Italian Salad

Full of crunch and flavor, this Italian Salad recipe is the perfect side salad for any night of the week! This recipe for Italian salad is made with mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, kalamata olives, pepperoncini and croutons all tossed in a simple Italian vinaigrette. Serve this restaurant style Italian green salad with your favorite Italian dish, a big bowl of soup, a sandwich, or grilled chicken or fish.

If you’re like my family and love big Italian salads, you’ll love everything about this Italian green salad. 

For this big Italian salad recipe, I like to start by making the croutons. Salads are always better with crunchy croutons tossed in the mix. Then while the croutons are toasting in the oven, I will whisk together the ingredients for the dressing. Then all that’s left is to chop a few veggies and toss the whole thing in your favorite salad bowl and serve. You won’t be spending a ton of time in the kitchen to make this salad.

Italian Salad Recipe

This Italian Salad Recipe is similar to my Italian Chopped Salad, but it’s scaled back a bit to serve with lunch or dinner during the week. It’s an easy salad to prep ahead of time. Simply make the dressing and croutons a day or two in advance, then all you have to do is chop a few ingredients and toss everything in a bowl and serve.

• Greens. We used a Tuscan blend of lettuces for this salad, but Romaine works just as well. You can also add in some radicchio (which comes in the Tuscan lettuce blend).
• Tomatoes. I use both Roma tomatoes and cherry tomatoes for this salad because I like the flavors and texture of them both.
• Cucumber. Crispy cucumber add a lot of crunch to this salad. You can use garden cucumber, English cucumber or Persian cucumber. If I use a garden cucumber, I will usually peel it and remove the seeds using a spoon before slicing it. English and Persian cucumber have thinner skins and fewer seeds and taste less bitter.
• Red Onion. Thinly sliced red onion can be soaked in a cup of water while you finish preparing this salad. Soaking onions for a few minutes in water mellows the flavor quite a bit and is less offensive for those who aren’t a fan of onions.
• Olives. I add Kalamata olives to this salad, but you can toss in green or black if you prefer. Just make sure the olives are pitted.
• Pepperoncini. Pepperoncini add a lot of flavor to an Italian salad. Either toss them in whole or sliced. I always use mild pepperoncini. 
• Cheese. A little Parmesan cheese adds flavor to this salad. 
• Croutons. Simple homemade croutons like these Herbed Croutons, Parmesan Croutons and Basil Pesto Croutons make any salad extra special.
• Vinaigrette. This salad is tossed with a delicious and easy-to-make Italian vinaigrette.

Find the printable recipe with measurements below.

Variations

The great thing about this recipe for Italian salad is its so versatile.  You can toss in whatever you like. The more crowded they are with healthy ingredients, the better!

• Cheese. Toss is grated or cubed Provolone or Mozzarella or some bocconicini balls.
• Protein. Make this salad a meal by adding grilled, baked or boiled chicken or salmon.
• Legumes. Add is canned or cooked chickpeas or cannellinni beans for added plant protein.
• Fresh herbs. I love to toss in fresh basil and parsley to my salads for added flavor and nutritional benefits.
• Vegetables. Crowd the salad even more with veggies like red peppers, celery, broccoli, zucchini and radishes. You can also toss in avocado for adding healthy fat.
• Extras. Toss in artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes and roasted red peppers.
• Dressing. Besides this simple Italian vinaigrette, you can also toss this salad with Greek Salad Dressing, Cleansing Lemon Herb Vinaigrette and Lemon Basil Vinaigrette.

How to Make Italian Green Salad

This Italian green salad comes together in a pinch. Here’s how to make it:

1. Prepare lettuce. Add mixed greens (or chop Romaine lettuce) to a colander and rinse under cold water. Put the lettuce in a salad spinner and spin dry. If you don’t have a salad spinner, I highly recommend them! If you don’t have one then be sure to pat the lettuce dry using paper towels.
2. Prep Ingredients. Ingredients can be prepped a day or two in advance. Slice onion and put in a small bowl with water to soak while you prepare the other ingredients. Slice cucumber and tomatoes.
3. Make Croutons. The croutons can be prepared a head of time and stored in an air-tight container.
4. Whisk Vinaigrette. Add ingredients for the Italian vinaigrette in a mason jar, seal the lid and shake well. Or add everything to a blender and blend a few seconds.
5. Serve. Toss salad with vinaigrette and season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste and serve.

Tips for Making Italian Salad

• Store the salad and vinaigrette separately in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve. Then drizzle the vinaigrette around the outer side of the ingredients in the bowl and fold the dressing into the ingredients and toss. This is a better way to evenly distribute and coat the salad ingredients. If you pour the dressing over the top of the ingredients, it will weight the lettuce down.
• The vinaigrette will solidify a bit in the refrigerator, so you’ll want to take it out of the refrigerator to sit for 10-15 minutes to liquify before tossing with salad.
• The salad keeps in the refrigerator best for up to 5 days if it has not been tossed with dressing.  If you toss the salad with dressing, leftovers in the refrigerator will only be appetizing the next day. 

