This Italian Chopped Salad is full of pasta, salami, grilled chicken, pepperoni, tomatoes and the most delicious homemade dressing.
ITALIAN CHOPPED SALAD WITH HOMEMADE CREAMY ITALIAN DRESSING
I love salads. I could eat them every single day. I especially love salads that aren't just as a side, they are the actual meal! The best way to make a salad more filling is to add some sort of protein to it. I knew right away that I had to throw some chicken into my favorite chopped salad!
TIPS FOR MAKING THIS CHOPPED SALAD RECIPE:
- What I love about salads the most is they can be a good time to use up some stuff in your pantry. Got a can of olives you haven't used? Throw those in there. Maybe a can of chickpeas? Why not? That can go in too. And you can tailor this to your family's preferences.
- I used the the Tyson Grilled & Ready chicken in this recipe. Such a time saver! You can also used leftover grilled chicken or store-bought rotisserie chicken.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)
For the Dressing:
olive oil
red wine vinegar
honey
dijon mustard
Italian seasoning
garlic
salt & pepper
For the Salad:
ditalini pasta
romaine lettuce
grape tomatoes
salami (or pepperoni)
mozzarella
cucumber, sliced
green onions, sliced
marinated artichoke hearts
Tyson® Grilled & Ready® chicken breast strips
Additional optional add-ins: olives, pepperoncini peppers, pepperoni red onions
HOW TO MAKE ITALIAN CHOPPED SALAD WITH HOMEMADE DRESSING:
First thing you want to do is get your water boiling so you can get your ditalini pasta cooked. Because that needs to be cooked, drained and cooled down before adding it to the rest of the salad.
While the pasta is cooking, you can get started with making the dressing. In a jar, add in all the dressing ingredients. Pop the lid on nice & tight. Then give it a really vigorous shake. Shake it like a Polaroid picture until all the ingredients are combined well.
While the pasta is finishing draining and cooling, start chopping up your veggies. Then add them all to a large bowl and add in the Tyson® Grilled & Ready® chicken breast strips.
Once pasta has cooled, add it to the salad mix. Now it's time to pour that yummy dressing on top!
Give it all a good stir.
Then serve it up and dig in!
CRAVING MORE RECIPES LIKE THIS? GIVE THESE A TRY!
STRAWBERRY FIELDS SALAD
BLT CHOPPED SALAD
APPLEBEE'S ORIENTAL CHICKEN SALAD
CHICKEN BACON RANCH PASTA SALAD
STRAWBERRY CHICKEN SALAD
ITALIAN CHOPPED SALAD WITH HOMEMADE SALAD DRESSING
This Italian Chopped Salad is full of pasta, salami, grilled chicken, pepperoni, tomatoes and the most AMAZING dressing.
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Servings: 8
Calories: 391kcal
Ingredients
For the dressing:
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- salt and pepper
For the salad:
- 1 cup ditalini pasta
- 3-4 cups chopped romaine lettuce hearts
- 1 cup grape tomatoes halved
- 1 cup cubed salami or pepperoni
- 1 cup mozzarella cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 cup cucumber sliced
- ½ cup green onions sliced
- ½ cup mini pepperoni optional
- 1 7.5 oz jar marinated artichoke hearts drained and chopped
- 2 cups grilled chicken breast diced
- Additional optional add-ins: olives, pepperoncini peppers, red onions
Instructions
- First thing you want to do is get your water boiling so you can get your ditalini pasta cooked. Because that needs to be cooked, drained and cooled down before adding it to the rest of the salad. While the pasta is cooking, you can get started with making the dressing.
- In a jar, add in all the dressing ingredients.
- Pop the lid on nice & tight.
- Then give it a really vigorous shake.
- Once your pasta has cooked to al dente, drain it well.
- Then run some cool water over it so that it can cool down a bit faster.
- While the pasta is finishing draining and cooling, start chopping up your veggies.
- Then add them all to a large bowl and add in the diced grilled chicken.
- Once pasta has cooled, add it to the salad mix.
- Now it's time to pour that yummy dressing on top! Give it all a good stir.
Video
Nutrition
Calories: 391kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 52mg | Sodium: 476mg | Potassium: 333mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1900IU | Vitamin C: 5.9mg | Calcium: 102mg | Iron: 1.5mg
Nutritional Disclaimer
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Originally published: June 2014
Updated & republished: June 2019
I'm always looking for a good dressing recipe. I had the ingredients on hand, so I thought I would give this a try. OMG! It was amazing! I used it on a caprese salad and to dip bread in. Really delicious! Thank you.
The salad dressing is AMAZING!! I left out some ingredients and it was still amazing. I actually added chicken breast which made it crazy good.