Olive Garden Salad

4.70 from 10 votes

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!

Prep Time25

Total Time25

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American, Italian

Keyword: olive garden salad

Servings: servings (as a side)

Author: Chelsea Lords

Cost: $8.58

Equipment

Large bowl

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

US - Metric

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

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