Italian Chopped Salad is a delicious and hearty salad made with Italian meats, cheeses, veggies, and topped with a tangy Italian vinaigrette dressing. One bite and you’ll be hooked on this simple to make and flavorful Italian salad!
If you love the flavors of an Italian antipasto platter, then you need to give this Italian Chopped Salad recipe a try. Made with homemade Italian dressing, this is one recipe you don’t want to miss!
If you love Italian starters, don’t miss this Italian Arugula Salad or this easy White Bean Bruschetta. Salami lovers be sure to try my Muffuletta Sandwich, Italian Antipasto Sliders, or the fan favorite Antipasto Pasta Salad!
What is Italian Chopped Salad
An Italian chopped salad is one of those salads that’s packed with flavor and texture in every bite. It’s the kind of salad that feels more like a full meal than a side—fresh, filling, and totally satisfying!
This recipe starts with crisp greens like romaine or radicchio, then gets loaded up with goodies like salami, cubes of mozzarella, juicy tomatoes, red onion, and some tangy pepperoncini.
In this salad, everything’s chopped nice and small so you get a little bit of everything in each forkful. It’s perfect for lunch or a side salad served with a loaf of garlic bread!
This salad gets tossed in a zesty homemade Italian vinaigrette dressing that brings out all of the flavors. It’s one of those recipes you’ll make again and again!
Salad Ingredients
- Lettuce: romaine lettuce works great. You can substitute iceberg lettuce.
- Radicchio: radicchio adds great bite and color, but you can use all romaine lettuce if you’d like.
- Cherry Tomatoes: slice the tomatoes in half or chop whole tomatoes. You can also use grape tomatoes.
- Chickpeas: used a drained can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans) that have been rinsed.
- Mozzarella: I like to use the mini mozzarella balls. You can also use fresh mozzarella that’s been cut into cubes.
- Salami: use salami that has been thinly sliced into strips.
- Parmesan: grated parmesan cheese adds a salty bite.
- Red Onion: thinly sliced red onion adds great crunch to this Italian chopped salad.
- Pepperoncini: drained sliced pepperoncini peppers.
Italian Vinaigrette Ingredients
- Olive Oil: use extra-virgin olive oil for best flavor.
- Vinegar: red wine vinegar is the classic ingredient for Italian vinaigrette.
- Lemon Juice: fresh lemon juice adds great tang to the dressing.
- Garlic: you’ll need one clove finely minced garlic.
- Dijon: dijon mustard helps to flavor and thicken the dressing.
- Oregano: dried oregano is the classic flavor to include in Italian chopped salad.
- Salt and Pepper: use kosher salt and ground black pepper.
How to Make Italian Chopped Salad
This is a super easy and delicious recipe for Italian Chopped Salad. The only time consuming part is preparing the veggies! I recommend having everything chopped and washed ahead of time.
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Step 1: make the dressing
In a small bowl or glass jar fitted with a lid, combine the dressing ingredients. Whisk to combine, or, if using a mason jar, place on the lid and shake to combine.
You can make the Italian vinaigrette up to three days in advance and refrigerate until ready to use. Bring to room temperature before drizzling on this hearty Italian chopped salad.
Step 2: prepare the salad
In a large bowl, combine the salad ingredients in the order listed. You want to make sure you are using a very large mixing bowl so you have room to toss together all of the ingredients.
Drizzle on half of the dressing and toss gently to combine. Taste for seasonings and add more dressing or serve with the dressing on the side.
Serve immediately. If planning to serve later, refrigerate in an airtight container and then toss with dressing right before serving.
Italian Chopped Salad Recipe Variations
This is the classic recipe for Italian Chopped Salad but you can add in more or less of whatever ingredients you like. Ingredients you can include are:
- Provolone Cheese: add cubes of provolone for a salty bite of cheese.
- Artichoke Hearts: marinated or plain diced artichoke hearts would be delicious.
- Banana Peppers: add chopped banana peppers or use as a substitute for the pepperoncini.
- Black Olives: sliced black olives or Kalmata olives would be delicious.
- Red Peppers: add diced red peppers for extra crunch.
- Cucumbers: diced fresh cucumbers or mini Persian cucumbers.
- Sun-Dried Tomatoes: be sure to drain and dice the sun dried tomatoes before adding to the salad.
- Chicken Breast: add cooked chicken breast for extra protein.
More Salad Recipes…
Italian Chopped Salad
Equipment
- large salad bowl
Ingredients
Italian Vinaigrette
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- ½ teaspon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
For the Salad
- 1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
- 1 small head radicchio, chopped
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- 15 ounces canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 8 ounces salami, thinly sliced
- 8 ounces mini mozzarella balls
- ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- ½ small red onion, thinly sliced
- ½ cup pepperoncini, drained and sliced
Instructions
- Make the dressing. In a small bowl or glass jar with tight fitting lid, combine the olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, minced garlic, dijon mustard, oregano, salt and pepper. Use a whisk to combine, or if you using a jar, place on the lid and shake until well combined; set aside.
- Make the salad. In a large bowl, combine the romaine, radicchio, cherry tomatoes, chickpeas, salami, mozzarella, parmesan, red onion, and pepperoncini. Drizzle on half of the dressing and toss gently to combine. Taste for seasonings. Add on more dressing or serve on the side.
