This Italian Chopped Salad is full of pasta, salami, grilled chicken, pepperoni, tomatoes and the most delicious homemade dressing.
WITH A HOMEMADE CREAMY ITALIAN DRESSING
I love salads. I could eat them every single day. I especially love salads that aren't just eaten as a side but are the actual meal! The best way to make a salad more filling is to add some sort of protein to it. So I added some store-bought grilled chicken strips and salami and this Italian Chopped Salad recipe turned out perfect!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
The beauty of salad recipes is you can add (or remove) whatever you want. I used what I had in my pantry here. Maybe you've got a can of chickpeas or some sun-dried tomatoes hanging around. Go ahead and add some of that in there!
You could cut up a store-bought rotisserie chicken. You can use roasted chicken or even canned chicken. If you don't feel like chicken, you could substitute with some cooked salmon or just skip the meat altogether.
It's exactly what the name sounds like it would be. All the ingredients in a chopped salad are chopped up fairly small and bite sized.
You can really use any pasta you'd like for this recipe. I chose a smaller pasta since this is a chopped salad and I wanted a smaller bite for the pasta.
Once you add the dressing to the salad, it's going to start getting soft the longer it sits. If you want to keep the lettuce crispy, only add the dressing onto each serving as you eat it. The salad will keep (covered) in the fridge for about 2-3 days. The dressing does not need to be refrigerated but should be consumed within 3 days.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)
For the salad dressing:
- olive oil
- red wine vinegar
- honey
- dijon mustard
- Italian seasoning
- garlic
- salt & pepper
For the Salad:
- ditalini pasta
- romaine lettuce
- grape tomatoes
- salami
- mozzarella
- cucumber
- green onions
- artichoke hearts
- mini pepperoni
- grilled chicken breast strips
HOW TO MAKE ITALIAN CHOPPED SALAD WITH HOMEMADE DRESSING:
In a jar with a lid (I like to use a mason jar), add in all the dressing ingredients.
Screw the lid on nice and tight and give it a really vigorous shake to combine all the ingredients real well.
Add all of the salad ingredients to a large bowl. Pour the prepared salad Italian dressing all over the salad as evenly as possible.
Toss the salad to combine well and serve!
CRAVING MORE RECIPES LIKE THIS? GIVE THESE A TRY!
Italian Chopped Salad with Homemade Dressing
Ingredients
For the dressing:
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ cup red wine vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 1 Tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon each of salt and pepper
For the salad:
- 1 cup ditalini pasta, cooked and cooled
- 3-4 cups chopped romaine lettuce hearts
- 1 cup grape tomatoes halved
- 1 cup cubed salami
- 1 cup mozzarella cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 cup cucumber sliced
- ½ cup green onions sliced
- ½ cup mini pepperoni
- 7.5 ounce jar marinated artichoke hearts drained and chopped
- 2 cups grilled chicken breast diced
- Additional optional add-ins: olives, pepperoncini peppers, red onions
Instructions
- In a jar, add in all the dressing ingredients. I like to use a mason jar with a lid.
- Screw the lid on nice and tight then give it all a vigorous shake to combine well.
- Add all of the salad ingredients to a very large serving bowl.
- Pour the dressing over the prepared salad and then toss gently to combine.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Originally published: June 2014
Updated & republished: July 2021
Morgan
Very good! I replaced cucumber with celery.
Brandie @ The Country Cook
I love that! Thanks so much!
Ella Proud
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.
Chris
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.