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Home » Salads » Wheat Berry Salad (Mediterranean Style)

Published: Jul 30, 2021 · Modified: Sep 5, 2021 by Zerrin & Yusuf

Wheat Berry Salad (Mediterranean Style)

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This wheat berry salad is a delicious and healthy salad option that can be served for lunch or as an accompaniment at dinner. It contains nutty and chewy wheat berries, a variety of fresh herbs and vegetables, pomegranate arils and walnuts. This salad is vegan and vegetarian, but can easily be adjusted to make it meatier!

Wheat berry salad with greens and pomegranate arils in a white bowl and a spoon inside it.

This is one of our favorite grain-based salads because of its versatility. It makes a refreshing summer salad for lunch, but can also be served in the winter.

It is a perfect way to include wheat berries into your diet. If you love our vegan buckwheat salad or Turkish bulgur salad, then you will fall in love with this recipe too.

Jump to:
  • Why We Love This Recipe
  • Ingredients
  • Alternative Add-Ins
  • How to Make
  • Serving Suggestions
  • FAQs
  • More Grain Recipes
  • More Salad Recipes
  • 📖 Recipe
  • 💬 Comments

Why We Love This Recipe

We absolutely love this incredibly easy and delicious wheat berry salad recipe. Here’s why:

  •  It is an incredibly quick and easy salad to make. You basically only have three easy steps; combine the salad ingredients and make the dressing. 
  • You can use precooked and even frozen wheat berries. This will save you a ton of prep time, especially when you don’t have any to spare!
  •  It is a healthy salad. Unlike a ton of other salads you find these days, this wheat berry salad recipe only contains fresh and nutritious ingredients.
  •  It is an incredibly flexible recipe. This recipe is very easy to adjust. You can substitute virtually any of these ingredients, but also easily add some of your own. If you are not following a vegan diet, you can add some meat or cheese if you’d like.

Ingredients

The hero ingredient of this wheat berry salad recipe is of course the wheat berries. To cook them is incredibly easy and they don’t even need any seasoning! Have a look at our in-depth post on How To Cook Wheat Berries.

Cooked wheat berries in a white bowl and a spoon in it.

Our recipe includes a wide variety of authentic Mediterranean ingredients including red and green onions, sweet red peppers, mint and parsley, walnuts, and some juicy pomegranate arils.

Green onions, one sweet red pepper, fresh parsley and mint, wheat berries, red onion, olive oil, pomegranate molasses, half lemon, pomegranate arils on a light background.

The onions help add a balancing flavor to the slightly sweet and nutty wheat berries and very sweet red pepper and pomegranate seeds. They also provide texture and a beautiful color.

We prefer using walnuts with this recipe as their nutty flavor complements that of the wheat berries. You can however choose virtually any nut you’d like.

Lastly, we finish off our salad with a delicious tangy salad dressing. It only uses some lemon juice, olive oil, and luscious homemade pomegranate molasses. 

Alternative Add-Ins

This is an incredibly flexible recipe in which you can easily substitute any ingredient and even add some additional ones.

You can substitute the walnuts with virtually any other kind. Some of our favorites include almonds, pecans, and cashews. They all go well with wheat berries in this salad. 

If you want to make your salad extra bulky and filling, you can add virtually any other vegetable that is normally used in salad. This can include cucumber, cabbage, carrots, roasted zucchini or eggplants.

And if you want to give it an extra protein punch, add in some beans or legumes. We always love including roasted seasoned chickpeas or some shelled fava beans.

This is a vegan and vegetarian recipe, but you can very easily add in some leftover roasted chicken pieces or meat like crispy bacon, salami pieces, pancetta and fried spicy chorizo.

How to Make

This is an incredibly healthy, delicious, and easy salad that can be whipped up in less than 10 minutes. What makes this salad unique is that you can easily substitute any ingredient and even add in some others.

Cooked wheat berries, diced red onions and sweet red peppers, chopped herbs and walnuts arranged in a white bowl.

First, prepare the ingredients. Make sure to cook your wheat berries until they reach al dente, not mush. Just like when you do when cooking buckwheat. You can also chop all of your other ingredients. Combine all the salad ingredients together and set them aside.

Second, make the dressing. To make the delicious salad dressing, simply combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk until they are combined.

Pomegranate molasses dressing is being poured from a glass bowl over wheat berry salad.

Finally, pour the dressing over the salad and make sure to give it a good toss. Garnish your wheat berry salad with some pomegranate arils and serve while it’s fresh.

Serving Suggestions

This wheat berry salad makes the perfect light summer lunch as is, but it can also be served as an accompaniment.

Salad with wheat berry grain and herbs in a white serving bowl and served in two black bowls and a grey napkin on the side.

You can top this salad with some grilled halloumi cheese slices if you want to add some protein in it.

You can serve it alongside a delicious warm winter soup like our Red Lentil Spinach Soup or our famous Turkish Tomato Orzo Soup.

This wheat berry salad also makes fantastic flavorful accompaniment to chicken or meat dishes like rich Turkish Chicken Kabobs or lamb shish kebabs. It is great to serve with seafoods like baked tilapia too.

FAQs

What can I substitute for wheat berries?

We would highly recommend substituting wheat berries with extra coarse bulgur wheat. It has a very similar consistency and flavor so will blend in seamlessly.
For gluten-free substitutes, choose something like rice, quinoa, or buckwheat.

Can I make a warm salad with wheat berries and roasted vegetables?

You can definitely use these cooked wheat berries in warm salads as well.

Can I make the salad ahead of time?

Yes, you can. Keep it in the refrigerator for up to a day. It is better to store it without the dressing. Pour the salad dressing over the salad right before serving and give it a good toss.

