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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Delicious!
Hi, I’m excited to try this recipe. I was unable to get fresh basil, would stir-in basil paste work? The tube of paste says tablespoon of paste equals tablespoon of fresh. Thank you!
Hi Tracey, I’ve never tried that so I can’t say for sure, but I think it would work. You can also replace the basil with additional parsley. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it!
I know this is a little late, but fresh good quality basil is hard to find around here this time of year. I eliminated the basil, the garlic, and the salt (until final adjustment of seasoning) from the dressing and the cheese from the salad and replaced those items with 1/2 cup of Costco Pesto in the vinaigrette. I don’t know how close I got to the original recipe’s taste, but my husband definitely thought this one was a keeper. Thank you Jenn for the inspiration.
How long does the dressing keep for?
Hi Leanne, it lasts nicely for up to 4 days.
Hi!! Thanks so much for the recipe, was wondering if this was freezer friendly if I have left overs?
Hi Carlee, I’m assuming you mean the dressing? If so, I’ve never frozen it, but a few readers have commented that they have successfully.
Hi Jenn!
I want to make this salad, but my fiancée is allergic to red wine vinegar. What would you recommend as a substitution? I was thinking maybe champagne vinegar. If I use that, would you add anything else?
Also, I love your website and cookbook. Everything of yours that I’ve made is delicious. Thanks for sharing your recipes!
So glad you like the recipes! I think you could get away with champagne vinegar or balsamic vinegar. Hope you both enjoy! 🙂
Thanks for weighing in! I made it with champagne vinegar and it was delicious. I bet balsamic would be great too.
As a side note, I served this as a side with steak but I think next time I’ll top it with crab cakes for a light dinner. (Jenn, the crab cakes in your cookbook are my favorite!) It reminds me a bit of salads at Burton’s Grill in New England that are divine topped with crab cakes.
Will make this many times again for sure.
What a hit this salad was last night! Had it with Turkey lasagna. The dressing is so delicious! Will certainly make this again. Would be great as a main course with grilled chicken.
I bought all the ingredients to make the salad and dressing for dinner tonight and then realized I forgot to buy the parsley.
Do you think it’ll make much of a difference if I don’t put the parsley in?
Hi Diana, assuming you have enough, you can just use more basil in place of the parsley. Enjoy!
This is absolutely fantastic! Wow. Keeper. I’m going to attempt do a reduced olive oil/fat version today. Has anyone tried freezing it?
Made this for our Italian friends and they agreed, it is delicious. I added an avocado which allowed the dressing to adhere to the lettuce. So flavorful! This will be a staple with large crowds. Thank you
Making this salad today. Are the olives in this salad Kalamata?
Yep 🙂
Rave reviews! “I could eat this everyday!”, “best salad of my life!” were the comments around the table. Made with your turkey spinach meatballs and Parmesan potatoes which were also big hits. Love your recipes!
🙂