Marinated Vegetable Salad

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Summer veggies are at their finest right now, so this marinated vegetable salad with tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, and avocado is perfect for dinner! This veggie salad is easy to make and full of healthy, fresh produce.

Bowl of marinated vegetable salad with heirloom cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, and avocado.

2025 Update: This recipe is still a family favorite! It has been updated to simplify the recipe instructions and to include helpful tips for our readers. We hope you love it as much as we do!

Marinated Vegetable Salad Recipe

Are you ready for the best foods of summer? Nothing tastes quite as good on a hot day as a crisp veggie salad with tons of fresh garden produce and herbs!

Not only is this marinated salad super easy to make, it tastes great with everything from grilled chicken drumsticks and turkey burgers to spare ribs and garlic steak bites.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

  1. Easy to customize. If your kids are picky eaters, let them help choose which veggies to include.
  2. Perfect no-cook dinner. The last thing you want on a hot summer day is to heat up the kitchen.
  3. Make-ahead meal. The longer you let the veggies marinate, the better the flavor will be.
  4. Fabulous side or main dish. It can be served as a side dish or a complete vegetarian meal.
A variety of different sizes, shapes and colors of summer tomatoes in a stainless steel colander with fresh basil leaves.

Ingredients

Feel free to customize these ingredients to fit whatever you have on hand. There are plenty of options for delicious marinated vegetables.

  • Tomatoes: You can use any variety and/or size that you like. Heirloom tomatoes add a lot of color to the salad.
  • Cucumber: If you want to keep things super simple, use slicing cucumbers. My kids love seedless mini cucumbers.
  • Avocado: A ripe avocado is firm, but gives a little when squeezed.
  • Shallots: If you have picky eaters, shallots are a great choice. They are in the same family as onions, but they are much smaller (easier to hide!) and the flavor is milder.
  • Fresh herbs: Basil and thyme leaves add bright flavor to the marinated vegetable salad!
  • Marinade for the vegetables: I make a simple balsamic vinaigrette with olive oil, vinegar, garlic, and mustard. If you don’t want to make it yourself, you can use any store-bought vinaigrette dressing.
A hand pouring a small pitcher of marinade over a garden veggie salad.

Salad Recipe Variations

Here are a few ideas to bulk up the meal:

  • Include other vegetables, like shredded carrot, celery, thinly sliced zucchini or summer squash.
  • Add some fruit. Maybe fresh sliced peaches, plums, or apricots.
  • Cheese: mozzarella pearls, goat cheese, or crumbled feta
  • Add a protein like grilled salmon or chicken for a complete meal. If you want to keep the meal meatless, include some protein-packed seeds or nuts.
Marinated vegetable salad shown close up in a white bowl.

Tips for Success

This veggie salad recipe is simple to make, but these tips will ensure that it’s super tasty, too!

  • Use fresh herbs. Fresh herbs add a bright and fresh flavor that you can’t get from dried herbs.
  • For extra flavor: Just before serving, sprinkle the entire salad with flaky sea salt. The tiny bit of salty crunch is an amazing surprise!
  • To prepare in advance: You can prepare the marinated vegetable salad up to two days in advance. However, wait until just before you serve it to slice and add the avocado. Otherwise, it will turn brown and mushy!

Marinated Vegetable Salad Recipe FAQ

How long should I marinate the vegetables?

It’s perfectly fine to let the veggies marinate for up to two days, but even 15-20 minutes will allow some of the flavors to meld together.

Other Healthy Salad Recipes

Did you make this recipe?

5 stars
I’d love to hear about your experience making this recipe! Please leave a comment and rating below!

Completed Dish served in a gray bowl with a silver spoon - sliced tomatoes, shallots and avocado all mixed together and drizzled in salad dressing.

Marinated Vegetable Salad

Use fresh summer produce to make this marinated vegetable salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, and avocado. It's light and refreshing!
5 from 8 votes
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Author: Laura Miner

Ingredients

  • 2 cups mixed heirloom tomatoes
  • 2 small cucumbers
  • 1 shallot or red onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 avocados
  • 8-10 basil leaves
  • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Vinaigrette

  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 1-2 cloves garlic finely minced
  • 1 teaspoons mustard
  • ½ cup olive oil

Instructions

  • Wash, peel and thinly slice all the vegetables, except for the avocados. Add vegetables and fresh herbs to a bowl and toss to combine. *Wait until just before serving to slice and add the avocado to the salad.
  • In a small bowl, whisk to combine the balsamic vinegar, garlic, and mustard together. Slowly drizzle the oil in, a few tablespoons at a time, continuing to whisk, until combined.
  • Drizzle as much of the vinaigrette as you'd like over the veggies. (I use about half of what this recipe makes). Toss well to combine.
    Cover the veggie salad with a lid or plastic wrap and transfer it to the fridge. Allow the vegetables to marinate and chill for up to 2 days, until you are ready to serve.

Notes

  • Just before serving, sprinkle the entire salad with flaky sea salt. The tiny bit of salty crunch is an amazing surprise!
  • You can prepare this salad up to two days in advance, letting the vegetables marinate in the vinaigrette. However, wait until just before you serve it to slice and add the avocado. You don’t want it to get brown and mushy!

Nutrition

Calories: 317kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Sodium: 30mg | Potassium: 801mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 866IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 1mg
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5 from 8 votes (5 ratings without comment)

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4 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Great recipe. This is a perfect summer side dish to accompany anything grilled…and it looks so pretty too!

    1. Hi Maria, I totally agree! We serve it with fish, chicken, anything! Have a great day! -Laura

  2. 5 stars
    After seeing this I went straight to the grocery store to buy all the ingredients and now I’m indulging in this deliciousness!!! So good!!!