Italian Chopped Salad

All your favorite things about Antipasto Platters combine into this super tasty Italian Chopped Salad! Fresh crunchy lettuce and juicy tomatoes pair perfectly with cubed cheese and slivered salami. From there, depth of flavor is added with roasted red peppers, olives, and pepperoncini. All in all this salad is a meal unto itself and perfect paired with your favorite Italian pasta dinners, or anything from the grill as well.

We love this salad so much that it can be hard to make anything else, (besides my Caesar Salad I suppose)! It’s based on the famous salad from Nancy Silverton from Pizzeria Mozza in LA. And that is probably why it’s also sometimes referred to as the LA chop.

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Lettuce – iceberg lettuce is traditional in this salad for its refreshing crunch, but romaine lettuce would be my second choice.
• Radicchio – is part of the chicory family and adds both nice color contrast and a slightly bitter depth to this salad. It can be expensive at times, so I recommend leaving it out when it’s not affordable, or adding some chicory from a box of spring mix instead.
• Tomatoes – cherry tomatoes are my favorite to use because they’re the most reliable for quality of flavor and hold up well in this salad. You can also leave them out when they’re not in season. Chopped cucumber is sometimes included in this salad, but I only add it when I have lots on hand in the summer.
• Salami – I like to use Genoa salami for its savory flavor that isn’t overwhelming. Once in a while, it’s nice to mix things up with a spicy salami.
• Cheese – I like to use a mix of 2 cheeses in this salad. In the summer months, I use halved mozzarella balls, sometimes called mozzarella pearls, and grated parmesan cheese. In the colder months, I sub in cubed Provolone cheese for the fresh mozzarella.
• Canned veggies – I use a mix of roasted red pepper and pepperoncini in my salad and usually leave out the traditional olives, but you can customize them to your taste.
• Onion – slivered red onion adds a lot of savory flavor to this salad, you could also use thinly sliced shallot. Yellow and white onions are a bit too forward in this salad, but you could reduce the amount if you don’t have a red onion.
• Dressing – the dressing is a red wine vinaigrette made up of extra-virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, and oregano. This salad traditionally has a lot of oregano in it. I’ve reduced it a bit, but I do find a large amount tastes really good, so don’t shy away!

Step 1: Start by whisking together the vinaigrette in a medium-sized bowl. The dressing will separate as it sits, simply whisk it back together before serving. You can also shake the dressing together in a mason jar as well.

The reason you want to make it right away is so the dried oregano flavor has time to develop while you make the salad.

Step 2: While the dressing sits, chop up the lettuce into bite-sized pieces and use a salad spinner to wash it.

Step 3: Thinly slice up the radicchio if you’re using it and use a salad spinner to wash and spin it dry.

Add it with the lettuce into a large serving bowl. Finish cutting up the rest of the veggies you’re using and add them to the serving bowl as well.

Step 4: Thinly slice the sliced salami into ribbons. You want to make sure there’s salami in almost every bite of salad.

Step 5: Once you’ve chopped up all the ingredients and added them to a serving bowl, toss the salad with the oregano vinaigrette before serving. Or you can serve the salad and dressing separately if desired.

By this point you’ll know why it’s called the ‘LA Chop‘ there’s definitely a lot of chopping, but it’s so worth it!

Ways to serve this

• This salad is perfect paired with your favorite Italian-inspired meal of any kind. We love to serve it with my Gluten Free Lasagna, Sausage Broccoli Pasta, or Creamy Tuscan Pasta. It’s also wonderful with my Garlic Butter Shrimp Pasta or creamy Garlic Parmesan Pasta.
• It’s also wonderful paired with simple main dishes like my Tuscan Steak, Pork Sirloin Roast, Pork Tenderloin, or Herb Roasted Chicken.
• This salad is filling enough to be dinner on its own or added some chicken for more protein. Grilled, roasted chicken, or leftover rotisserie chicken all works great. Shrimp, salmon, or pork chops all go well with this salad as well as any kind of steak you love.

Storing leftovers

• To store – store each of the salad ingredients separately for 3-4 days. If you toss the salad together without the dressing it will keep refrigerated for 1-2 days. If you toss it with the dressing, it will keep refrigerated until lunch the next day, but it will be a bit soggy, (we’ve never minded though).
• Make ahead – you can make the dressing ahead and refrigerate it for up to 1 week. Let it come back to room temperature before using. The ingredients for the salad can be prepped and stored separately for 2-3 days as well before tossing together.

Dietary Options & Substitutions

• Dairy-free – omit the cheese for dairy-free, and there are still plenty of flavors to go around.
• Paleo – omit the cheese and be sure there are no additives in the salami you choose.
• Seasonal – omit the tomatoes when they’re not in season and use jarred veggies like roasted red pepper and pepperoncini.

More Salad Recipe Inspiration

• Salmon Chopped Salad
• Strawberry Spinach Salad
• Best Broccoli Salad
• Easy Green Salad
• Vietnamese Chicken Salad