Big Italian Salad
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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.
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I made this salad for a potluck…talk about YUM!!! Not to worry about extra dressing. I made myself a smaller version to eat for lunch the rest of the week🥰 Thanks for a delicious recipe!
Great salad! The colors are beautiful and the flavors all work well together. I learned long ago the yumminess of homemade dressings. You can never go back to bottled! Thanks for sharing a wonderful recipe🥰
Seriously the best salad ever! I make it for almost every gathering and have never left without someone requesting the recipe.
Love, love, love this fresh, light salad. ♥️
Can I freeze batches of this dressing? I have a TON of basil in the garden and one can only eat so much pesto in a year. I was hoping that maybe I could freeze it and have delicious dressing all year. Thanks!
Hi, I’ve never frozen it so I can’t say for sure, but a few readers have commented that they have frozen it successfully. 🙂
Absolutely awesome salad/dressing and crowd pleaser… thank you so much for sharing:-)
I made this salad to take to a Father’s Day get together and everyone loved it! So did I! I was craving it so much the next day that I made a smaller version for home.
Kim W.
California
🙂
Hello Jenn. I must tell you, your recipes are amazing. World class. I have made several dishes with your recipes. WOW. Keep up the great work.
❤️
Absolutely delicious salad, although the dressing would probably do for 12 people rather than 6! I will definitely make (a half portion) again!
I made this salad for my dinner club and it was a hit. Easy, fresh and delicious. Goes great with the bolognese recipe on this site, which was made unplanned by another member of our group!
So delicious! I have eaten this for 4 days this week!!! So refreshing and easy. Love all your recipes (especially your desserts)!
I’ve made this salad for two dinner parties and both times everyone raved about it. The dressing is the perfect combination of sweet, salty, tangy, just like Jenn promised. It tastes so incredibly fresh and the best part is you can prepare it a few hours in advanced and just leave it to chill in the fridge until serving time. I’m never going back to bottled Italian dressing after this.
I’m not a fan of parsley. Is there something I could substitute?
Hi Jane, you can just use more basil in place of the parsley. Hope you enjoy! 🙂
Wow!!! I don’t know what I missed but i do not like this dressing at all! Jen’s blog and cookbook are pretty much the only places I go for my daily cooking these days and I have never been disappointed. That’s why I was excited to use this salad for my dinner party tomorrow. Good thing I made it a head of time! Now I can move on to plan B.