More Grain Recipes

  • How To Cook Bulgur Wheat
  • Bulgur Pilaf
  • Bulgur Salad

More Salad Recipes

  • Healthy Tuna Salad Without Mayonnaise
  • Turkish Potato Salad
  • Bean Salad Piyaz
Wheat berries, herbs, onions and pomegranate arils combined in a white bowl and a spoon in it.

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📖 Recipe

Wheat Berry Salad (Mediterranean Style)

Salad with wheat berries, herbs, walnuts and pomegranate arils in a white bowl and a metal spoon in it.
Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

A healthy and filling salad with wheat berries and greens for summer days.

  • Author: Zerrin & Yusuf
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Lunch
  • Method: blending
  • Cuisine: Turkish
  • Diet: Vegan

Ingredients

Salad:

  • 1 cup cooked wheat berries

  • 4 green onions, chopped thinly

  • 1 small red onion, finely chopped

  • 1 small sweet red pepper, finely chopped

  • ½ cup  fresh mint, chopped

  • ½ cup parsley, chopped

  • 4-5 walnuts, chopped

  • 2 tablespoons pomegranate arils

Salad dressing:

  • 1 lemon, juice squeezed

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

  • 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses

  • 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  1. Put all the salad ingredients in a large bowl.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk all the dressing ingredients well. 

  3. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss. 

  4. Garnish with pomegranate arils and serve.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size:
  • Calories: 273
  • Sugar: 18.2 g
  • Sodium: 648 mg
  • Fat: 14.7 g
  • Carbohydrates: 34.3 g
  • Protein: 4.7 g
  • Cholesterol: 0 mg

Keywords: wheat berry salad

Did you make this recipe?

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  • Bulgur Pilavi (Turkish Bulgur Pilaf)
  • How To Cook Bulgar Wheat (Fine & Coarse Bulgur)
« How To Cook Wheat Berries
Imam Bayildi Recipe (Turkish Vegetarian Stuffed Eggplant) »

Reader Interactions

Comments

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    Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

  1. Nancy says

    August 08, 2021 at 6:11 am

    This is the first food I made with wheat berries. And LOVE it! I added some blanched broccoli too. Yummy!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  2. OysterCulture says

    March 06, 2011 at 12:47 am

    Beautiful and healthy, just about perfect!

    Reply
  3. Megan says

    February 28, 2011 at 2:15 am

    I've never had a salad like this but it sounds fresh and filling.

    Reply
  4. torviewtoronto says

    February 26, 2011 at 2:23 am

    delicious combination looks wonderful

    Reply
  5. Liz says

    February 25, 2011 at 2:32 pm

    What a gorgeous and refreshing salad...I would love this for lunch...again and again!!! Lovely~

    Reply
  6. dokuzuncubulut says

    February 25, 2011 at 12:18 pm

    Çok lezzetli ve besleyici bir salata olmuş. Sunumu ise çok iştah açıcı. Çok beğendim, ellerine sağlık Zerrin.

    Reply
  7. fladiop says

    February 25, 2011 at 10:08 am

    i think this is great salad i see and know,thank for u ,i hope u will show me more food u cook :),wish u alway smile and happy

    Reply
  8. Mandy - The Complete Cook Book says

    February 25, 2011 at 7:57 am

    What a fabulously healthy and tasty salad. It looks delicious.
    🙂 Mandy

    Reply
  9. irena says

    February 25, 2011 at 6:42 am

    Looks wonderful, love hint of mint and wheat:)

    Reply
    • Zerrin says

      February 26, 2011 at 10:49 pm

      Mint gives a great flavor to this salad. I love this herb so much that I can even eat it at breakfast.

      Reply
  10. A little bit of everything says

    February 25, 2011 at 6:08 am

    I love using wheat or bulgur in my salad. yours looks so delicious and refreshing. thanks for sharing Zerrin. hope you'll have a wonderful Friday

    Reply
    • Zerrin says

      February 26, 2011 at 10:50 pm

      Bulgur and wheat are obviously healthier and tastier!

      Reply
  11. Kim - Liv Life says

    February 25, 2011 at 4:34 am

    Zerrin, I could eat this nearly every day! Something about the wheat in it fills me up, I love a grain in my salad.

    Reply
    • Zerrin says

      February 26, 2011 at 11:02 pm

      I sometimes put it into my lunch box and take it to work. So filling too!

      Reply
  12. Nicole @ The Dirty Oven says

    February 25, 2011 at 3:13 am

    I so want to try this...alas, just found out I am intolerant to gluten...maybe I could change it up with another type (gluten-free) grain. Thanks for sharing. Love your blog.

    Reply
    • Zerrin says

      February 26, 2011 at 11:12 pm

      You can absolutely try this with rice too!

      Reply
  13. marla says

    February 25, 2011 at 2:23 am

    Love the mint in this salad!

    Reply
    • Zerrin says

      February 26, 2011 at 11:12 pm

      I'm a big fan of fresh mint and can use it with anything!

      Reply
  14. Cajun Chef Ryan says

    February 24, 2011 at 8:29 pm

    Beautiful salad Zerrin, I would like a plate of that now!

    Reply
    • Zerrin says

      February 26, 2011 at 11:13 pm

      Thanks Ryan! It's very easy too!

      Reply
  15. anncoo says

    February 24, 2011 at 5:15 pm

    Mmm... this wheat salad looks so beautiful and healthy. I really needs to eat this more often after the Chinese New Year. 🙂

    Reply
    • Zerrin says

      February 26, 2011 at 11:15 pm

      Wheat is definitely a healthy grain. As we almost never have rice because of blood sugar concern, I will be experimenting new dishes with wheat.

      Reply

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Meet Zerrin and Yusuf Gunaydin: The couple behind this blog. We bring Turkish food into your kitchen! From kebabs to desserts, everything you crave is here.

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