Italian Salad

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Delicious and flavorful Italian Salad with a perfect herb dressing and plenty of veggies is easy to customize.

Italian Salad, with ingredients isolated.

Why We Love This Italian Salad

  • Customizable: Adapts easily to personal preferences with various veggies and proteins.
  • Tasty Dressing: Features a fresh, herb-based olive oil dressing.
  • Veggie Packed: Offers a flavorful mix of vegetables and optional protein sources.
  • Refreshing: The crunchy veggies and tangy dressing give a fresh and delicious flavor.
  • Simple: Quick to assemble with make-ahead options for convenience.
  • Complementary: Perfect side dish to compliment any meal.

Ready-to-eat Italian Salad served in a bowl.

Ingredients In Italian Salad

Salad:

  • Lettuce: Forms the crisp foundation in this salad.
  • Cucumbers, artichokes, tomatoes, olives: Gives the salad different textures and flavors.
  • Avocado: Adds creaminess.
  • Parmesan cheese and croutons: Gives a salty flavor and crunch.

Dressing:

  • Dressing: Combine parsley, basil, oregano, garlic, red wine vinegar, sugar, and olive oil for a balanced blend of fresh herbal taste, spice, tanginess, sweetness, and a rich, smooth base.
Showing olive oil being poured over the dish.

How To Make Italian Salad

  1. Dressing: Blend parsley, basil, oregano, garlic, vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Chill.
  2. Salad: Toss Romaine lettuce, cucumbers, artichokes, tomatoes, olives, and optional pepperoncini in a bowl.
  3. Serve: Add dressing, avocado, Parmesan, and croutons just before serving. Adjust seasoning.

STORAGE

  • Make-ahead: Prepare dressing and salad components separately, refrigerate, and combine just before serving.
  • Storage: Store dressing and salad ingredients (excluding avocado, cheese, and croutons) separately in airtight containers in the fridge. Add perishables fresh when serving.

All the ingredients in this dish in a bowl, not yet mixed together.

Variations

More Italian-Style Dishes

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Easy Italian Salad

4.96 from 21 votes
Delicious and flavorful Italian Salad with a perfect herb dressing and plenty of veggies is easy to customize.
Italian Salad, with ingredients isolated.
Print Recipe

Easy Italian Salad

Italian Salad, with ingredients isolated.
4.96 from 21 votes
Delicious and flavorful Italian Salad with a perfect herb dressing and plenty of veggies is easy to customize.
Course Salad
Cuisine Italian
Keyword italian salad
Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 12 servings
Chelsea Lords
Calories 170kcal
Cost $5.60

Ingredients

For the Dressing

  • 1 cup fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley, loosely packed, chopped (measured into 1 cup before chopping)
  • 1/4 cup packed fresh basil leaves chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon white sugar
  • Freshly cracked black pepper and fine sea salt
  • 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

For the Salad

  • 1 large head Romaine lettuce washed, dried and cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 3/4 cup English cucumbers halved and quartered
  • 1/2 cup artichokes drained and coarsely chopped (Note 1)
  • 1/2 cup grape tomatoes halved
  • 1/3 cup pitted black olives halved
  • 1 large avocado, chopped or thinly sliced
  • Croutons store-bought or homemade
  • Optional: pepperoncini, parmesan cheese

Instructions

  • DRESSING: In a food processor/blender, combine chopped parsley, chopped basil, oregano, garlic cloves, red wine vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper (1/4 teaspoon pepper and 3/4 teaspoon salt). Pulse until combined. Slowly add olive oil while pulsing until combined, being careful not to overmix to avoid a metallic taste. Refrigerate dressing in a Mason jar. Shake before use to recombine ingredients.
  • ASSEMBLE: In a large bowl, combine chopped lettuce, cucumbers, artichokes, tomatoes, olives, and optional pepperoncini. Just before serving, add half of dressing, avocado, and Parmesan cheese, tossing well. Adjust dressing as needed to coat lettuce generously. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Top with croutons and additional Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.
  • SERVING: Add avocado, dressing, cheese, and croutons only to the portion of salad that will be finished immediately. This salad doesn't hold well with dressing; leftover salad may result in soggy croutons and browning avocado.

Video

Recipe Notes

Note 1: Often, I'll trade out artichokes for thinly sliced baby sweet bell peppers.

Nutrition Facts

Calories: 170kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 100mg | Potassium: 175mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 762IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 39mg | Iron: 1mg

We do our best to provide accurate nutritional analysis for our recipes. Our nutritional data is calculated using a third-party algorithm and may vary, based on individual cooking styles, measurements, and ingredient sizes. Please use this information for comparison purposes and consult a health professional for nutrition guidance as needed.

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Recipe Rating




29 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I’ve eaten three batches of this salad using my original dressing. I swear I could eat it every day! Making for a party next week too. Best dressing ever!

  2. 5 stars
    LOVE this dressing!! It makes the salad next level! Even my “ranch dressing only” daughter liked the dressing!! Thanks.

  3. 5 stars
    This is my go to salad! I get compliments on it every time I serve it to someone new. The dressing is so easy and amazing. I love this salad!

  4. Loved this salad—- but the dressing didn’t keep well for me. Once refrigerated it turned really thick, almost paste like in the jar. Idk what I did wrong

    1. You didn’t do anything wrong! That’s just the olive oil solidifying, which it does at cold temps. Take the vinaigrette out of the fridge about 20-30 minutes or so before you need it to bring it back up to temperature; then shake it up to remix.

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