This post may include affiliate links; see our disclosure policy.
This chopped salad will amaze everyone around the table! Homemade Italian dressing, crisp veggies and Parmesan cheese combine into one extraordinary salad.
On the lookout for a side salad to accessorize with all your meals? We’re always on the lookout for a great green salad. (It’s like your favorite pair of shoes, right?) May we present, this incredible chopped salad.
It’s classy and tight. There’s our homemade Italian dressing: tangy, savory, and herby. Add to that shallots, tomatoes, cucumber, and a zing from pepperoncini. Parmesan cheese seals the deal. Are you ready to get cooking? Because this chopped salad wants to be part of your kitchen repertoire.
How to make a chopped salad
Last weekend we served this salad at a dinner party. Wow! What’s in this salad? was murmured around the table. That’s when you know a recipe is a keeper! It looks unassuming, but it’s one of our favorites to date. What carries this chopped salad is our homemade Italian dressing recipe. The flavor is zesty and bright, full of garlic, white wine vinegar, and balanced with a touch of maple syrup. Dried basil, thyme, and oregano bring in an earthy flair. (See our dressing tips below.)
Other than the dressing, this chopped salad is just a matter of, well, chopping up all the ingredients! Here we’ve chosen ingredients that vibe on an Italian chopped salad. You can feel free to customize the veggies in this chopped salad to your liking…but we found this combination to be just about perfect:
- Crunchy veggies: shallot, cucumber, and cherry tomatoes
- Jarred pepperoncini: add a tang and a little heat
- Green olives: add just the right salty hit.
Tip for making homemade Italian salad dressing
Making homemade salad dressing is the key to a great chopped salad! Here are a few tips to making a creamy emulsion where the oil and vinegar incorporate perfectly:
- Whisk by hand with a large whisk.
- Use a medium-sized bowl to allow for enough movement of the whisk. (Trust us, we’ve done it in small bowls before and it’s almost impossible to get the oil and vinegar to meld.)
- Add the olive oil little by little. We add it tablespoon by tablespoon and whisk in between until the oil fully incorporates.
Turn chopped salad into a main dish!
This chopped salad is so tasty, you’ll want to make it for every meal! To mix it up a bit, you could turn it into a main dish salad and eat it for dinner. We’d suggest to:
- Add protein like hard boiled eggs, seared ahi tuna, or chopped chicken.
- Serve with a side like cornbread or artisan bread.
Let us know if you try out our chopped salad in the comments below!
Accessorize it!
This salad is the very definition of versatile, and pairs with just about anything, from soup to lasagna to pizza. Here are some more perfect pairings…
- Margherita Pizza
- Best Veggie Burger Recipe with Parmesan Potato Wedges (or Baked Potato Wedges)
- Baked Salmon with Chimichurri
- Tomato Basil Gnocchi Soup
- Simple Calzone Recipe
- Skillet Eggplant Marinara
- Easy Pasta Puttanesca Recipe
- The Best Vegan Meatballs
- Grilled Eggplant Parmesan
More salad recipes
Love salad? Here are a few of our most popular salad recipes to try:
- Make Easy Arugula Salad, which doesn’t even require a salad dressing
- Try Easy Kale Salad or Kale Caesar Salad
- Make a classic Perfect Caesar Salad or Italian Salad
- Make all our 60 Salad Recipes
This chopped salad recipe is…
Vegetarian and gluten-free. For vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free, omit the Parmesan cheese. (It’s still just as tasty!)
Favorite Chopped Salad
This chopped salad will amaze everyone around the table! Homemade Italian dressing, veggies and Parmesan cheese combine into one extraordinary salad.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Raw
- Cuisine: Italian Inspired
Ingredients
- 1 recipe Homemade Italian Dressing
- 1 Romaine heart (3 cups)
- 5 cups leafy lettuce
- 1 large shallot
- 1 English cucumber (2 cups chopped)
- ½ cup cherry tomatoes
- ½ cup ripe green olives, halved
- ½ cup jarred sliced pepperoncini
- ¼ cup Parmesan shavings or shreds, plus more to serve
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
Instructions
- Make the Homemade Italian Dressing.
- Chop romaine and lettuce. Thinly slice the shallot. Peel and chop cucumber. Slice tomatoes and olives in half.
