Italian Chopped Salad with Homemade Dressing

I love a good salad!

Recently I polled folks over on The Country Cook Facebook page and asked y’all what recipes you’d like to see right now on blog. And the overwhelming vote was for more salads and salad dressings. Personally, 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!

Such a time saver!

Have y’all seen the Tyson Grilled & Ready green bags in the grocery store? You can find these larger (22 oz.) bags in the freezer section. Or you can find the smaller (6 oz.) bags in the refrigerator section (my store keeps it near the bacon). The frozen ones can be thawed quickly in the microwave. Such a time saver! You can make quick chicken wraps or chicken fajitas. Or do like me and throw it in a salad! On a low carb diet? Just leave out the pasta!

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. But I’m tellin’ ya, you are gonna love this dressing. It is divine!

Ingredients
For the Dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. dijon mustard
1 tsp. Italian Seasoning
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper

For the Salad:
1 cup ditalini pasta (optional for low carb)
3-4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup cubed salami (or pepperoni)
1 cup mozzarella, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 cup cucumber, sliced
1/2 cup green onions, sliced
1/2 cup mini pepperoni (optional)
1 (7.5 oz.) jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
2 cups Tyson® Grilled & Ready® chicken breast strips, thawed
Additional optional add-ins: olives, pepperoncini peppers, red onions

Directions:

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!

Enjoy!

5 from 1 vote

Print

Italian Chopped Salad

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

10 mins

Total Time

20 mins

 

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Servings: 8

Calories: 391 kcal

Author: Brandie @ The Country Cook

Ingredients

• Dressing:
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• salt and pepper
• 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
• 1/2 cup green onions sliced
• 1/2 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

1. 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.
2. In a jar, add in all the dressing ingredients.
3. Pop the lid on nice & tight.
4. Then give it a really vigorous shake.
5. Once your pasta has cooked to al dente, drain it well.
6. Then run some cool water over it so that it can cool down a bit faster.
7. While the pasta is finishing draining and cooling, start chopping up your veggies.

8. Then add them all to a large bowl and add in the diced grilled chicken.

9. Once pasta has cooled, add it to the salad mix.
10. Now it's time to pour that yummy dressing on top! Give it all a good stir.

Nutrition Facts

Italian Chopped Salad

Amount Per Serving

Calories 391 Calories from Fat 207

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 23g 35%

Saturated Fat 5g 25%

Cholesterol 52mg 17%

Sodium 476mg 20%

Potassium 333mg 10%

Total Carbohydrates 23g 8%

Dietary Fiber 1g 4%

Sugars 6g

Protein 20g 40%

Vitamin A 38%

Vitamin C 7.2%

Calcium 10.2%

Iron 8.4%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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