Shopska Salad {Macedonian Chopped Salad}
Jul 15, 2015, Updated Apr 22, 2020
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Shopska Salad is the Macedonian version of a chopped salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, peppers and white [feta] cheese. It’s a healthy and refreshing salad perfect for lunch or dinner!
![Shopska Salad | www.diethood.com | The Macedonian version of a chopped salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, peppers and white [feta] cheese.](https://diethood.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Shopska-Salad-Macedonian-Chopped-Salad.jpg)
AN EASY MACEDONIAN CHOPPED SALAD RECIPE
Helllllooooo SUMMER! If there was ever THEEE Summer Salad, THIS would have to be IT. Trust me. Once that fresh smell of the cucumber hits your nose, you will absolutely agree!
You guys, guess where I’m at?! Just guess! Ok, ok, I’ll tell you.
I’m on a plane, flying over the Atlantic, heading to where it all started – my birthplace! YAY!
I’m so excited, you guys. I haven’t been back to Macedonia since 2011. That’s just pretty insane to me because I love my homeland so, so much! Besides that, my sister lives there and I haven’t seen her in 4 years! That is the hardest part. Heartbreaking, to be honest. My beautiful nieces hardly know me, and my brother-in-law is pretty much the best guy in the world!!
If I had it my way, and if an airline ticket didn’t cost 3 mortgage payments… and if I didn’t HATE flying… and if my girls weren’t so small, I’d go thrice a year!
![Shopska Salad | www.diethood.com | The Macedonian version of a chopped salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, peppers and white [feta] cheese.](https://diethood.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Peppers-Tomatoes.jpg)
Speaking of flying… could you say a prayer? PLEASE! I can’t stand it. At this moment, I’m probably asking the flight attendant for another shot of tequila. I’ll take anything that will put me at ease for at least 10 hours.
![Shopska Salad | www.diethood.com | The Macedonian version of a chopped salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, peppers and white [feta] cheese.](https://diethood.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Shopska-Salata.jpg)
Soooo, since I’m heading home, and since I will be having this Shopska Salad every day for the next 4 weeks, I thought what better time to share it with you than NOW?
Sidenote. The entire Balkan Peninsula claims Shopska as their salad: Macedonians claim it to be theirs, Serbs say, nope, it’s ours…
Bulgarians also say it’s all theirs. Greeks, too, though they decided to call it “Greek Salad” and added a few olives to it. 🙂 Then again, they just decided to call everything “Greek”, including salads, coffee, yogurt, the sky, the trees, air… aye aye aye… 😉
In a nutshell? We will all go to war with each other to prove that something is ours and not theirs.
Not just Shopska, though. We fight about the ownership of Ajvar, land, Baklava, land, Kebapi, Musaka, and land.
![Shopska Salad | www.diethood.com | The Macedonian version of a chopped salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, peppers and white [feta] cheese.](https://diethood.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Salad-with-Tomatoes-and-Cucumbers.jpg)
But I have to add that, if we leave politics aside, we are the best of friends. Not kidding. We love one another like brothers and sisters. ♥
About that Shopska Salad…
You should know that this whole chopped mess is the epitome of everything I love to eat, starting with all things cheese and tomato juices. When making this salad, make sure that your tomatoes are juicy because that is what makes this salad so amazing. We don’t add fancy salad dressings. It’s oil and vinegar. Full stop. BUT you don’t need anything else because all the flavors blend so well together, and with the help of the tomato juice and creamy feta, oh mah gaaaaahhhh! It’s like a flavor explosion!
![Shopska Salad | www.diethood.com | The Macedonian version of a chopped salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, peppers and white [feta] cheese.](https://diethood.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Sopska-Salata.jpg)
Also, and if you wanna eat it the authentic way, it’s one bowl, several forks, and a big feast of grilled meat on the side. That’s how you eat this salad. All the forks in one salad bowl. There’s no room for “ewwwww” around here. Gotta be real, gotta be genuine.
![Shopska Salad | www.diethood.com | The Macedonian version of a chopped salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, peppers and white [feta] cheese.](https://diethood.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Macedonian-Chopped-Salad.jpg)
Okay, so since this is turning out to be the longest post of everrrr? And since I really hope you read it all? Can we just hop on over to the recipe? COOL! Also? Did you say a prayer? PLEASE. I hate flying. HATE!
