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.
This salad is a keeper and will be making often! Loved the dressing and the herb flavors. This is the perfect salad!!! Thanks for the great recipe.
Delicious!
I have cooked so many of your wonderful recipes…always delicious, always easy to follow, have recommended your site to friends, have bought your book…I’m a devoted follower…
But one thing puzzles me: the ‘Big Italian Salad” include sugar. As the daughter of an Italian mother, a Greek father, and a veteran of many trips to Italy, why add sugar to this recipe? I made the salad to accompany the truly fabulous ziti, … But never made it again.
Hi Diana, so glad you enjoy the recipes! I add the sugar to the dressing to balance out the other flavors, but sorry that this one was a “fail” for you.
Made this salad last night with baked ziti. My husband commented more than once how much he liked the salad during dinner and again today while finishing the leftovers. I’m not sure which ingredient caused the complete personality change (liking salad and eating leftovers) but keep it up and if you have a recipe that will get him to help with vacuuming please pass it on!
LOL — glad it was a hit!!
The flavors were great. My guests raved about it. I added avocado. I couldn’t get it to “liquify” the herbs enough, it had a lot of little pieces of parsley and basil. I think it would be better made in a blender (which I don’t have) or a small food processor.
Very tasty salad!!! Everybody in the family approved (and these are teenage guys) thank you.. the dressing is very tasty!!
Have made this salad several times. Always a hit. My nieces now ask me to make the salad with the green dressing! Simply delicious salad.
Loved this salad and dressing!! We paired it with homemade meatballs and pasta with crusty bread. We used the left over dressing as a dipping sauce for the crusty bread YUM!! I did add some green onions which pared nicely with the other greens. We will definitely use this again and again. Thanks for sharing!
Made this and loved it! Will become a regular go to dressing. Thank you for posting!
Hi Jenn,
If I only have the curly parsley and not the Italian, do you think it will make a noticeable difference?
No, it should be fine. Enjoy!
You (everbody) needs to try this salad dressing…
Made today to acompany lasagne.
I used balsamic instead of red wine vinegar, worked a treat.
It was fantastic, really really nice & thank you, some left over for tomorrow too which I’m happy about 🙂
I will definitely use again (after tomorrow ;p)
Thanks again..