- Mix together all the ingredients for the salad, including the dressing, and toss to combine. If making in advance, refrigerate the components separately; bring the dressing to room temperature before serving.
Looking for more salad recipes?
Outside of this chopped salad recipe, here are a few of our favorite salads on A Couple Cooks:
- The BEST Kale Salad
- Watermelon Salad with Feta & Cucumber
- Grilled Caesar Salad or Perfect Caesar Salad
- Greek Orzo Salad
- Strawberry Spinach Salad
- Wedge Salad with Potato Chips
- Roasted Eggplant Salad
- Mexican Coleslaw Recipe
- Favorite Potato Salad
- Black Bean Salad
- Radish Chopped Salad Recipe
- Massaged Kale Salad with Pomegranate
- California Salad with Avocado Oil Vinaigrette
- Strawberry Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette
- Cabbage Salad with Apples & Walnuts
- Southwest Salad
- Easy Nicoise Salad
- Kale Caesar Salad
- Pea Salad with Lemon Dressing
- Healthy Potato Salad with Hard Boiled Egg
- Everyday Mediterranean Salad
- Beet and Apple Salad
- French Potato Salad
- German Cucumber Salad
- Easy Salad Bar Ideas
- Best Creamy Coleslaw
Used this recipe for one of the salads to accompany roasted veggie and sausage lasagne over Christmas. This was a big hit and, as an added bonus, was easy to use as an impromptu cooking lesson for my son-in-law. Thanks!
You’re right! This salad is absolutely delicious. I followed the recipe exactly, and I would not change a thing. Definitely a new family favorite, thank you!
We took this chopped salad, and dressing — with no substitute ingredients — to a dinner party. As suggested we kept the ingredients separately bagged until it was time to assemble. It was easy to assemble on the spot and was a big hit. The hosts sent us back with a clean bowl but they discreetly kept the leftovers for themselves! Thank you for the recipe!
Thank you for the comment! I think “discreet stealing of leftovers” is the new standard for a great recipe :)
I love how you have recipes. But, I can’t really find them effectively. Ads keep popping up and.. I just want recipes and ingredients. I don’t know if it’s the server or the way your website is. I want you access your recipes and health benefits easily. I’m not going to rate you all yet because I believe it’s a website or server issue?? I want to make a nice green salad and stuffed mushrooms as well as bruschetta or a healthy garlic bread to go with my mom’s lasagna on Easter.
Hi! You can just click “jump to recipe” at the top of the page to go straight to recipe.
I made this yummy salad for a luncheon at work. I’m making it again tomorrow for my grandson’s 18th birthday family dinner. I’m serving it with homemade Stromboli and coconut cake. I know the salad will be a hit!
Made this chopped salad to accompany eggplant parmesan and it was perfect. Gave the recipe out to the guests who absolutely loved it. Thanks and love your site!
So glad you enjoyed! Thank you.
I have to provide a salad for a large group. Lasagna will be served (family meal after a funeral) and I think this will be prefect!!!
I love your salad recipes please keep them coming. Thank you.
We will!
I’m not usually a big salad eater, but I made this salad with the homemade dressing for lunch & I can concur that it is PHENOMENAL. I added chicken & hard-boiled eggs to make it a main meal, and served with a side of cornbread. I’ll definitely be making this again in the future!
So glad you loved it!
Thank you for sharing this recipe. We love to eat them😋pair with seafoods or chicken bbq.
I just want to thank you for sharing this recipe – THANK YOU! I take a salad to work for lunch most days and was in dire need of something new. I’m not sure how I stumbled onto this recipe, but I am so thrilled I did. I just ate it for lunch and it is DELICIOUS!!! (I prepped all ingredients and will enjoy it the rest of the week!) I love the crunchy, the salty, the tangy tastes, etc. And, the Homemade Italian Dressing is the BOMB, and was the perfect compliment.
So glad to hear this! Thank you for making it :)
The chopped salad recipe is awesome and especially the ranch dressing, Italian, and Thousand Island dressings. They are what I call professional tasting as if you got them from a professional chef. I have also tried the croutons. That is probably the best recipe I have had. Thank you so much. Can’t wait to try more.