Italian Vinaigrette

This Italian vinaigrette is an easy one to make. Just add everything to a mason jar, seal the lid and shake well. Or you can also toss everything in a blender and blend for a few seconds.

• Red wine vinegar
• Garlic 
• Dijon mustard
• Dried oregano
• Parmesan cheese 
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Homemade Croutons

• Unsalted butter
• Italian seasoning (optional)
• Day old bread
• Parmesan cheese

How to Make Homemade Croutons

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Melt butter and Italian seasoning in a small skillet over low heat until it starts to foam. Add the bread cubes and toss to coat. Transfer the bread cubes to a baking sheet and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and toss the cubes to coat.
3. Place baking sheet in oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until the croutons are crisp and  just lightly golden on the outside. Stir once or twice while the croutons bake.
4. Remove from oven and cool before tossing in a salad.
5. Store in an airtight container.

Serving Suggestions

This Italian green salad is a great side salad to go with pizza, soup, sandwiches, pasta, grilled salmon and fish and just about anything you could think to serve it with. And if you want to change things up, this salad  is also amazing when its tossed with Homemade Ranch Dressing instead of Italian dressing. So good!!

• Lemon Chicken Piccata
• One Pan Italian Chicken
• Tortilla Pizza
• Grilled Turkey Burgers
• Italian Lentil Soup
• Italian Wedding Soup

Looking For More Side Salad Recipes To Make?

• Everyday Mediterranean Salad
• Romaine Salad
• Mexican Salad
• Everyday Tossed Salad
• Mediterranean Celery Salad
• Beet Arugula Salad

Want more ideas?  Check out all my salad recipes.

Continue to Content

Print

Yield: 4 servings

Italian Salad

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

This Italian Salad recipe is the perfect side salad for any night of the week! It's made with mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, kalamata olives, pepperoncini and croutons all tossed in a simple Italian vinaigrette. Serve this restaurant style Italian green salad with your favorite Italian dish, a big bowl of soup, a sandwich, or grilled chicken or fish.

Ingredients

• 6 cups Tuscan lettuce blend or 1 head Romaine lettuce
• 2 large Roma tomatoes
• 6 cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 cucumber sliced
• 1/4 small purple onion, cut in quarters and sliced
• 1/4 cup Kalamata olives
• 1/4 cup Pepperoncini
• 3/4 cup homemade croutons
• 1/2 cup Italian vinaigrette

For the Homemade Croutons

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning (optional)
• 2 cups cubed day old bread
• 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, finely grated

For the Italian Vinaigrette

• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 3 garlic cloves, grated or minced (I like to grate it then chop the grated pieces a bit so the pieces are really fine)
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese 
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Add the chopped lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, olives, pepperoncini to a large serving bowl. 
2. Drizzle the Italian vinaigrette along the outer top portion of the ingredients in the bowl. Gently fold ingredients into the dressing and toss.
3. Add homemade croutons to the bowl and toss again.
4. Garnish with Parmesan cheese and season with salt and cracked black pepper.

For the Homemade Croutons

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Melt butter and Italian seasoning in a small skillet over low heat until it starts to foam. Add the bread cubes and toss to coat. Transfer the bread cubes to a baking sheet and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and toss the cubes to coat.
3. Place baking sheet in oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until the croutons are crisp and  just lightly golden on the outside. Stir once or twice while the croutons bake.
4. Remove from oven and cool before tossing in a salad.
5. Store in an airtight container.

For the Italian Vinaigrette

1. Add everything to a mason jar, seal the lid and shake well. Or you can also toss everything in a blender and blend for a few seconds.

Notes

Variations

The great thing about green salads is they are so versatile.  You can toss in whatever you like. The more crowded they are with healthy ingredients, the better!

• Cheese - Toss is grated or cubed Provolone or Mozzarella or some bocconicini balls.
• Protein - Make this salad a meal by adding grilled, baked or boiled chicken or salmon.
• Legumes - Add is canned or cooked chickpeas or cannellinni beans for added plant protein.
• Fresh herbs - I love to toss in fresh basil and parsley to my salads for added flavor and nutritional benefits.
• Vegetables - Crowd the salad even more with veggies like red peppers, celery, broccoli, zucchini and radishes.
• Extras - Toss in artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes and roasted red peppers

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 676Total Fat: 59gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 44gCholesterol: 21mgSodium: 929mgCarbohydrates: 33gFiber: 8gSugar: 10gProtein: 8g

theharvestkitchen.com attempts to provide accurate information, however, this nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. The nutritional information provided comes from online sources and calculations.