Antipasto Chopped Salad
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Antipasto Chopped Salad combines romaine lettuce with fresh veggies, chickpeas, olives, mozzarella cheese, salami, and a creamy Italian Dressing. This vibrant salad is full of flavor and can be served as a first course for an Italian meal or as a main dish!
I love trying new salads and keeping one handy in the refrigerator each week. For something new, try my Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad, a healthy Greek Farro Salad, or the best Mexican Quinoa Salad!
Antipasto Salad
Mike and I recently went out for pizza at a new Italian restaurant in our area and started with a huge Italian Chopped Salad. It was similar to this one, and I enjoyed it SO much – maybe even more than the pizza. GASP! I knew I needed to recreate it because I get tired of the same old salads.
A variety of ingredients is key to enjoying salads. When I was in college, I ate the most boring combo over and over again – iceberg lettuce, carrots, cottage cheese, croutons, and French Dressing (remember that orange bottled dressing?). Maybe that’s why I always craved candy after dinner.
While this chopped salad uses a lighter dressing, you could add some mayo for a creamier salad too, or try our Grinder Salad Dressing. For more inspiration, make our Italian Grinder Sandwich on Italian Herb Bread!
Why This Recipe Works:
- SIMPLE TO MAKE – This antipasto salad uses simple ingredients that you can easily find in most grocery stores.
- CREAMY DRESSING – We use this Italian salad dressing on several other recipes, including our Zesty Italian Pasta Salad, our Italian Grinder Sandwich, and Greek Tortellini Pasta Salad.
- FULL OF FLAVOR – I’m a huge fan of adding Italian meats and cheeses to salads, sandwiches, and a charcuterie board. The flavor is amazing combined with a delicious dressing.
- PREP AHEAD – You can easily prep the salad and the creamy dressing ahead of time. Just combine at dinner time or add the dressing to individual servings if not planning to eat the entire salad.
Ingredients Used:
- Lettuce Greens – Use any of your favorite salad greens for this salad. I always change the mixture whenever I make it – romaine hearts, red and green lettuce, kale, baby spinach, or any mixture.
- Sliced Mushrooms – I prefer Baby Bella mushrooms in this salad but white button mushrooms work too.
- Cherry Tomatoes – I used a colorful variety mix of tomatoes.
- Red Onion – Slice them thin!
- Chickpeas – Chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans) are one of my favorite salad toppings EVER. So good and a great source of protein and fiber.
- Olives – I prefer black olives over green, but you choose.
- Hard Salami – This salty meat will definitely make your guys want to eat salad. 😀
- Mozzarella Cheese – Buy a block of cheese and cube it. You can also use provolone cheese instead.
- Parmesan Cheese – Use a cheese grater to grate your own wedge of parm.
For the Italian Dressing – You’ll need extra-virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, sugar, oregano, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper.
You won’t get bored with this salad. I promise.
How to make Antipasto Chopped Salad:
Step 1
Make dressing. Measure all salad dressing ingredients into a mason jar, and shake vigorously. Store in the refrigerator until ready to dress individual servings or the entire salad.
Step 2
Prep ingredients. Clean and chop the fresh greens, slice the onion and tomatoes, cube the cheese, slice the salami into strips, and strain the chickpeas and olives.
Step 3
Combine. Add all salad ingredients to a large salad bowl – the lettuce, mushrooms, tomatoes, red onion, chickpeas, olives, mozzarella and parmesan cheese, and hard salami. Toss salad to combine.
Step 4
Serve salad. Add the dressing to individual salads if serving a small group. Otherwise, pour dressing over the entire salad and toss.
Other Delicious Salads:
In addition to our antipasto salad recipe, try one of these next.
- Mexican Quinoa Salad with Avocado Crema – A personal fav, and one that’s a full meal for me.
- Chopped Greek Pasta Salad – Great for summertime barbecues.
- Crunchy Asian Cabbage Salad – The most popular recipe on my blog, currently.
- Chicken Bacon Caesar Salad – Do you like Caesar Salads like we do? Then try this one!
How to make this salad last all week:
- Buy your ingredients on the weekend.
- Prep all your ingredients on Sunday. Wrap the veggies in a paper towel and keep them in storage bags or containers. Make the salad dressing as well and keep everything in the refrigerator.
- Mix up half of the salad on Monday at dinner time, and store in an airtight container. Add dressing to individual servings.
- When the first half is gone, mix up the remaining ingredients.
- Enjoy it ALL week long!
Recipe FAQs:
Antipasto typically consists of a variety of cured meats, such as prosciutto, salami, and pepperoni, alongside cheeses, olives, marinated vegetables (such as artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, or mushrooms), and sometimes seafood such as anchovies or shrimp. This is often the first course of an Italian meal but we’re adding it to salad greens for a side dish.
Rinse the lettuce in cold water. Strain and add to a salad spinner or pat dry with a paper towel.
Yes, you can add cucumbers, roasted red peppers, marinated artichoke hearts, cooked pasta, and jarred pepperoncini peppers. Some Spicy Pickled Onions would also be delicious.
Yes, you can choose a store-bought dressing instead of making homemade.
Kitchen Tools Used: (affiliate links)
xoxo ~Sue
Antipasto Chopped Salad Recipe
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 16 cups salad greens (or more) – cleaned and chopped
- 1/4 cup red onion – sliced thin
- 1 cup grape tomatoes – halved
- 8 ounces sliced Bella mushrooms
- 15 oz. garbanzo beans – rinsed and drained
- 1/2 cup black olives – sliced
- 3-4 ounces salami – sliced in strips
- 4 ounces mozzarella cheese – cubed
- 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
For the dressing:
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper – to taste
Instructions
- Make dressing. Measure all salad dressing ingredients into a mason jar, and shake vigorously. Store in the refrigerator until ready to dress individual servings or the entire salad.
- Prep ingredients. Clean and chop the fresh greens, slice the onion and tomatoes, cube the cheese, slice the salami into strips, and strain the chickpeas and olives.
- Combine. Add all salad ingredients to a large salad bowl – the lettuce, mushrooms, tomatoes, red onion, chickpeas, olives, mozzarella and parmesan cheese, and hard salami. Toss salad to combine.
- Serve salad. Add the dressing to individual salads if serving a small group. Otherwise, pour dressing over the entire salad and toss.
Notes
- I recommend adding the dressing to individual salads. If you’re serving a large group, then you can add it to the entire salad, but you may not need all the dressing.
- For additional flavor and texture, you can add cucumbers, roasted red peppers, marinated artichoke hearts, cooked pasta, and jarred pepperoncini peppers. Some Spicy Pickled Onions would also be delicious.
This is fantastic, made it for a dinner party and it got rave reviews from all!! A salad that eats like a meal!!
We love this one too, Shari! That salami…:)
Hi Sue, I make a similar dressing for my Italian salads.
I often use anchovy paste or the fish itself instead of salt and I use other vinegar like raspberry vinegar. Also, I add shallots, finely chopped too.
And for those of us watching our carb intake, no sugar.
That sounds great as well, Carl! Thanks for your suggestions! 🙂
Made the dressing.loved it. Lots of flavor and i really like the red pepper and garlic combined with the mustard.
Hi Sue! I’m so glad you liked it. I add red pepper to almost everything now! 🙂
An awesome salad and the dressing is top notch. Love this healthy option to get my meal on track.
For sure! It’s my fav!