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Italian Salad is one of my favorite salad recipes. This vegetarian dish is full of fresh greens and veggies, artichoke hearts, mozzarella, tomatoes, and topped with a zesty homemade Italian dressing.

This easy salad recipe can we whipped together super fast for a quick lunch, or served as a side salad with your favorite pasta dish. I love a versatile salad.

You can mix the Italian dressing right in with the salad, or serve it in a small pitcher so people can put as much as they want on their salad.

Zesty Italian Salad Recipe with Dressing

Table of Contents hide

1 Italian Salad Ingredients

2 How to Make Italian Salad

3 What Can I Eat with Italian Salad?

4 Possible Italian Salad Variations

5 Can I Use Already Marinated Artichokes for this Salad?

6 Storage Instructions

7 Zesty Italian Salad

Italian Salad Ingredients

To make this delicious Italian salad recipe, you will need the following ingredients (see the full recipe below for detailed amounts):

Romaine: or any green lettuce
Artichoke hearts: drained and patted dry
More fresh vegetables: cherry tomatoes, red bell pepper, red onion, and cucumber are my veggies of choice for this salad
Mozzarella pearls: these little balls of cheese bring me such joy
Fresh basil leaves: because we are real Italians (this is optional)
Italian salad dressing: extra virgin olive oil (or avocado oil), white wine vinegar, sugar, fresh thyme, dry mustard, Italian seasoning, garlic, salt and pepper.

How to Make Italian Salad

Make the Dressing. Shake or whisk together olive oil, white wine vinegar, sugar, thyme, dry mustard, Italian seasoning, garlic, and salt and pepper until well blended. Set aside.
Make the salad. Combine the rest of the salad ingredients together in a large salad bowl. Pour dressing over salad and toss to combine.
Season the salad. Add more salt and pepper as needed. Enjoy!

What Can I Eat with Italian Salad?

Italian salad can be used for multiple different types of dishes. My favorite way to eat this is by itself as a balanced lunch. It has the perfect blend of crunchy, tangy goodness.

You can put salami or sliced grilled chicken into the salad for a complete meal. You can also eat this as a side salad alongside your favorite fish or meat. I like to eat it with Garlic Parmesan Noodles or Bruschetta Chicken.

For a vegetarian option, you can add chickpeas or quinoa inside of this salad.

Possible Italian Salad Variations

Because the artichokes are a staple in this dish, I wouldn’t recommend removing it and replacing it with another ingredient. Instead, try these substitutions:

Consider including sliced black or kalamata olives
Add in pepperoncini peppers
Cubed or sliced salami are great additions to this Italian salad
Drizzle some balsamic over the salad
Top off the salad with grated parmesan cheese and croutons

Can I Use Already Marinated Artichokes for this Salad?

You can use marinated artichokes for this salad. The flavors usually already compliment those used in the salad dressing, so it won’t negatively affect the salad. I recommend draining and patting the artichokes dry so that the salad isn’t being overpowered by the flavor of artichokes.

Storage Instructions

This salad is best when eaten fresh, the day that you make it. It does not keep very well overnight because the green lettuce tends to wilt quickly.

If you would like to make it ahead of time, I recommend preparing and cutting all the ingredients and storing them separately. Combine the ingredients just before you are ready to serve.