Persian salad with pomegranate is a vibrant, flavourful dish featuring fresh herbs, crunchy vegetables, sweet peppers, and tangy pomegranate, all tossed in a delightful pomegranate dressing.
Jump to: ℹ️ Overview | 🛒 Ingredients | 📷 How To Make | 📹 Watch The Video | 👩🍳 Recipe Tips | 🥗 Serving Suggestions | 📝 Full Recipe Card | 🍽 More Recipes To Try
Persian salads are refreshing and flavourful, and often feature fresh herbs and vegetables. One of the most popular Persian salads is Salad Shirazi, a simple yet delicious cucumber and tomato salad. My recipe is an expanded version with the additions of sweet peppers and tangy pomegranate. I toss everything with a fabulous pomegranate dressing and fresh herbs (mint and parsley) for the most gorgeous and delicious Persian salad.
It’s crunchy, tangy, sweet, and aromatic, perfect as a side dish with grilled meat, chicken, or fish. Toss in some chickpeas or top with grilled halloumi cheese for a stunning vegetarian meal.
Oh, and it’s nutritious offering a rainbow of antioxidants and gut-friendly fibre. Vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free.
👩🍳 If you like this recipe, check out my butternut squash and pomegranate salad or sweet potato kale and tahini salad, and make sure to check out this collection of summer salad recipes.
What You’ll Need
Here is what you’ll need for this Persian salad with pomegranate recipe. Find the full measurements in the recipe card below.
- Cucumbers: Persian or Lebanese as we call them in OZ are best because their skin is so delicate and thin, but honestly, any cucumber will do. If you’re using cucumbers with tougher, more bitter skin, peel them first.
- Tomatoes: Any type of tomato will work here but I especially love cherry or grape tomatoes for their sweetness. If using larger tomatoes, dice or slice them.
- Red peppers: Sweet red bell peppers or horn peppers can be used.
- Pomegranate seeds: Not essential but they add little bursts of tangy sweetness in every bite, plus extra fibre and they are breaming with antioxidants. You can adjust the amount or use just a few to sprinkle on top.
- Red onion: finely diced onion will add a little sharpness to the salad, which I personally love; you can use milder scallions/green onions or shallots, or even go without if you don’t like raw onion in a salad.
- Herbs: fresh mint and parsley, the quintessential Middle Eastern herbs, and beautiful in any salad.
- For the dressing: Pomegranate molasses is the key ingredient for the dressing, which is a thick, dark syrup made from reducing pomegranate juice with sugar and lemon juice. You can get it from International sections of the supermarket and online. Swap with a little Pomegranate juice with added sugar or honey to replicate the flavour. Plus, lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic, mustard, and honey (or maple syrup for the vegan version).
How To Make Persian Salad With Pomegranate
Find the full recipe and nutritional information below. Here are some handy step-by-step photos.
- Prepare Vegetables: Finely dice the cucumbers, tomatoes, red peppers, and red onion. Transfer them to a large mixing bowl. Cut the pomegranate in half and break away the white membranes to release the pomegranate seeds. Get about a handful of seeds out.
- Chop Herbs: Finely chop the fresh parsley and mint. Add them to the bowl with the vegetables.
- Make Dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, honey, mustard, salt, and pepper.
- Combine: Pour the dressing over the salad and toss everything together until well combined.
- Adjust Seasoning: Taste the salad and adjust the seasoning with more salt, pepper, or lemon juice as needed.
- If making this salad ahead of time, dress the salad just before serving.
Watch The Video
Recipe Tips
- Cucumber tip: If using an English cucumber, you might want to peel it if the skin is thick. Persian/Lebanese cucumbers usually have a thinner skin that doesn’t need peeling.
- Tomato tip: For a less watery salad, you can remove the seeds from the tomatoes before dicing.
- Herb Tip: Fresh herbs are key to this salad, but if you can’t find fresh mint, dried mint will still give you a lovely flavour.
- Add chickpeas, lentils, or halloumi cheese as extra protein for a vegetarian version, or serve with cooked chicken.
Serving Suggestions
Here are some delightful serving suggestions for this Persian salad with pomegranate:
- As a side dish: Serve alongside grilled meats such as lamb, chicken, or beef kebabs for a refreshing contrast.
- With Persian Rice: Pair with fragrant Persian rice dishes like saffron rice or jeweled rice for a complete meal.
- On a mezze platter: Include it in a mezze platter with hummus, baba ganoush, tabbouleh, and warm pita bread.
- Stuffed in Pita: Use it as a filling for pita sandwiches with falafel, grilled chicken, or roasted vegetables.
- Topped with Nuts and Cheese: Add a sprinkle of toasted nuts (like almonds or pistachios) and crumbled feta cheese for extra texture and flavour. I also love halloumi cheese or chickpeas with his salad.
- Over greens: Mix with fresh greens like arugula or spinach for a vibrant and hearty salad.
- With yoghurt: Serve with a side of yoghurt or a drizzle of tzatziki sauce for a creamy complement.
- In grain or buddha Bowls: Add to grain bowls with quinoa, bulgur, or couscous, along with roasted vegetables and a protein of your choice.
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Ingredients
For salad
- 2 Persian cucumbers or 1 large English cucumber, finely diced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes quartered, or diced tomatoes
- ½ small red onion finely diced
- 1 red bell pepper diced into small cubes
- ¼ cup fresh parsley finely chopped
- ¼ cup fresh mint finely chopped
- ½ pomegranate seeds removed from the fruit
For Pomegranate dressing
- 2 tablespoons Pomegranate molasses see notes
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoons honey or maple syrup
- 1 garlic clove grated or minced
Instructions
- Prepare Vegetables: Finely dice the cucumbers, tomatoes, red peppers, and red onion. Transfer them to a large mixing bowl. Cut the pomegranate in half and break away the white membranes to release the pomegranate seeds. Get about a handful of seeds out.
- Chop Herbs: Finely chop the fresh parsley and mint. Add them to the bowl with the vegetables.
- Make Dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, honey, mustard, salt, and pepper.
- Combine: Pour the dressing over the salad and toss everything together until well combined.
- Adjust Seasoning: Taste the salad and adjust the seasoning with more salt, pepper, or lemon juice as needed.
- If making this salad ahead of time, dress the salad just before serving.
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