Italian Chopped Salad is packed with bold flavors. The crisp lettuce, Italian meats and cheeses, olives and other veggies are topped with a zesty, homemade dressing that is very delicious. This light and healthy salad makes a lovely lunch or can be served as an appetizer before pizza. It’s amazing!
Ingredients
For the Lemon Vinaigrette:
1-1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 small shallot, chopped fine
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. salt
Pepper to taste
1/4 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
For the Salad:
1 head romaine lettuce, shredded
1 head radicchio, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half
4 oz. pearl mozzarella balls
4 oz. provolone slices, cut in strips
Pepperoncini, stemmed and chopped
1 tsp. fresh basil, chopped
1/2 cup kalamata olives, chopped
1 cucumber, chopped
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Pepperoni slices, chopped or cut in strips
Instructions
In a medium bowl, combine the ingredients for the vinaigrette. Mix well and set aside.
For the salad, layer the ingredients in bowls.
At this point, you can toss it all together. I do that when we are at home with only my family. If you serve this for a party, you can set out all the ingredients in individual bowls and allow your guests to choose what they want on their salad. Even more fun is leaving the items that are supposed to be chopped whole. Set out a chopping board and two sharp knives for your guests to chop what they want. Whenever I do this, we have a lot of laughs. It’s fun to let those knives chop, chop, chop.
If you like this recipe, you may also like the following recipes:
Italian Chopped Salad
Equipment
- Measuring spoons
- 1 measuring cup
- 1 medium bowl
- 1 whisk
- 2 sharp knices
Ingredients
- For the Lemon Vinaigrette:
- 1-1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
- 1 small shallot chopped fine
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- Pepper to taste
- 1/4 tsp. Dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- For the Salad:
- 1 head romaine lettuce shredded
- 1 head radicchio chopped
- 1/2 red onion chopped
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes cut in half
- 4 oz. pearl mozzarella balls
- 4 oz. provolone slices cut in strips
- Pepperoncini stemmed and chopped
- 1 tsp. fresh basil chopped
- 1/2 cup kalamata olives chopped
- 1 cucumber chopped
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
- Pepperoni slices chopped or cut in strips
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the ingredients for the vinaigrette. Mix well and set aside.
- For the salad, layer the ingredients in bowls.
- At this point, you can toss it all together or set out all the ingredients in individual bowls and allow your guests to choose what they want on their salad. Even more fun is leaving the items that are supposed to be chopped whole. Set out a chopping board and two sharp knives for your guests to chop what they want. Whenever I do this, we have a lot of laughs. It’s fun to let those knives chop, chop, chop.
2 thoughts to “Fresh, Flavorful and Fun: The Ultimate Italian Chopped Salad”