Big Italian Salad
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
This big Italian salad is loaded with big flavor, fresh veggies, and zesty homemade dressing—just the kind of salad that makes any dinner feel special.
This big Italian salad is my go-to for deep dish pizza, spaghetti and meatballs, bolognese, pasta e fagioli, baked ziti, or anything else in that Italian comfort food realm. The homemade dressing is what makes it so good. Think of it as a much, much-improved version of that bottled Italian vinaigrette sitting in your fridge door. It takes just a few minutes to make—and if you’re used to the beige bottled stuff, you’ll be surprised to see how fresh herbs make this vinaigrette a beautiful and vibrant green.
Feel free to get creative with this salad—swap in your favorite veggies or add some diced salami, prosciutto, or grilled chicken, or roasted chickpeas for a protein boost. Topping it off with homemade croutons would also be delicious.
“We LOVE this salad!! Sometimes I add pepperoncini and artichoke hearts. The dressing is so fresh and herby. It’s our go-to salad for Italian dinners.”
What You’ll Need To Make A Big Italian Salad
- Herbs: Fresh basil and parsley bring fresh herb flavor to the dressing, while dried oregano adds that classic taste. (Pro tip: Many chefs prefer dried oregano over fresh because drying concentrates its earthy, slightly peppery flavor while also mellowing out the bitterness that fresh oregano can sometimes have.)
- Red wine vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, honey, and garlic: Combine to create a balanced vinaigrette that’s tangy, slightly sweet, and rich with a garlicky flavor.
- Romaine lettuce: Crisp and refreshing—pre-washed romaine hearts make it easy.
- Romaine lettuce, red bell pepper, cucumbers, carrots, and grape tomatoes: This mix of greens and veggies adds crispness, vibrant color, sweetness, and crunch.
- Pitted olives and ricotta salata or feta cheese: Bring briny, salty, and creamy richness to the salad.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Make the dressing. In a food processor, combine the parsley, basil, oregano, garlic, red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, and honey. Pulse until blended.
Step 2: Toss the salad and adjust to taste. Add all the salad ingredients to a large bowl. Right before serving, pour on about half the dressing and toss well. Add more dressing as needed—the greens should be generously coated. Taste and season with extra salt and pepper, if needed.
Pro tip: Save any extra dressing for another time—it lasts nicely in the fridge for up to 4 days and is great on just about everything, from sandwiches and grilled veggies to roasted potatoes.
More Italian salads and dressings you may like
Big Italian Salad
Ingredients
For the Vinaigrette
- 1 cup loosely packed fresh Italian parsley leaves
- 1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- ⅓ cup red wine vinegar, best quality such as Pompeian Gourmet
- ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil, best quality such as Lucini or Colavita
- Heaping ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons honey
For the Salad
- 1 large head romaine lettuce, or 3 hearts, washed, dried and cut into large, bite-sized pieces
- 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 cup seeded and chopped hothouse cucumbers
- 1 to 2 carrots, peeled into ribbons
- Handful grape tomatoes, halved
- Handful pitted olives
- Ricotta Salata or Feta, crumbled to taste
Instructions
- Make the dressing: Combine all dressing ingredients in a food processor and blitz to blend.
- Place all of the salad ingredients except for the cheese in a large bowl. Right before serving, add about half of the dressing and toss well. Add more dressing little by little as necessary; be sure to dress greens very generously, otherwise salad will be bland. Toss in the cheese, then taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, if necessary.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
See more recipes:
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
For me the best part of this recipe is the dressing. The stuff is amazing! I can feel the nutrition and goodness coursing through my veins after eating it. I will even use it as a spread on artisan crusty bread. I use a lot of basil. Those large plastic tubs, I use the whole thing. Then strip the leaves off an entire bunch of parsley and put all that in. Next I add oregano, one of those plastic containers of fresh organic oregano that hang on the rack, strip off the leaves and use it all. Then the garlic, salt, pepper, and honey. This makes a big batch, so I add at least a whole cup of olive oil and a half cup of good red wine vinegar. I was short on red wine vinegar tonight and added balsamic vinegar and some dry red wine to make up the difference. Came out fantastic. Oh, my food processer is not large enough to hold it all, so I blend it all up in a Blentec blender.
Had this over the weekend for family and it was a huge hit– everyone raved about it! I made a massive salad, eyeballed all of the salad components and used the whole jar of dressing and it was delicious. Basically was like a big marinated veggie salad. Used feta instead of ricotta salata because I couldn’t find it. I can’t wait to make this again!
I love this salad. I usually have the basil dressing in my refrigerator ready to go. This is one of the favorite salads and I make it often. Thank you!
I want to make a chef salad with chunks of deli meat. Will this dressing work? Would you have a preferred deli salad recipe?
Sure, Gay, I think this dressing would work nicely here. You could also consider this one, which has a bit of a Mediterranean bent, but is delicious on just about anything!
Awesome dressing!! (I didn’t have any parsley on hand so used cilantro instead. IT was delicious. Kids begged to have it for lunch the next day!)
Can’t wait to try this with the parsley.
This is, without question, the greatest salad I’ve ever had! The dressing is incredible!! I’ve since made the dressing at least 10x! I cannot even believe how good it is! I’ve had numerous friends ask for the recipe & I send them here 🙂
Made the Big Italian Salad tonight to go along with pizza. It was a huge hit with everyone. Had lots of pizza left but no salad left! Will definitely be making this again!!
Absolutely amazing!! I have made the dressing – once using a Sicilian Lemon Vinigrette and once with a grapefruit Vinigrette and basil infused olive oil —so fantastic!! Thank you so much for sharing!
Made this salad for guests for a pizza night…there was lots of pizza left over but no salad! Love the dressing!! I used green olives, added garbanzo beans, and used shaved parmesan cheese. Will definitely be using this recipe again.
Hi Jen,
I am making this salad for 12 people; do you think I should make double the dressing, in case one batch isn’t enough? I have made it before for 12, but cannot remember what I did!
Thank you!
Debbie
I think doubling it would be perfect. And if you have any left over, it keeps nicely for 2 – 3 days.