Name: Italian Chopped Salad
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 1 large romaine heart (or 3 heads little gems), finely shredded ( (about 3 cups)); 1 head radicchio, finely shredded ( (about 1 1/2 cups)); 15 ounces canned garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed; 8 pepperoncinis, thinly sliced; 10 pitted Castelvetrano olives, thinly sliced; 3 small radishes, thinly sliced; 4 ounces diced provolone; 4 ounces thinly sliced salami rounds, thinly sliced into strips; 12 cherry tomatoes, halved; 2 thinly sliced green onions; 1/2 recipe red wine vinaigrette

The best Italian Chopped Salad recipe on a platter.

We love an entree salad and consider an Italian Chopped Salad to be one of the greats! It’s so delicious, hearty and satisfying! We love how you get a little bit of everything in each forkful, making every bite the perfect bite.

You get crunch from the romaine lettuce and radicchio, some freshness from the tomatoes, some nice acidity from the pepperoncini peppers and vinaigrette, saltiness from the salami and olives, and creamy goodness from the provolone cheese and garbanzo beans. See?? This salad really has it all! Plus, you can customize it so many different ways to suit your taste (and mood!).

This salad comes together in no time. Plus you can chop everything up to a couple days ahead of time (and whisk together the vinaigrette) and then just toss all the ingredients together when you’re ready to serve it!

How to Make Our Italian Chopped Salad Recipe

Ingredients

Process

Combine shredded romaine (or little gems) and radicchio into a large salad bowl and toss together.

The base lettuce for an Italian chopped salad.

Add remaining salad ingredients.

Drizzle vinaigrette over chopped salad and toss together. Serve.

Italian chopped salad in a wood bowl tossed together.

Variations

One of our favorite things about this Italian chopped salad is the subtle tweaks you can make within the salad to really make it your own!

Not a fan of provolone? Swap it our with fresh (or part-skim) mozzarella or some shaved ricotta salata!
Radicchio too bitter for you? Just double up on romaine, use shredded cabbage (purple or green) or even shredded iceberg lettuce instead!
Make it vegetarian friendly – Omit the salami!
Add more protein – Throw in a couple chopped hard boiled eggs!
Not into pepperoncinis or olives? Omit them all together or swap them out for thinly sliced red onion!
Want a different vinaigrette or dressing option? Use your favorite Italian dressing instead!
Add even more crunch – Add some chopped cucumber and/or carrot.

Chopped Salad Serving Suggestions

Our favorite way to eat our chopped salad is as the meal itself, since it’s so hearty thanks to the garbanzo beans, provolone and salami. We usually serve it with our garlic bread, cheesy roasted garlic and herb pane bianco or our sour cream and chive drop biscuits.

There are definitely occasions that call for this salad to be served on the side. Some of our favorites dishes to serve with this salad are:

Literally any of the pastas from this list!
Our zucchini boats, which tastes just like a no-carb, sausage pizza.
So many great grilling options here that we would happily serve alongside our chopped salad!
Our pizza wheels, because who can resist a classic like pizza (with a twist!) and salad.

Prep Ahead Instuctions

Our chopped salad can be made up to 2 days ahead of time, undressed. Just store the prepared salad in a large, airtight container until ready to serve. Once ready to serve, drizzle with dressing and toss together.

Our Red Wine Vinaigrette can be made up to 10 days ahead of time and stored in an airtight bottle or jar until ready to use. When ready to use, allow vinaigrette to sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes, then shake vigorously before drizzling over salad!