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Italian Chopped Salad recipe (also called Italian chop salad) rivals any restaurant salad out there. This Italian salad has an incredible combination of ingredients and flavors all tossed in a delicious homemade Italian vinaigrette.  Enjoy it on its own with warm crusty bread or serve it as a side salad with a meal.

bowl of chopped Italian salad

You’ll love everything about this Italian salad.  It’s a quintessential Italian chopped salad that’s loaded with flavor and a delicious combo of ingredients.  This is the best chopped salad to serve with any Italian dish, grilled chicken or salmon, yet its filling enough to serve as a meal with warm crusty bread. 

bowl of salad ingredients

This Italian Salad is one of my favorite chopped salad recipes. This Italian salad is crowded with a delicious ingredients all tossed with a homemade Italian vinaigrette.  You can serve it as a light meal or serve it as a side salad with grilled chicken, fish or your favorite Italian dish.

Italian Salad Recipe

This Italian chop salad comes together in a pinch and it is completely addictive!

  • Romaine lettuce – We use Romaine for this salad, because it’s a hearty and nutritious leaf and has more flavor than iceberg. 
  • Radicchio – Radicchio is a common lettuce to toss in Italian salads. It has a nice flavor that goes well with Romaine.
  • Red onion – Soak red onion slices is a cup of water while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Soaking onions in water mellows the flavor so it doesn’t have such a bite. This allows the flavor of onion to compliment the other ingredients instead of overpowering them.
  • Sweet cherry tomatoes – I like to toss in cherry tomatoes or Roma tomatoes for this salad (did you know they’re super rich with antioxidants) rather than garden vine tomatoes. But garden vine tomatoes will work just fine too.
  • Cucumber – Crispy cucumber adds a nice crunch to this salad.
  • Garbanzo beans –  Canned or cooked Chickpeas (also called garbanzo beans) add plant protein to the mix (you’ll notice we don’t add any Italian meat to this salad).
  • Parmesan cheese – I like to add Parmesan cheese, but you could also use provolone, mozzarella or even havarti cheese if you like.
  • Pepperoncini – What would an Italian salad be without pepperoncini?
  • Kalamata olives  – I love kalamata olives, so these are a must in this Italian chop salad. They add so much flavor!
  • Italian vinaigrette – This is a simple recipe to pull together.
  • Lemon juice – Adding a squeeze of lemon juice makes this salad extra delicious and nutritious.
  • Dried oregano – Sprinkled over the salad adds a lot of flavor to the mix.

Variations

How to Make Italian Salad

This chopped Italian salad recipe comes together in about 15-20 minutes start-to-finish.

  1. Make Italian dressing. Whisk together the Italian dressing ingredients.
  2. Prep Ingredients. Wash and chop the ingredients, and soak your onion slices.
  3. Toss ingredients. Combine the lettuce, radicchio, tomatoes, cucumber,  garbanzo beans, cheese, peperoncini, and onion slices, and toss.
  4. Dress salad. Dress salad with vinaigrette and lemon juice and toss.
  5. Seasoning. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and sprinkle with extra oregano and serve.

bowl of chopped Italian salad

Homemade Italian Vinaigrette

  • Red wine vinegar
  • Dried oregano
  • Dried basil
  • Fresh lemon juice
  • Garlic cloves
  • Kalamata olives
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Extra-virgin olive oil

How to Make Homemade Italian Dressing

It’s super easy to make this Italian vinaigrette recipe! It comes together in about 5 minutes, but it’s best if chilled in the refrigerator for an hour  before serving. And it’s even better the next day.

  1. Blend. Combine the vinegar, oregano, lemon juice, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and pepper in a medium bowl and whisk to combine the ingredients. 
  2. Set aside. For a more flavorful dressing, set aside for 5 minutes to marinate the oregano and basil.
  3. Add olive oil. Add the olive oil in a slow thin stream, whisking constantly to combine.
  4. Mason jar method. Add all of the ingredients to a glass jar , seal the lid, and shake to combine.

bowl of tossed chopped Italian salad

Italian Chop Salad Serving Suggestions

This is a great salad to serve with chicken, fish, pizza, pasta or a big pot of soup.

Looking for More Chopped Salad Recipes to Make?

If you like this recipe, be sure to check out these other chopped salad recipes to make next:

Still want more ideas? Check out all my healthy salad recipes.

bowl of vegetables
Yield: 6- 8 servings

Italian Chopped Salad

Prep Time 20 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

This Italian Chopped Salad rivals any restaurant Italian salad there is.  It's one of my favorite chopped salad recipes because it's loaded with a variety of healthy ingredients tossed in a delicious homemade Italian dressing that will have you coming back for seconds! 

Ingredients

  • Half of a small red onion, halved through the core
  • 1-1/2 cups canned garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
  • 4 cups romaine lettuce (about 1 large or two small heads), rinsed, dried and chopped
  • 2 cups radicchio (about 1 medium head)
  • 1 pint small sweet cherry tomatoes, halved through the stem ends
  • 1 large cucumber, peeled and seeded then cut in half and sliced
  • 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese (or 4 ounces aged provolone, sliced into strips)
  • 5 peperoncini, stems cut off and discarded, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup kalamata olives
  • 1/2 cup Italian Vinaigrette
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
  • Dired oregano, for sprinkling

Italian Vinaigrette

  • 2-1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1-1/2 tablespoons dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, plus more to taste
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1-1/2 tablespoons minced kalamata olives
  • 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
  • 1-1/2 cups good extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions

  1. Slice the layers of onions lengthwise 1/16 inch thick. Place the onion slices in a small bowl of ice water and set aside.
  2. Drain the onion and pat dry with paper towels before adding them to the salad.
  3. Thinly slice the lettuce and radicchio.
  4. In a large bowl, combine the lettuce, radicchio, tomatoes,cucumber, garbanzo beans, cheese, ,peperoncini, and onion slices.
  5. Toss to thoroughly combine the ingredients.
  6. Drizzle 1/2 cup of the vinaigrette and the juice of the lemon over the salad, then toss gently to coat the salad with the dressing.
  7. Taste for seasoning and add more lemon juice, or vinaigrette if desired.
  8. Sprinkle with extra oregano and serve.

For the Italian Vinaigrette

  1. Combine the vinegar, oregano, lemon juice, garlic, kalamata olives, Parmesan cheese, and pepper in a medium bowl and whisk to combine the ingredients.
  2. Set aside for 5 minutes to marinate the oregano and basil.
  3. Add the olive oil in a slow thin stream, whisking constantly to combine. You can also add all the ingredients to a glass jar with a lid and shake to combine.

Notes

Variations

  • Swap out the Parmesan cheese and use mozzarella or provolone instead
  • Toss in some roasted red peppers or sun-dried tomatoes
  • Add artichoke hearts

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 673Total Fat: 62gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 51gCholesterol: 5mgSodium: 1043mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 6gSugar: 11gProtein: 7g

theharvestkitchen.com attempts to provide accurate information, however, this nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. The nutritional information provided comes from online sources and calculations.

© Deborah
Cuisine: Italian / Category: Salads