Italian Salad
Posted Jun 17, 2026
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This Italian salad recipe is a hearty, irresistible salad perfect for feeding a crowd. It’s my family’s favorite salad and can be served as a main dish, or as a side to your favorite Italian dishes.
This Italian salad recipe is my family’s favorite salad.
I kid you not, the first time I made it I thought they might not love it – but they ate the entire salad and fought over who got to have thirds. So it’s safe to say this is a total winner of a recipe.
It’s a hearty, savory salad that has so many delicious ingredients like black olives, pepperoni, tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, mozzarella pearls, and an incredible (and easy) homemade Italian dressing.
This Italian salad can be served as a meal on its own with some grilled chicken, or as a side to your favorite Italian recipes, especially these caprese sandwiches!
Italian Salad: Ingredients & Substitutions
- Romaine. You can use your favorite lettuce like spring mix, iceberg, etc.
- Red onion. Green onion works well in place of red.
- Baby tomatoes. Use your favorite tomatoes. If using larger tomatoes, dice them into bite-sized pieces.
- Pearl Mozzarella. If you can’t find the pearl mozzarella balls, you can cut up a whole log of fresh mozzarella. Or use burrata cheese.
- Dressing: See this post for dressing substitute ideas.
- French bread. Any bread works well to make croutons. Or you can use store-bought croutons to make it easier, but homemade really are the best.
How to Make Italian Salad
There are a few components to this Italian salad recipe – I prefer to make them all from scratch, but you can also use store-bought croutons and dressing to make it even easier.
Make the Dressing
Since the dressing is best when it sits for a while before serving, I suggest making it first (even a day or two in advance if you think about it). All you have to do is add the ingredients to a glass jar and shake until they’re combined. See this Italian dressing recipe for more info!
Make the Croutons
Then, when you’re about ready to assemble and serve the salad, start making the croutons. Toss cubes of bread with olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
Then spread the bread out on a pan and bake until slightly crispy on the outside but still a little soft in the center. Trust me, so so good.
Assemble the Salad
While the croutons are baking, assemble the salad. Start by layering the ingredients on a large serving plate.
You can toss them in a bowl with the dressing, but I prefer to serve it this way because it looks pretty and it’s easy for people to get all the ingredients in one scoop.
Make sure to reserve about 2 Tablespoons of each ingredient to use as a garnish on the top of the salad if you’d like to give it a pretty presentation.
Top with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese and some pepperoncinis. I perefer to put whole pepperoncini peppers around the outside for presentation, but you can also slice them up and put them on top of the salad.
Make sure to add the freshly baked, slightly warm croutons on top last. If you mix them in with the other wet ingredients they can become soggy.
If desired, drizzle the dressing over the salad. Or, you can serve it undressed and just serve the dressing on the side. This is a great choice if you think you’ll have leftovers, because salad without dressing keeps better in the fridge.
Serve
Serve the salad with Italian dressing and some grilled chicken or your favorite Italian recipes like pesto pasta (such a summery combination), homemade meatballs, or caprese sandwiches.
More Delicious Salad Recipes
If you like this Italian salad, you’ll love these recipes!
- Burrata salad is my fave!
- Pasta salad with homemade dressing
- Strawberry Spinach salad is super easy and impressive.
- Fresh beet salad
- Green salad with apples
- And this Kale salad!
Store
Store leftover Italian salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 days. If it’s dressed, it will likely only last 1 day. If it does not have dressing on it, it will last longer.
Italian Salad Recipe FAQS
A classic Italian salad usually includes lettuce (like romaine or iceberg), tomatoes, red onion, olives, pepperoncinis, croutons, Parmesan and mozzarella cheese, tossed in an herby Italian dressing.
Romaine is the most authentic because it’s crisp and holds up with all the hearty toppings and dressing, but iceberg or spring mix works too.
You can prep the ingredients in advance. Make the dressing, chop the veggies, prep the croutons, etc. But it’s best when it’s assembled and served fresh. You can assemble it up to 1 hour in advance and store it loosely covered in plastic wrap in the fridge until serving.
Grilled chicken, salami, pepperoni, chickpeas, and hard-boiled eggs are great additions to turn this salad into a higher-protein one!
Being from Chicago, I’d like to say yes because they’re so classic. But they are mild, tangy peppers that add a signature Italian flavor. They’re optional, but highly recommended for that classic taste!
If you make and love my recipes, it would mean so much to me if you would leave a comment and rating! And don’t forget to follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, TikTok and Youtube – be sure to tag @joyfoodsunshine and use the hashtag #joyfoodsunshine so I can see your creations!
Italian Salad Recipe
Video
Equipment
- chef's knife
Ingredients
- 8 ounces romaine lettuce (chopped, 2 romain hearts)
- ½ red onion (thinly sliced)
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes (halved)
- 2 ounces Pepperoni (a loosely packed 1 cup, cut into quarters)
- 8 ounces pearl mozzarella cheese
- 2.25 ounces Black olives (½ cup)
- 1 cucumber (peeled and diced)
- ¼ cup fresh basil (chopped)
- 2 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese
- 6 large Pepperoncini (whole for garnish or sliced and put inside the salad)
Italian Salad Dressing
- ½ cup olive oil
- 3 Tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried crushed rosemary
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Croutons
- 3 cups French bread (cut or torn into ½” or bite sized cubes)
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
Make the Dressing
- Combine the dressing ingredients in a glass jar or small mixing bowl and shake or whisk to combine.
- Store in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving.
Make the Croutons
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177 degrees Celsius). Lightly grease a large baking sheet, set aside.
- Toss bread with olive oil salt and garlic powder and stir.
- Spread evenly on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on how crispy you want (shorter for softer croutons). Set aside.
Assemble the Salad
- Evenly spread the lettuce in the bottom of a large, shallow serving bowl.
- Add the remaining ingredients in the order listed. Reserving about 2 Tbs of each to garnish after the salad has been tossed.
- Toss with dressing.
- Transfer salad to a serving dish, garnish and serve.
- Or you can serve the dressing on the side (I prefer to do this because the salad keeps better).
Notes
- Romaine. You can use your favorite lettuce like spring mix, iceberg, etc.
- Red onion. Green onion works well in place of red.
- Baby tomatoes. Use your favorite tomatoes. If using larger tomatoes, dice them into bite-sized pieces.
- Pearl Mozzarella. If you can’t find the pearl mozzarella balls, you can cut up a whole log of fresh mozzarella. Or use burrata cheese.
- Dressing: see this post for dressing substitute ideas.
- French bread. Any bread works well to make croutons.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
