Bulgaria's national salad — diced tomatoes, cucumbers, roasted red peppers, raw onion, and parsley, drizzled with sunflower oil and red wine vinegar, generously topped with grated sirene (white brine cheese, similar to feta but creamier). Designed to match the Bulgarian flag colors — red tomato, white cheese, green parsley. The defining Bulgarian summer table opener.
Shopska Salad was created in 1955 by Balkanturist (the Bulgarian state tourism agency) as a national dish to promote Bulgaria's tourist appeal. The recipe is from the Shopi region around Sofia, which is the cuisine's namesake. The colors red-white-green deliberately echo the Bulgarian flag. Sirene cheese is the canonical ingredient — Bulgarian feta-like cheese made from sheep's, cow's, or goat's milk and brined in barrels. The dish epitomizes Bulgarian summer eating: simple ingredients, perfect ripeness, freshness above all. Every Bulgarian restaurant from village mehana to Sofia fine-dining serves it.
A Shopska Salad is the most-honest salad in Europe. The first forkful: ripe tomato juices, crunchy cucumber, the smoky-sweet roasted red pepper, the sharp raw onion bite, fresh parsley. The dressing is minimal — sunflower oil and red wine vinegar — letting the produce shine. Then the cheese: salty, slightly tangy, creamy, sheep-milk-deep. The visual mountain of grated white cheese on top is the canonical move — it's not mixed in, you take some cheese with each forkful intentionally. Eat with a piece of crusty Bulgarian bread + a small glass of rakia. The dish that defines Balkan summer.
Two technical principles: (1) The cheese is grated in a MOUND on top, not mixed in. This is intentional: Bulgarian table etiquette has the cheese as a 'visual centerpiece' that diners take from with each forkful. Mixing it in dulls the textural contrast. (2) The vegetables are diced uniformly (1.5cm cubes) so each forkful has a balanced ratio of tomato + cucumber + pepper + onion + cheese. Roasted (not raw) red peppers are critical — raw bell peppers would be too sweet-sharp; roasted ones add smoky depth. The dressing is sunflower oil (not olive) — sunflower oil is the canonical Bulgarian-Balkan oil.
Variations
Sofia-Western canonical (red-white-green color match, with sirene); Plovdiv version adds chopped raw garlic; Black Sea coast version may add olives or capers; Greek choriatiki is similar but uses cubed feta (not grated) and olives are essential; modern restaurant versions add fresh basil; vegetarian-friendly throughout; the dish can be made with feta if sirene unavailable, but the texture differs.
On the Palate
Where Shopska Salad sits in the Bulgarian flavor cloud
Roast and peel the red peppers rather than using them raw, and pile the grated sirene in a mound on top instead of tossing it in — both are what make it a Shopska rather than a generic chopped salad.
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
7 steps · 10 min active + 5 min waiting
- 118 min
Roast peppers: char 2 large red bell peppers over an open flame (or under broiler) until skin is blackened all over, 8 min. Place in a bowl; cover with plastic; let steam 10 min. Peel skin; remove seeds; cut into 1cm dice.
Watch outChar the peppers until the skin is blistered black all over, then steam covered so the skin slips off easily.
- 26 min
Dice the vegetables: 4 ripe medium tomatoes (deseeded if very juicy) into 1.5cm cubes; 2 small cucumbers (English or Persian, unpeeled) into 1.5cm cubes; 1 small red onion into very thin dice.
- 32 min
In a wide serving bowl combine the tomatoes + cucumber + roasted pepper + onion + 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley.
- 46 min
Dress: drizzle 4 tbsp sunflower oil + 2 tbsp red wine vinegar + 1 tsp salt + 1/2 tsp black pepper. Toss gently to combine. Let stand 5 min for flavors to mingle.
Watch outToss gently and let it stand a few minutes so the oil, vinegar, and salt draw the juices together.
- 53 min
Grate 200g sirene cheese (or feta) coarsely. SHOWERING the cheese over the entire salad in a generous mound on top — DO NOT mix the cheese into the salad (the Bulgarian way is the cheese is always on top, a visual + textural separate layer).
Watch outHeap the grated cheese on top as a separate crown — resist stirring it under.
- 61 min
Garnish with a few black olives + extra parsley sprigs.
- 71 min
Serve immediately — slightly chilled is fine but never cold. Accompany with raw onion + fresh bread. Pair with Bulgarian rakia (fruit brandy) before the meal.
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