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Italian Chopped Salad
This Italian Chopped Salad is one of my weekly go-to’s right here. It’s paired with the most dreamy, easy, no blend dijon oregano dressing that is just beautiful and gorgeous. The salad tastes like an Italian sub sandwich but in a salad form. Basically, I suggest you try this!
Reason why I love this salad:
Another reason why I absolutely LOVE this salad, is because a lot of these ingredients are mostly pantry/fridge staples, so I can always whip it up. OH and it’s NO COOK. Perfect for these upcoming summer months.
Ingredients like lettuce, chickpeas, cucumber, cheese, tomato and more make this salad so good and filled with flavor. See below for the rundown, details and more. Truly the perfect bite!
This is also a great prep-ahead salad for either meal prep or entertaining. Just toss in the dressing when it’s time to serve!
What ingredients do you need for this Italian chopped salad recipe?
Lettuce: The base of the salad starts with lettuce. You can use any you have on hand! Some thought starters are thinly sliced green cabbage, little gem lettuce, iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce and radicchio. In a traditional chopped salad, you would chop all your ingredients really small, into bite-size pieces.
Cheese: For this recipe, we are using buffalo mozzarella, and some parmesan cheese as well. You can use anything you have on hand, like provolone, or omit all together as well!
Pepperoncini: These hot chili peppers add the perfect tang to the salad, and the juice of the jar are also repurposed for the dressing!
Chickpeas: Love the flavor and texture these chickpeas add.
Salami: We are using cut up salami, but you can also use any cured meat you have available, or even omit all together.
Tomatoes: For this recipe, we’re using cherry tomatoes, but you can opt to use any tomatoes on hand. If there are not small cherrie’s, just section them off into quarters and add them in.
Persian cucumbers: These add the most wonderful crunch to the salad, and are a staple for me! You can alternatively use any other cucumber as well.
Alliums: shallots or red onions! When I’m making this salad, I will most likely switch off between thinly sliced red onion of thinly sliced shallots. To make it less pungent raw, you can soak your slices in water to get rid of some of that strong onion flavor.
Some other optional ingredients you can add could be: fresh basil, olives or even sliced garlic cloves.
Just a DREAM when all of this is combined together.
For the homemade inspired Italian vinaigrette/Dijon oregano dressing: You’ll need extra-virgin olive oil, sherry vinegar (or any vinegar of your choosing like red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar, even subbing with lemon juice here will work), dijon mustard, dried oregano, juice, chili flakes, kosher salt and black pepper.
Dressing tip:
You can definitely place this dressing in a blender to emulsify, but to save a dish in the sink, I like to just mix really well with my hand frother/mixer that I use for dressings, or you can use a whisk. You can also place it all on a closed mason jar and shake it! Whisk really well so it mixes all together!
Instructions to make this recipe
There’s not much to it, really. Prep your veggies, cut them nicely, toss in a big bowl, and serve over your with your dressing. No fuss, no cook. It’s perfect!
Prep all your ingredients
To begin, chop your pepperoncini, romaine, salami, tomatoes, cucumber and shallot. Place in a large bowl and toss your chickpeas and mozzarella in as well. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Make your dressing
In a small bowl or blender, mix and whisk your olive oil, vinegar, dijon mustard, oregano, juice, chili flakes, salt and pepper. Mix in a blender or with a whisk in a bowl to make sure it gets emulsified.
Assemble!
Dress your salad with your vinaigrette, toss and serve!
Looking for more salad recipes? Start below:
Spring Panzanella with Za’atar Croutons
Sweet Potato and Kale Couscous with Spicy Basil Tahini
Crispy Buffalo Chicken Salad with Yogurt Ranch
If you do make this Italian Chopped Salad (first of all, thank you!!), be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram so I can be sure to see what you’re making! If you’d like to stay in touch and get the latest to your inbox, sign up for our Newsletter here as well!
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Watch How To Make This Recipe
Italian Chopped Salad
Ingredients
For The Salad
- 3 heads of little gems/1 large romaine/cabbage/radicchio washed and sliced thin
- 1/3rd cup chopped pepperoncini
- 4 oz buffalo mozzarella
- ½ cup chickpeas drained and rinsed, adjust with more if you prefer
- 2 oz salami sliced in half or thinly sliced
- 1 cup baby tomatoes halved
- 1 Persian cucumber thinly sliced
- 1 shallot or 1/2 red onion thinly sliced
Dijon Oregano Dressing
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon pepperoncini juice
- 1/4th teaspoon chili flakes
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- To begin, chop your peppers, romaine, salami, tomatoes, cucumber and shallot. Place in a bowl and toss your chickpeas and mozzarella in as well. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- In a bowl, mix all your dressing ingredients. Mix in a blender or with a whisk in a bowl to make sure it gets emulsified.
- Dress your salad with your dressing, toss and serve!
