Turkish Tomato Salad Recipe (Gavurdagi)
May 31, 2019, Updated Jul 08, 2021
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Gavurdagi is a Turkish tomato salad that’s ready in 15 minutes. Made with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and crunchy walnuts and flavored with pomegranate molasses, this salad is the perfect side dish.
I love sharing tasty Turkish recipes here with you. From Turkish smoky eggplant salad and potato salad to ezme, 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.
Table of Contents
Why This Recipe Works
Gavurdagi Salad (gavurdağı salatası) is a delicious Turkish classic salad that’s made mainly with tomatoes and is packed with amazing flavors. This salad is from the Gaziantep region in Turkey where it’s popular for delicious food. Here are a few reasons for you to try this recipe:
- Flavor: 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.
- Easy: This is a simple salad recipe that doesn’t require much work. Simply chop all and mix!
- Quick: Ready in only 15 minutes, you can make this salad on a whim and serve it as a side dish.
Best Tomatoes For Salads
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 Salad 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 green bell 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.
How To Make Gavurdagi
- 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 chicken stew, 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 salad as part of a mezze platter with vegan lentil balls, hummus, muhammara and bulgur salad (kisir).
Storage
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.
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.
More Salad Recipes
Persian Recipes
Salad Shirazi (Persian Cucumber Tomato Salad)
Turkish Recipes
Turkish Ezme Recipe
Mediterranean recipes
Fattoush Salad Recipe
Summer Recipes
Easy Mediterranean Potato Salad
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Turkish Tomato Salad Gavurdagi
Ingredients
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.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
loved it.
This was fantastic. Even the leftover salad the next day was delicious – somehow, the walnuts were still crunchy.
The flavors in this salad are absolutely incredible! I also love the crunch and taste of the walnuts!