Our family goes nuts for this easy chopped salad recipe, which is loaded with crunchy romaine lettuce, tomatoes, olives, and salami tossed with the easiest vinaigrette.
I love chopped salads! Since all the ingredients are chopped small, you get little bits of everything with every bite. Thanks to the salami, olives, and simple red wine vinaigrette, we call this an Italian chopped salad. It’s delicious.
Serve this easy salad any night of the week. It is especially good with lasagna, spaghetti, meatballs, and pizza!
Our Favorite Ingredients for Chopped Salad
The best salads are the simplest. You can add a whole list of ingredients to this chopped salad, but since we make it often, we keep it to just 6. Feel free to add to this list as you see fit!
- Romaine lettuce acts as our base. It’s light and crunchy. If you like bitterness in your salad, replace half of the romaine with radicchio.
- Green onions are delicious in this salad. I often use green onions when I want to taste a little bit of onion, but nothing overpowering.
- Salami adds lots of flavor and texture. I used thinly sliced salami in our photos, but if you have a log, consider cutting it into cubes or little triangles.
- Cherry tomatoes add color and sweetness.
- Sliced black olives are inexpensive and remind me of the salads I love to order at my favorite pizza restaurants.
- Cheese brings everything together. I often use feta cheese when making salads, but fresh mozzarella is also an excellent idea!
How to Make Our Chopped Salad Vinaigrette
This salad dressing is inspired by the salads we’ve enjoyed at some of our favorite pizza restaurants.
To make it, you’ll need 5 ingredients and a whisk or mason jar for shaking. It’s ready in under 5 minutes.
I make my salad dressing in a ball jar because it’s fast, and you can save any extra in the fridge for another day. It has mustard, red wine vinegar, sugar, olive oil, and salt. It tastes bright and sweet and works nicely with our salad ingredients.
More favorite salad dressings that would work in this salad are our Italian Dressing (tastes fresh and herby) and this Honey Mustard Dressing (sweeter and a little tangy).
What to Serve with Chopped Salad
Serve this chopped salad with Italian dishes like vegetable lasagna, chicken parmesan, or big Italian meatballs. This salad goes well with just about anything but is especially good served next to pizza. Try our easy pizza dough recipe and make your pizza at home. Two of our family’s favorites are cheese pizza and Margherita pizza.
Easy Chopped Salad
Our delicious chopped salad is quick and simple to make and tastes great. We keep it simple with 6 main ingredients plus a simple homemade vinaigrette. Serve this chopped salad with pasta or pizza, or serve it as a light meal.
Serves 4 to 6
You Will Need
1 head romaine lettuce, rinsed, patted or spun dry, and chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
3 ounces thin sliced salami, cut into ribbons
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved, about 2 cups
1 (2.25oz) can sliced black olives, drained
1/2 cup feta cheese, blue cheese, or fresh mozzarella cheese
Easy Salad Dressing
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard or Dijon mustard
5 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 to 2 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
1Whisk the ingredients for the salad dressing in a medium bowl using a whisk, or add them to a mason jar, twist on the lid, and shake until well blended. Adjust the salt to your taste. We use 3/4 teaspoon to 1 ¼ teaspoon of fine sea salt.
2Add the chopped romaine, chopped green onions, salami, tomatoes, black olives, and cheese to a large salad bowl. Pour over the dressing and toss well. Serve.
Adam and Joanne’s Tips
- Add radicchio for color and a little bitterness.
- To make this vegetarian, use a vegetarian-friendly cheese and substitute the salami for chickpeas.
- To make this spicy, chop a handful of spicy peperoncino peppers and add them to the salad.
- Nutrition facts are estimates. We assumed 1 tablespoon sugar.
Nutrition Per Serving
Serving Size
1/6 of the recipe
/
Calories
262
/
Total Fat
22.3g
/
Saturated Fat
5.5g
/
Cholesterol
23.9mg
/
Sodium
734.8mg
/
Carbohydrate
10.7g
/
Dietary Fiber
3.1g
/
Total Sugars
6g
/
Protein
5.7g