Okay, thank you! XOXO
ENJOY!
Pin this now to find it later
Pin It![Shopska Salad | www.diethood.com | The Macedonian version of a chopped salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, peppers and white [feta] cheese.](https://diethood.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Shopska-Salad-Macedonian-Chopped-Salad-300x300.jpg)
Shopska Salad {Macedonian Chopped 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
- Place the chopped tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and onions in a large serving bowl.
- 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.
- Top with crumbled feta cheese and sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley.
- 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.
Hey!
I see I’m late in the game here.
I’ve been scouring the internet on how exactly my grandmother would make this underrated, yet BEESSSTTT salad recipe on the freaking planet!! … and then I came across your blog.. so here I am Katerina 🙂
You are not just posting a great recipe for the world to adopt into their salad deprived lives (and I mean that with so much love guys) – which I’ll be referencing to for my upcoming dinner party…
BUT, you are also hands down hilarious! So thank you for that.
I needed a good laugh.
I jas sum Makedonče, and I am so proud to be.
For those who do not understand what I just said, I just wrote in my Macedonian Mother tongue that ‘I am Macedonian’.
Listen I know you don’t give a rip on what people think of you clearly, as I am also cut from the same cloth, and it’s pretty wonderful.
We really have zero filter. It’s in the genetics no?
Everything you said I definitely agree with. We all believe we invented this salad, but I’m here as another pillar to confirm that, YES, Macedonia did serve that first šopska dish, and also YES, Wikipedia is not a reliable source of education historically either.. lmao.
Anyway. I just need to tell you that clearly we’re BFF’s, and I just want to share that love back to you.
By the way.. I said a prayer even though I’m a year and a half late. Hope you made it.
Okay, ❤️ing you from far away, even though we’re complete strangers.
Bye čupe!! ❤️☺️
This is Macedonian. Historians agree that It’s from the Macedonian region that was given to the Bulgarians as part of the Bucharest agreement of 1913 ( actually no Macedonian agreed to this) and this is why they claim it to be theirs.
I must remind my Bulgarian friends that the very language they speak was created by kiril and Metodija in my historical home town of Ohrid, your welcome my fellow Bulgarians.
The salad may be everywhere on the Balkans but it is Bulgarian, from Shopluka, the region around the capital’Sofia.
We are “cousins” as my fathers’ people were from Albania! We claim Baklava! Hahahahaaaaa………! Glad you are getting to visit your homeland and family. I have “pinned” this recipe and look forward to making it soon!
Shopska salad is definitely invented in Bulgaria. Just google it. And with a name like yours it is highly unlikely that you will accept any such assumption. What is your origin my little darling? Macedonian?
Yep, everything according to you guys is Bulgarian… everything according to Greeks is Greek, according to Serbs is Serb, and so on and so forth. Gotta LOVE the Balkans and its toddler “everything is mine!” mentality.
My little darling? You don’t get speak to me that way – your tone is very disrespectful. And YES, I AM Macedonian. Very proud Macedonian. You are going to deny me that, as well? Because that would be racist. Macedonophobia is alive and thriving.
Psssh! SHOPSKA is a Balkan’s thing. We can all claim it!
According to your so called Wikipedia, the “Shopska” salad is invented in Bulgaria to represent the flag of Bulgaria that was adopted in 1879. That is completely wrong ! I personally own a picture taken in the year of 1854 that portraits regional foods on a dinner table and on the same picture is the same “Shopska salad that we eat today. So can you please explain to me how on earth did you managed to invent the “Shopska” salad to represent the colors of your flag even before you invented your own flag. In addition to this “Shopska” is named after the word “Shop” or “Shopje”, “Шоп”, “Шопје” and it is the same as “Siki” and “L’ski”, and is a word which means “mountain savage man that is uneducated and have absolutely no culture and no manners what so ever and his primary occupation is shepherd”. The “Shops people” were not tribe and they did not had any nationality markings, instead it is only a “Word” that even today is used in conversation in some places around the “Osogovo” mountains. So tell me again how can someone from Varna or Burgas own the exclusivity rights to say that “Shopska” salad is a Bulgarian salad that is invented to represent the colors of the flag of Bulgaria ? I am a historian by the way.
Rating is for the recipe. And I love YOUR history and love of your culture, Katerina! Now for Radlosav…..you can take a big bite of shut the heck up! Rate the recipe!!!! We don’t care about your opinion!
