Vegetarian Souvlaki Salad (with Greek Marinated Tempeh)
This vegetarian souvlaki salad takes all the bright, sunny flavours of traditional Greek souvlaki and turns them into a satisfying meat-free meal. Tempeh is marinated in lemon, garlic and oregano, then fried until golden and served with a fresh tomato and cucumber salad, a minty yoghurt potato salad and crunchy Greek-style croutons. It’s colourful, hearty and ideal for warm weather lunches or easy summer dinners.
Dive Right In
- What Is Souvlaki?
- Why Marinate Tempeh?
- Why You’ll Want To Make This Tempeh Souvlaki Salad
- Ingredients, Additions And Substitutions
- How To Make Vegetarian Souvlaki Salad
- FAQs
- Other Vegetarian Salad Recipes You Might Like
- Keep In Touch
- Pin It
- The Recipe
What Is Vegetarian Souvlaki Salad?
Souvlaki is a traditional Greek street food where marinated meat (usually pork or chicken) is skewered and then grilled over hot coals. It’s then served in warm pitta breads together with a tomato and red onion salad and tzatziki.
In restaurants, souvlaki is often served plated along with the salad, bread, tzatziki and potato fries. So that’s what I’ve done to create this vegetarian souvlaki salad.
Although souvlaki is still mostly grilled, I’m reliably informed that Greek home cooks often fry it instead. Tempeh is not at all traditional as souvlaki is very much meat based, but it does make an excellent plant-based alternative. And here it’s fried rather than grilled.
Instead of serving my tempeh souvlaki in pitta bread, I make oregano croutons to accompany the salad for both crunch and flavour. It’s good to have varied textures in a salad.
Souvlaki is also usually served with tzatziki, fries and salad. Whilst that’s one possibility, I like to serve this salad with my simple potato salad, which is nice and creamy and made with yoghurt. I swap the mustard for crushed garlic and add finely chopped mint. The cucumber part is included as part of the Greek salad.
Why Marinate Tempeh?
Tempeh has a slight nutty flavour but also has bitter notes. Although quite nice fried just as it is, it’s much nicer when marinated. It absorbs flavour beautifully and frying gives lovely crisp edges whilst keeping the inside succulent. A good savoury marinade also tones down any bitterness.
In any case the marinade is very much part of traditional souvlaki.
Why You’ll Want To Make This Tempeh Souvlaki Salad
Marinated tempeh makes a good stand in for traditional meat in this vegetarian souvlaki salad. It has just the right sort of texture.
This recipe is surprisingly quick to put together and makes a delicious midweek dinner or lazy weekend meal. There’s a good mix of flavours, textures and colours and it looks enticing on the plate.
Here are some of the reasons, should you need them, why you’ll want to make this souvlaki salad again and again.
- packed with vibrant Greek flavours
- high in protein from tempeh
- quick and easy to make
- satisfying enough for dinner
- delicious whether served warm or cold
- lots of varied textures and colours
Ingredients, Additions and Variations
Apart from the Greek flavours of lemon, garlic, oregano, thyme, mint and good extra virgin olive oil, you don’t really need a lot to make this most sumptuous of salads. I’ve highlighted the main components below.
Tempeh
Tempeh has the right sort of chunky and chewy texture for souvlaki and it soaks up the marinade well. However, if tempeh isn’t your thing, you could swap it for tofu instead. Or if you’re not vegan, halloumi is always popular.
For a more traditional souvlaki vibe, you can cut the tempeh into chunkier pieces. Skewer them once marinaded and then grill. But I haven’t tried this method, so please let me know how it turns out if you do.
Bread
Most bread works well for croutons, so use whatever you have to hand. I generally prefer wholemeal, but I’ve found seeded sourdough works really nicely and gives a nutritious boost too.
Swap the croutons for warmed pitta bread, if you prefer a more traditional approach.
Salad
Crunchy lettuce makes all the difference to this salad. I’ve used little gem lettuce, but romaine works just as well. In fact little gem is a miniature version of romaine anyway. In the UK romaine is also known as Cos lettuce, which seems particularly fitting here as it’s named after the Greek island of Kos where the lettuce was grown.
As well as the lettuce, you’ll need some ripe tomatoes, cucumber and black olives. The tastier the tomatoes, the nicer the salad will be. Use brined black olives as there’s plenty of oil on the plate already. Kalamata olives are traditional, but I’ve used fairly plain pitted ones with no name.
Potato Salad
I use my simple potato salad recipe for this. But I swap a nice plump clove of fresh garlic for the mustard and just crush it into the dressing. And I also add lots of finely chopped mint along with the chives.
The yoghurt in the dressing along with the mint sort of stands in for tzatziki. But you can always omit the cucumber from the salad part and make tzatziki instead of the potato salad.
Additions
If you’re not after a vegan meal and fancy it, scatter some crumbled feta cheese over the salad for even more flavour.
How To Make Vegetarian Souvlaki Salad
Although there are various elements to this salad, it’s fairly easy to make each one whilst something else is cooking or marinating. So the whole thing only takes about half an hour to put together.
Please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for cooking times, measurements and quantities of ingredients used.
Step 1. Marinade Tempeh
Zest a clean lemon into a wide flattish bowl or container. A microplane (affiliate link) is brilliant for this. Then squeeze in half the juice, reserving the other half for pickling the onion.
Finely grate or crush the garlic into the bowl too. I use my microplane for this too. Remove the leaves from the thyme sprigs and add to the bowl along with the oregano, smoked paprika, salt, pepper and olive oil. Stir well until combined.
Slice the tempeh into thick slices, then halve or quarter them, depending on size to make sixteen substantial pieces.
Add to the bowl of marinade and toss each slice to ensure it’s thoroughly coated. Cover the bowl and set aside.
Step 2. Pickle Onion
Next, top and tail the salad onion or spring onions (scallions). Then thinly slice and place the rings in a small bowl.
Squeeze the juice from the remaining lemon half over the top. Stir and leave to pickle whilst you get on with other things.
Step 3. Make Potato Salad
Whilst the tempeh is marinading and the onion pickling, make the potato salad as per this potato salad recipe. Only swap the mustard for a crushed clove of garlic and add lots of chopped mint along with the chives.
Step 4. Make Croutons
Whilst the potatoes are cooking, make the croutons. Slice the bread into cubes and place in a mixing bowl. Drizzle the olive oil over the top and scatter in the oregano. Stir the croutons to get the oil and oregano as well distributed as possible.
You can either air fry the croutons or bake them in the oven. I use an air fryer which make wonderful crunchy croutons in minutes.
Place the croutons in a single layer in the air fryer basket and “fry” until golden and crunchy. To oven bake, lightly oil a baking tray and lay the croutons on it in a single layer. Bake in a preheated oven until golden and crunchy.
Step 5. Fry Tempeh
As soon as you have the potatoes draining, it’s time to fry the tempeh souvlaki. Heat a cast iron frying pan or other suitable pan to a moderately high heat. Spritz the pan with a little olive oil. Lay the tempeh pieces in the pan in a single layer and drizzle any leftover marinade over the top.
Fry for about until crisp and golden, then flip over and fry the other side. You may get char marks from the marinade, but that’s fine.
Step 6. Prepare Salad
Whilst the tempeh is frying, roughly shred the lettuce, slice the cucumber fairly thickly, then quarter the slices.
Slice the tomatoes into halves or quarters, depending on size and halve the olives.
Mix the drained potatoes into their dressing.
Step 7. Plate Up
When you’re ready to serve, plate up. Lay the salad ingredients over a third of each plate, scatter the onions and roughly chopped mint leaves over the top. Drizzle any remaining lemon juice from the onion bowl over too.
Divide the warm tempeh slices between the two plates, spoon some potato salad next to the tempeh and fill in the gap with the croutons.
Eat and enjoy.
FAQs
You can prepare most of the elements ahead of time, but it’s best to fry the tempeh just before serving so it’s warm and crisp at the edges. You can marinate the tempeh up to a couple of days in advance and keep it in the fridge until needed. The croutons will keep for about a week in an airtight container and you can make the potato salad a day or two ahead. Just store in a sealed container in the fridge.
No. Although I’ve fried the tempeh for this recipe, traditional souvlaki is grilled. For a more authentic feel, cut the tempeh into chunkier pieces, thread them onto skewers and cook under the grill or on a barbecue. The smoky flavour works particularly well with the marinade.
The marinade is what gives this salad its souvlaki character. Tempeh stands in for the traditional chicken or pork. And the accompanying salad, potatoes and croutons echo the sort of elements you’d expect to find alongside souvlaki in Greece – just in a different format.
