walnuts to this tomato salad if you would like it to be more crunchy.
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Step-by-Step Recipe
Turkish Tomato Salad Gavurdagi
Ingredients
- 4 roma tomatoes chopped
- 1 Italian green pepper diced
- 1 white onion diced
- 2 Persian cucumbers diced
- ¾ cup walnuts chopped
- 1 cup parsley chopped
- ¼ cup olive oil extra virgin
- 4 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- 1 tsp sumac
- ½ tsp salt
Instructions
- Place the chopped tomatoes, green Italian pepper, onion, cucumbers, walnuts and parsley in a large bowl and mix well.
- Mix olive oil, pomegranate molasses, sumac and salt in a small bowl and pour it over the salad.
- Mix well and cover the salad with a plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.
Video
Notes
- Persian cucumbers have less seed than English cucumbers therefore they're perfect for this tomato salad.
- The tomatoes you're going to use for this recipe should be firm and plump. Soft tomatoes will release their juice easier.
- If pomegranate molasses is not available, a splash of balsamic vinegar would work, too.
- You can add more chopped walnuts to this tomato salad if you would like it to be more crunchy.
Jessica Formicola
Now this is my kind of salad! I love that you added pomegranate molasses. What an awesome flavor combo!
Lindsay
what an amazing way to use some of the veggies coming out of my garden right now! it's delicious.
Andrea
Wow! I can't stop thinking about pomegranate molasses. This tomato salad has such great flavors going on!
Dannii
A tomato and cucumber salad is one of my favourite salads. So easy, and so much flavour. Yours looks amazing.
Andrea
Wow, this salad has everything, sweetness, tartness and a little bitterness from the parsley. It sounds fabulous!
Bahareh Vahid
Thanks for the recipe! I couldn't find the amount of walnuts for the salad.
Shadi HasanzadeNemati
Thank you for catching that, just fixed it <3