Easy Italian Chopped Salad Recipe

 This Italian chopped salad recipe is a complete meal full of fresh vegetables, crunchy lettuce, dry Italian salami and flavorful provolone cheese. It is a recreation from one of my favorite local Italian restaurants. Stick with me while we will make a bright homemade Italian dressing to bring this wonderful salad together.

I love to serve it with buttery-crusty garlic bread which makes it the perfect lunch. You can also serve this as a side dish to go alongside your favorite Italian pasta or with a bowl of soup and breadsticks for a fun weeknight dinner.  

This blog post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I may earn income from qualifying purchases. We also partner with Impact.com to offer affiliate links. Thanks for the support.

Basic Chopped Salad Ingredients

The ingredients for this salad are simple, but packed with flavor. My must have ingredients are listed first with additional recommendations below. You can make a fantastic side salad or main dish over and it will never be the same.

• Romaine Lettuce - this makes up the base of this salad. It has a little more flavor and nutritional value than iceberg lettuce.
• Radicchio - this is a bitter purple colored lettuce with a solid crunch for texture
• Red Onion - thin slices and the thinner the better
• Dry Italian Salami - thinly sliced
• Provolone Cheese - thinly sliced
• Green Olives - sliced
• Roasted Red Bell Pepper - optional but recommended
• Tomatoes - cherry tomatoes cut in half are ideal, but any bite sized tomato will work
• Parmesan Cheese - fresh is best and don't hold back
• Pepperoncini peppers - this is my favorite subtle ingredient that really brightens up the salad and makes it something special
• Croutons or garlic bread - something bread based with buttery salty flavor that makes the salad totally satisfying 

More Delicious Salad Veggies You Could Add

You can make this salad over and over again, and it will never be the same. Some advice though, don't add too many ingredients because the flavors will start competing with each other instead of working together. I would sub out one or two veggies listed above, and add two others from below. 

• Artichoke Hearts
• Garbanzo Beans
• Kalamata Olives
• Sun-Dried Tomatoes
• Black Olives
• English Cucumber - cut into quarters
• Iceberg lettuce or other greens
• Fresh Herbs such as green onion, fresh basil or chopped parsley
• fresh diced red peppers versus the roasted peppers listed up top
• other cold cuts and Italian meats such as prosciutto, capicola, or sopressata.
• other cheeses like white cheddar, havarti, blue cheese, or gouda. yum. 

How to Make a Homemade Italian Vinaigrette

Dressing Ingredients:

• ½ cup Extra-Virgin Olive oil
• ¼ cup Red Wine Vinegar OR lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning 
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• Pinch of Salt
• Fresh cracked black pepper

Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl or mason jar and mix vigorously until it is well combined.

Also, I've said it before and I'll say it again... I like making dressing from scratch. That's why I also make my own blue cheese dressing for my wedge salad and an herby vinaigrette to keep things light.

Favorite Salad Supplies

Honestly, you can make this as simple or complicated as you like. It's a salad.

You mostly need a cutting board and knife to make the salad. A small bowl and fork to make the dressing. However, there are a couple tools you can use if you want:

• Large Cutting Board
• Chefs Knife
• Salad Spinner
• Mason Jar
• Salad Platter
• Serving Tongs

One of my favorite things to see is this salad displayed on a large platter because it has so many colors and textures going on. Sometimes, we just need to make the simple things special.

How To Assemble The Salad

1. Start by washing all of the fresh produce and allow it to dry so you can chop, chop, chop.
2. In a large bowl, combine the lettuce and red onion. 
3. Slice the pepperoncini, tomato, cucumber, salami, and provolone cheese into to similar sized pieces. 
4. Dress the salad greens and red onion with your homemade Italian salad dressing.
5. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss the salad well.
6. Devour, enjoy, come back to rate this recipe and give me 5 STARS. I really appreciate it!

Recipe Modifications and Options

Make this hearty salad more of a main dish by adding extra protein like grilled chicken or salmon. 

Serve it with a piece of golden brown garlic bread and you have yourself a truly special meal.

The salad dressing has to have acid, but you can use fresh lemon juice or dijon mustard to change up the flavors. Both are delicious ingredients.

Can I Make This Salad In Advance?

Yes, you can make this salad in advance. When I am trying to help myself out with a little meal prep, I will wash and chop the veggies first. Then I save the ingredients in a few different airtight containers. The crisp lettuce gets chopped and saved in a zip top bag. The tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, and pepperocini can be in one big airtight container together. The sliced salami and cheese in their own container as well. 

Then when I am ready to make the salad, I dress the greens and toss all of the ingredients together. It's my go-to salad recipe for a weekday lunch. It's loaded with lots of healthy vegetables that is so much more excited than the average green salad. 

This is such a great salad because of the wide variety of ingredients you can put in it, you will never be bored.

Italian Chopped Salad Recipe Card

Did you make this recipe? Tag me on Instagram @fancy_apron 🙂 or leave a comment below.