Thank you so much! I am very glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
I honestly don’t care where this recipe “came from”….I’ve now made it about 5 times and we love it! Thanks for the awesome recipe!
I don’t think you should waste your time on the trollers. Definitely don’t take any of them to heart. You posted a recipe for a fantastic salad (which I ate every second day in Budapest – homemade & offered in any/all restaurants – ) and it is just scrumptious. Thank you. Let them all claim it. You know what you know. It’s like Pavlova … The Australians, the New Zealanders, the Brits and others – still argue over where it originated. Wherever it was … it’s also delicious. ☺️💐
Thank you so much for your kind words! I’m very happy you loved it! 🙂 🙂
As a bulgarian, I know that this particular salad was INVENTED in Bulgaria.
But let’s just take a look in Wikipedia:
”
Though the salad’s name comes from the region called Shopluk, in fact, it was invented in the 1960s as part of a tourist promotion.
…
At the time, leading chefs from Balkantourist invented Dobrujan, Macedonian, Thracian and several other salads with similar names, which were associated with different ethnographical regions.
…
Because the area of Shopluk is divided among Bulgaria, Serbia and Macedonia, chefs in Macedonia and Serbia began later to contest the Bulgarian origin of the salad.
”
If you know something different, and can prove it, you can change the text in Wikipedia, I think.
So, let’s take this a step further… Just 3 days ago, a Serb was on here telling me the exact same thing, except in his little paragraph, it was the Serbs that invented it… Go troll someone else’s site. And you’re using Wikipedia as a credible source?
Stunningly epic response!
BTW. I ate this EVERYDAY in Bosnia (Banja Luka) in 1996, whilst serving as a British Soldier. I don’t care where it’s from. It’s DELICIOUS!!!
Lx
Let’s go even further with this.
This is for Mo..
BEFORE any of that land that your mentioned was divided illegally (mind you) where external western governments drew imaginary lines with big fat red felt marker on a paper map; Macedonia existed, and was one WHOLE place, one ethnicity, one name called Macedonia, one ancient language written about in the Homeric poems, one FAMOUS King Aleksandar of Makedon, and one ancient culture. This is simply fact, and not weighted on something as insignificant as the illegal politics of the last century.
If you don’t believe me Mr. Mo the Bulgarian, just look at ANY bible of ANY sect of Christianity, and please tell me what countries are mentioned inside the Holy scripture.
Go ahead. I’m waiting.
Mic drop.
Hi, I`m Turkish and we have a very smiler cuisine.. We call this salad as `spoon salad` we eat it with a spoon because, we don`t want to waist the tomato juice!!! And I love very much your BOREK… You know pastry with cheese, spinach, beef, leek…..Do you have some recipes for borek pls. Thanks for all delicious ones….
Hi! Spoon Salad sounds like my kinda food!! 🙂 I love this salad so much. I am in Macedonia currently visiting family and I’ve had Shopska just about every day! 😀
I don’t have a recipe for Burek on my blog, however, I do follow this recipe for those times when I crave it: http://www.skopjeinfo.mk/hrana/1610910178/originalen-recept-za-burek Make sure to hit the “translate” button on Google. 🙂 This recipe uses ready made fillo sheets which makes it perfect for those lazy Sunday mornings! hehe
Hi, thank you so much for the burek recipes… I`ll look…I`m jealous you`re having great foods there…Have fun….
My daughter is over there now staying with the grandparents! My husband is so silly, he thinks I am actually going to endure a 10 hour flight with a 3 year old solo to go pick her up.Trying to avoid that convo at ALL COSTS. LOL Safe travels or as we say Sreken Pat!
Now that it finally got hot in Chicago this is what we will be eating for the remainder of the summer-pure bliss!
And I read somewhere that alcohol can make it worse! Better off drinking chamomile tea :-/
Yaaay! Have the most awesome time with your family, Kate! I’m definitely there with ‘ya on the flying part—hate, hate, haaaate it! So yeah: definitely ask for that tequila! LOL.
This salad. Ummm literally cannot even control my drooling. You loaded it up with seriously all the THINGS! Whichever country it really belongs to definitely knows their salad stuff! Pinned. 🙂
I ate this at every meal in Bosnia. It soooooo good!! Pinned!