This Italian Chopped Salad is a light, yet hearty salad that tastes like your favorite Italian sub sandwich without the bread!
This Italian Chopped Salad is one of my all-time favorites – I make it often since I always have the ingredients on hand. So flavorful and healthy, and since the ingredients are all chopped, every bite has all the goodies!
Perfectly served on its own since it’s hearty and filling, but wonderful as a side dish, too. I often bring it to summer barbecues and potlucks. Everyone loves it!
Italian Chopped Salad Recipe
Chopped Italian Salad Ingredients:
- Pasta – Ditalini is the base of this salad and one of my favorite tiny noodles. If you can’t find it, macaroni is a good substitute.
- Lettuce – Romaine is fresh crisp, and a beautiful green. You could also use iceberg and/or spinach.
- Chickpeas – Canned for ease.
- Summer sausage – We love this meat in salads. It’s a little tangy and so delicious. If you need the salad to be vegetarian, simply omit it.
- Provolone – This cheese is mild and buttery, with a subtle nutty flavor. We love it. Mozzarella can be used instead, if you prefer.
- Cherry tomatoes – These sweet juicy gems balance out the crisp lettuce and pasta.
- Marinated artichoke hearts – Wonderfully tangy, citrus-y, and earthy, we love these in this salad.
- Pimento stuffed olives – These add a nice salty, zesty flavor. Olives not your thing? Leave them out.
- Green onions – For a subtle onion, peppery flavor.
- Dressing – We use our favorite homemade Italian Dressing, which is a simple vinaigrette made with olive oil, red wine vinegar, Parmesan cheese, honey, lemon juice, garlic, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and our Italian Seasoning blend. It’s light, bright, and super easy to whip up.
Italian Chopped Salad Video
Other Pasta Salad Recipes
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Italian Chopped Salad
This Italian Chopped Salad is a light, yet hearty salad that tastes like your favorite Italian sub sandwich without the bread! Great as a side, for lunch, summer potlucks, or any time of year!
Servings: 10
Ingredients
- 1 cup ditalini pasta
- 3 cups chopped Romaine lettuce
- 15 once (1 can) chickpeas ,drained
- 1 cup cubed summer sausage
- 1 cup cubed Provolone (or Mozzarella)
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes ,halved
- 1 cup marinated artichoke hearts ,drained and chopped
- 1/4 cup pimento stuffed olives ,halved
- 1/2 cup diced green onions
For The Dressing
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 cloves garlic ,minced
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil; cook pasta until al dente according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water. Drizzle with a little olive oil to prevent sticking.
- In a large bowl, add the cooked pasta, Romaine, chickpeas, sausage, cheese, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, olives, and green onions.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all the the ingredients for the dressing, except the olive oil. Then slowly stream in the olive oil to emulsify. (Alternatively, you can place all the ingredients in a jar with a lid and shake until completely combined and thickened.) Drizzle over all the salad ingredients and gently toss to coat.
- Serve immediately or chill for an hour and enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
Serving: 10servings | Calories: 302kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 18mg | Sodium: 584mg | Potassium: 184mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 1680IU | Vitamin C: 9.3mg | Calcium: 125mg | Iron: 1.1mg
Other Notes
This is a winner. Made this as a side for a church Wednesday night dinner. Rave reviews. I suggest using mini pepperoni in place of summer sausage. It is the perfect size and adds the perfect flavor for an Italian salad. Also, chopped Vidalia onion is good too.
I’m not a fan of summer sausage, what would be a good substitution? And.. thank you for having a dressing that doesn’t include mayonnaise :)
Hi Lisa – Do you like ham? That would work.
Delicious mix of flavors
So sorry you’ve been sick. My family doesn’t care for olives. Do you have a suggestion for a replacement? Thanks.
Hi Millie! You can just omit them. The salad will still be wonderful.
What a beautiful salad, and it could be adjusted to taste! I am a huge salad fan and always appreciate new salad inspiration. Thanks for this.
Delicious salad! Huge hit at my quilt retreat. So sorry you had pneumonia. Had it once. Thought it was the end. Take care.
Looks yummy, what do you consider summer sausage, the picture resembles genoa salami?
It is similar to salami in taste, but it is not sliced thin. It comes in a large, long tube-like package. I would recommend Googling it to see what it looks like.
Thank you for this recipe. I made exactly as instructed and took it to a potluck. It was delicious. I will definitely make it again.
Made this for dinner and left overs are for lunches! Used black olives instead of green. Delicious and my kids like it too!
So happy to hear it!
How many calories are in the Italian chopped salad?
Hi Rebecca – there are nutritional calculators available online that can figure that information out for you by plugging in the information. Thanks!
I just made your Italian Salad, and it looks fantastic!! I’m a little weird, and I REALLY don’t taste my creation until its done.The Main ingredients are chilling down, as is the dressing, and olive oil chilling seperatly. Once everything is nice n cold, mix, mix, serve, serve, and, PIGOUT!!! Ill let you know!!
Aren’t those grape tomatoes? I thought cherry tomatoes were over an inch in diameter . . . ?
You can use either.
Cherry tomatoes can be small as in picture or larger, quarter size. Larger ones would be best cut into 4ths so as to be the same size as other imgredients. That is often what is done in a chopped salad. Same size ingredients.
AW HE TRIED. That is seriously the best. <3 I still love how alike he and Steve are in that way though – Steve doesn't cook, but he vacuums, mops, dusts, does laundry, cleans cat boxes, etc. etc. etc. A fair trade? (I probably get the better deal!)
So happy you are finally getting better!
I totally got the better deal. I think I would literally die without him!
This Italian chopped salad looks delicious and can’t wait to try it. Pneumonia is no fun and really zaps your energy. I sincerely hope you get over this soon. Thank you for this wonderful recipe. Take good care.
Karen
Thank you, Karen!