Craving that iconic Olive Garden Salad? Whip up this copycat recipe, loaded with sweet tomatoes, zesty peppers, rich olives, and crisp croutons. Go classic with a creamy Italian dressing or grab Olive Garden’s bottled magic from the store.
Pair this salad with some other Olive Garden copycats like this Zuppa Toscana Soup or this Pasta e Fagioli Soup.
Best Olive Garden Salad Copycat Recipe
We’re obsessed with this Olive Garden copycat salad — it’s light, fresh, healthy, and loaded with flavor. And what’s more, the Italian dressing is easy to make and filled with good-for-you ingredients. How does olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, and plenty of herbs sound? It’s the perfect pairing for all the veggies!
The ultimate finishing touch to this salad is the crunchy, garlicky croutons and freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top!
- Lettuce: Olive Garden uses an iceberg lettuce mix, but we like it best with Romaine lettuce; either type of lettuce works!
- Red onion: Onions add a nice bite to the salad. If they seem to have too much of a bite, see my quick tip below to help tame them.
- Pepperoncini: These are sweet, mild chili peppers, usually sold pickled.
- Tomato: Any good ripe tomatoes will work in this salad. We often use cherry tomatoes.
- Black olives: We like them whole, but feel free to halve or slice them.
- Croutons: Olive Garden sells their croutons at the grocery store, and they work great in this salad. You can use any garlic-herb flavored croutons. Or, you can even make your own!
- Parmesan cheese: I like to grate fresh Parmesan cheese on a microplane and add it to this Olive Garden Salad.
Quick Tip
If raw red onions are too strong for you, soak them in salted ice-cold water for 10 minutes, then drain and dry before adding to your salad.
Tips For Success
- Only add dressing, cheese, and croutons to the amount of salad that will be eaten the same day you make it. Otherwise, the ingredients will get soggy if they sit in the dressing too long.
- Make ahead: You can make everything for this copycat Olive Garden Salad ahead of time. Just store the salad ingredients separately and then toss them all together right before serving.
- Grating Parmesan cheese: I highly recommend grating the cheese on a microplane. It gives it an awesome light texture and helps it disperse more evenly throughout the salad. If you’ve never tried a microplane, it’s a game-changer. I like this one because it’s so easy to use.
More Delicious Salad Recipes:
- Italian Salad with an herb vinaigrette
- Chickpea Salad Mediterranean inspired
- Cobb Salad with an herb vinaigrette
- Crispy Chicken Salad with a honey BBQ dressing
- Orzo Pasta Salad with a lemon vinaigrette
Olive Garden Salad
Love Olive Garden’s salad? This copycat recipe delivers all the goodness—juicy tomatoes, zesty peppers, briny olives, and crispy croutons. Toss with creamy Italian dressing or grab Olive Garden’s bottled version for the real deal!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 ounces romaine lettuce coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup black olives
- 2 large Roma tomatoes thinly sliced
- 1/4 of a large red onion very thinly sliced
- 6 pepperoncini peppers
- 1 cup garlic-herb flavored croutons store-bought or homemade
- 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese freshly grated
Dressing
- 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
- 1-1/2 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons mayo full-fat
Instructions
- Coarsely chop the lettuce, wash, and thoroughly dry (I love a salad spinner for this step). Place lettuce in a large bowl. Top the salad with black olives, thinly sliced tomatoes, very thinly sliced red onion, and pepperoncini.
- Add all the dressing ingredients to a large glass jar. Seal and shake to combine. It might take a minute of good vigorous shaking, but the mayo should completely integrate (keep shaking until it does). If you have time, make this ahead and chill in the fridge to intensify the flavors. Shake again right before mixing into the salad.
- Right before eating (see note 1), toss the salad with the dressing (you probably won’t use all the dressing—see note 2). Add the croutons and freshly grated Parmesan on top and enjoy immediately.
Video
Recipe Notes
Note 1: Only add dressing, cheese, and croutons to the amount of salad that will be eaten the same day you make it. The salad ingredients will get quite soggy if they sit too long in the dressing.
Note 2: This makes a lot of dressing! You can halve it if you’d like, but I like to make this full batch and use it on other recipes throughout the week. It will last up to a week stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
Storage: This salad doesn’t store well once dressed, as the greens can get soggy. For best results, store the components separately in airtight containers and assemble fresh when ready to enjoy. Keep the croutons in a dry, sealed container to maintain their crunch!
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 426kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 40g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 26g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 9mg | Sodium: 525mg | Potassium: 294mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 5394IU | Vitamin C: 19mg | Calcium: 148mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I thought the red wine vinegar was overbearing. I’d like to try it again with half. Needs more sweetness too.
You can absolutely cut it back to personal preference!
I just made this salad and it’s spot on! The dressing is so close to Olive Garden’s and I love that it’s made with fresh ingredients. Definitely making this again
I am so thrilled to hear this! Thanks so much for your comment! 🙂
It was a huge hit at the party I took it too. Delicious!
Thanks so much Lora! 🙂
This didn’t really taste like OG dressing to me but not bad. The vinegar is overpowering. I would reduce the vinegar next time. Now that I’ve made it, what can I add to tone down the tanginess? Thanks!
You can reduce the vinegar or add some sugar