More Vegetarian Salad Recipes To Try
- Black bean & corn salad (vegan)
- Cottage cheese salad
- Nectarine salad with mozzarella & tomatoes
- Sausage salad
- Tempeh caesar salad (vegan)
- Waldorf salad
And if these aren’t enough for you I have this post for all the summer salad recipes you will ever need.
Keep in Touch
Thank you for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this vegetarian souvlaki salad, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do you have any recommendations or tips for making souvlaki?
Please rate the recipe too. And do tag me @choclette8 on Instagram with your images, I really enjoy seeing your take on my recipes.
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If you’d like more tempeh recipes or more Greek inspired recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.
Choclette x
Vegetarian Souvlaki Salad. PIN IT.
Vegetarian Souvlaki Salad (with Greek Marinated Tempeh)
Equipment
- microplane (affiliate link) optional
Ingredients
- 200 g tempeh
Marinade
- 1 organic lemon zested and juiced
- 3 sprig fresh thyme
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp fine sea or rock salt
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Croutons
- 2 slices bread seeded bread is ideal (I used seeded sourdough)
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil extra virgin
- ½ tsp dried oregano
Salad
- 1 salad onion or 2 spring onions / scallions (I used a red salad onion)
- 1 Little Gem lettuce
- 50 g cucumber sliced
- 4-8 tomatoes small – halved or quartered
- 8 black olives kalamata are ideal
- 1 sprig fresh mint leaves only
- olive oil for drizzling (optional)
- 4 tbsp potato salad
Instructions
Tempeh
- First off marinade the tempeh. Zest the lemon into a wide bowl, then squeeze in half the juice, reserving the other half for the onion.1 organic lemon
- Remove the leaves from the thyme sprigs and add to the bowl along with all the other marinade ingredients. Stir well until combined.3 sprig fresh thyme, 1 clove garlic, ½ tsp dried oregano, ½ tsp smoked paprika, ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper, ¼ tsp fine sea or rock salt, 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Slice the tempeh into eight thick slices of around ½ cm (¼ inch), then halve them to make 16 substantial pieces measuring around 5 x 2 ½ cm (2 x 1 inch).200 g tempeh
- Add to the bowl of marinade and toss to ensure each slice is coated. Cover the bowl and set aside.
- Next, thinly slice the onion place it in a small bowl and squeeze the juice from the remaining lemon half over the top. Leave to pickle.1 salad onion
- Whilst the tempeh is marinading and the onion pickling, make the potato salad as per this potato salad recipe. Only swap the mustard for a crushed clove of garlic and add lots of chopped mint along with the chives.
- Whilst the potatoes are cooking, make the croutons. Slice the bread into cubes of roughly 2 cm sq. Place them in a bowl, drizzle with the olive oil and scatter the oregano over the top. Stir the croutons to get as much coverage as possible.2 slices bread, 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, ½ tsp dried oregano
- Place the croutons in a single layer and air-fry at 180℃ (350℉) for 6-8 minutes or bake in the oven at 200℃ (180℃ fan, 400℉, Gas 6) for 8-10 minutes. Cook until golden and crunchy.
- As soon as the potatoes are draining, it’s time to fry the tempeh souvlaki. Heat a cast iron frying pan or other suitable pan to a moderately high heat. I use level 6 out of a possible 9. Spritz the pan with a little olive oil. Lay the tempeh pieces in the pan in a single layer and drizzle any leftover marinade over the top. Fry for about 4-5 minutes until crisp and golden, then flip over and fry the other side for 3-4 minutes. You may get char marks from the marinade, but that’s fine.
- Whilst the tempeh is frying, cut the lettuce into chunks, slice the cucumber fairly thickly, then quarter the slices.1 Little Gem lettuce, 50 g cucumber
- Slice the tomatoes into halves or quarters, depending on size and halve the olives.4-8 tomatoes, 8 black olives
- Mix your potato salad.
- When you're ready to serve, plate up. Lay the salad ingredients over a third of each plate and top with the mint leaves. You may want to roughly chop the mint if the leaves are large.1 sprig fresh mint
- Scatter the onions over the salad and drizzle any remaining lemon juice over too. If you like, drizzle a little olive oil over as well.olive oil for drizzling
- Divide the warm tempeh slices between the two plates, spoon some potato salad next to the tempeh and fill in the gap with the croutons.4 tbsp potato salad