Say goodbye to boring salads and hiya to my well-known Italian chopped salad recipe! Merely add the chopped salad components into a big bowl, drizzle with selfmade Italian French dressing, toss and serve. Straightforward and ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS, this makes an excellent important course or facet salad!
An Completely Scrumptious Chopped Salad Recipe
Everybody wants a go-to salad recipe, and this straightforward Italian chopped salad recipe is mine! Crunchy, contemporary, and completely scrumptious, we make this for dinner at the very least as soon as per week. The salad components are adaptable, so you can also make swaps based mostly on what you will have available – or what’s in season.
However the most effective half? This salad is really easy: chop up the salad components, toss them in a big bowl, add dressing, then toss and serve!
Critically… this chopped salad recipe is so flavorful and satisfying you neglect you’re even consuming a salad. As a result of it’s a complete taste explosion that’ll have you ever reaching for seconds and thirds.
Straightforward to Adapt
Not like 99.9% of the recipes I share, this chopped salad recipe is sort of adaptable! So whereas I firmly consider this salad tastes finest made with all of the beneficial components, be at liberty to adapt to fit your tastes. You may even make some additions.
- For a Greek salad twist, attempt including feta cheese, roasted crimson peppers, and kalamata olives.
- Craving extra crunch? Attempt including diced bell peppers or a handful of selfmade croutons.
- Need extra cheese? Add grated Parmesan cheese or swap the sharp cheese for contemporary mozzarella! No pepperoni? Swap it for salami or any cured meat you get pleasure from.
Components for Italian Salad
- Lettuce: Romaine lettuce hearts and radicchio make up our crunchy, contemporary, scrumptious salad base. Not a fan of radicchio? Go away it out and add an additional romaine coronary heart! You could possibly additionally swap the romaine for iceberg lettuce if wanted.
- Pasta: That is NOT a pasta salad. However a small quantity of pasta provides an surprising texture! And makes this salad hearty sufficient to be a meal by itself. We love ditalini, however orzo can even work nice.
- Celery: Thinly sliced, this provides crunch and a refined candy freshness you’ll completely love. You may completely skip this ingredient when you don’t have it simply out there.
- Cherry Tomatoes: Search for juicy ones, as a result of dry tomatoes are the bane of my existence and will by no means be utilized in a salad. Grape tomatoes or sun-dried tomatoes can even work.
- Crimson Onion: However when you choose one other number of onion and even scallions, go for it!
- Cannellini Beans: Be certain you drain these effectively, give them a great rinse, after which pat them dry earlier than including them into the salad. If you happen to can’t discover this number of bean, attempt one other number of white beans or use chickpeas.
- Solar-Dried Tomatoes: These add a lot scrumptious taste and texture! Simply make sure to use the oil marinated selection, which work finest right here.
- Marinated Artichoke Hearts: You don’t have to pat the oil off of those, simply chop and toss them proper in! Not a fan? Be at liberty to go away them out.
- Black Olives: One other nice choices is castelvetrano olives, that are extra gentle and buttery than black olives!
- Pepperoncini Peppers: Salty, pickled, and crunchy… these add a lot to this salad. Banana peppers would make a nice alternative if want be.
- Pepperoni: I like to make use of a stick of pepperoni and reduce it into chunks, however be at liberty to chop ribbons with deli pepperoni or use salami as an alternative. If you happen to don’t eat cured meat, go away this out. You may sub grilled rooster or shrimp for added protein.
- Sharp Provolone Cheese: If you happen to can’t discover this, be at liberty to make use of chunks of fontina, crumbled gorgonzola, or these yummy marinated mini contemporary mozzarella balls.
- Cucumber: I like to make use of English or Persian cucumbers right here for further crunch and freshness, however an everyday cucumber (peeled) will work.
Toss and Serve
Making this recipe is extraordinarily straightforward, with essentially the most time consuming half being chopping the salad components. After that, you merely toss the whole lot in a big bowl, toss, and serve.
To avoid wasting time making this recipe, you possibly can completely pre-chop the salad components. You may even place them in your massive bowl and toss them collectively. However don’t add the dressing till proper earlier than you propose on serving.
You’ll wish to wait so as to add the dressing till proper earlier than you propose on serving. And even then I counsel including a part of the dressing, then drizzling on extra if desired. As a result of whereas everybody loves a effectively dressed salad… nearly nobody loves a soggy one.
Make the Dressing!
That is actually our “home salad dressing” as a result of it’s really easy, scrumptious, and adaptable. Merely mix olive oil, crimson wine vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, and pepper flakes and blend till effectively mixed.
I actually don’t counsel utilizing dried oregano instead of contemporary, however when you should, scale back the quantity to 1/4 teaspoon! Don’t sub garlic powder for contemporary garlic.
Bounce to the recipe under for the complete ingredient listing and recipe!
Traditional Italian Recipes to Serve it With:
Extra Italian Salad Recipes:
