Italian Chopped Salad is the Best Chopped Salad (It Just Is)
You know it’s true. Or maybe you don’t! Maybe you’ve never had an Italian chopped salad? If you’re new to the fantastic flavor-texture joy parade that is Italian chopped salad, welcome to the greatest no-cook dinner you’ve ever had. “Chopped salads” are—just like you’d probably guess—called chopped salads because all of the ingredients are finely chopped before being tossed together. While we sometimes enjoy big leafy greens or Caesar salads that require a knife and fork, chopped salads are really delightful because they invite you to grab your fork and dive right in. They’re also a great way to incorporate non-lettuce ingredients into the mix, as you’ll see in this seriously meat-and-cheese loaded Italian chopped salad recipe! Italian chopped salad is a salad, yes, but it’s soooooo much more than that. It’s super, super filling, and majorly hearty. You can serve Italian chopped salad as a main dish—it’s especially ideal for days when you don’t want to turn on the stove, or even think about dirtying pots and pans. All you need to make it is a cutting board and a good knife, so put on some good tunes and let’s get chopping! For a lighter riff, try our Simple Italian Salad, tomato-y Panzanella or classic Greek Salad.
What is an Italian Chopped Salad Made Of?
Get ready to get hungry. Basically an Italian chopped salad is a fever dream of all of the best Italian snacks and olive bar favorites chopped up into tiny bite-sized bits and tossed together in a tangy homemade chopped salad dressing. It’s the kind of salad that really pushes the definition of salad to the limit and is unquestionably main-dish worthy. Salty salami, creamy mozzarella, olives, Parm, fresh basil and—oh yeah—some lettuce make this Italian chopped salad recipe truly crush-worthy. The key to a really great chopped salad is uniformity. We kind of want all of these ingredients to be roughly the same size, so keep that in mind as you slice and dice! A bit smaller than bite-sized is a good rule of thumb. Pretend you’re a prep cook trying to really earn their keep—heads down, sharp knife, can’t lose. Yes, chef! Here’s everything that’s getting chopped:
- Lettuce! We like a colorful, flavorful combo of romaine and radicchio.
- Salami
- Black olives
- Bell pepper
- Pepperoncini
- Fresh mini mozzarella balls
- Cucumber
- Fresh basil
- Parmesan cheese
- Cherry tomatoes
- Pickled red onions
Italian Chopped Salad Dressing
There are those who argue that a chopped salad is all about the dressing and to that we say—no way. At least not when the chopped salad is an Italian chopped salad and it has as much salami and cheese and pickly things as ours does. However! The dressing is really, really important. When a salad has so much heft to it—and this Italian chopped salad recipe is nothing if not incredibly hefty!—the salad dressing plays a completely essential balancing role. Fatty cured meat and salty olives and milky fresh mozzarella need lightness and lift and something to both balance and meet their intensity. Tangy, sharp and assertive, our chopped salad dressing recipe is up to the task! And it’s quick to make—just mix together:
Dijon mustard
Fresh lemon juice
Oregano
Fresh garlic
Red wine vinegar
Vegetable oil
Salt & pepper
How to Make The Best Chopped Salad Ever
Whether you’re whipping up a meal for your super hungry family or you’re heading to a backyard party where you’re not sure how filling the food will be, this trusty chopped salad recipe is a great one to have in your recipe rotation. It’s easy-going food that everyone loves—how could they not?! And it’s so loaded with goodies that it really feels like a treat to eat and a generous thing to share with others. Plus, it requires absolutely zero cooking! Just open a few cans and jars, chop like mad and toss together! While you can’t really make it ahead of time—the lettuce will wilt and the mozzarella balls will get pretty sad after a few hours—you can mix up the dressing up to 5 days ahead of time. And the rest of the prep should only take 10-15 minutes, so it’s still a really fast no-cook meal. Here’s how to make our Italian chopped salad recipe:
Whip up that dressing! You can shake all of the ingredients together in a jar, or you can simply dump them all into the bottom of the bowl you plan to serve the salad in and give them a quick whisk.
Chop! Here’s how we set it up—you’ve got the dressing in the bottom of the bowl. Set that big salad bowl next to your cutting board and chop an ingredient and add it to the bowl. Chop the next ingredient and add it to the bowl. And on and on and on until that salad bowl is full to the brim!
Toss and serve. YUM!
Tools You’ll Need:
A big beautiful salad bowl is a nice thing to have.
More Main Dish Salad Recipes to Try
Chop Chop Chop!
Sharpen those knives and chop your way to the best dinner ever! Or at least, one of the best and easiest dinners ever. We hope you adore this chopped salad recipe, and we really want to hear about how it turns out for you! Share a photo and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper so that we can see your stuff! Happy eating!
