Antipasto Chopped Salad

A wooden bowl featuring a variety of salad toppings, including red onion, olives, sundried tomatoes, etc.

Fall in love with this Antipasto Chopped Salad! It has all of your favorite Italian flavors in one bowl. Ready in less than 20 minutes!

Course Main Course, Main Dishes, Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 20

Total Time 25

Servings servings

Calories 431

Author Dorothy Bigelow

Ingredients

2 heads romaine lettuce finely chopped*
10 ounces antipasto meats** (salami, prosciutto, mortadella, etc), chopped (275 grams)
1 small red onion diced
1 medium green bell pepper diced (optional)
⅓ cup sliced roasted red peppers drained before measuring (optional)
⅓ cup sliced sundried tomatoes drained before measuring
⅔ cup chopped Italian olives
⅔ cup chopped marinated artichokes drained before measuring
1 ½ cups bocconcini (mini mozzarella balls) drained and quartered (or halved)(200g container)
¼ cup chopped fresh basil loosely packed(optional)
¼ cup finely shredded parmesan cheese

Antipasto dressing:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar*
½ teaspoon dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon black pepper
Salt to taste (a pinch or so)

Instructions

Wash and spin the chopped romaine lettuce. Add it to a very large bowl.
Finely chop the antipasto or charcuterie-style meats of your choice.
Add chopped meats, red onion, green bell pepper, roasted red pepper, sundried tomatoes, Italian olives, artichokes, mini mozzarella balls (bocconcini), basil (optional), and shredded parmesan cheese to the bowl of lettuce.
Toss the ingredients together until well combined.
Add the dressing ingredients to a small jar and whisk vigorously (or blend with a mini frother) to combine.
Pour the antipasto dressing over the salad, then toss until the dressing is well distributed.
Taste and adjust ingredients as desired, then serve and enjoy!

Notes

Storage: Transfer leftovers to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The salad will become a bit “wet” during storage, but it will still taste good!

Make ahead: For the best results, we recommend assembling the separate ingredients in advance, but not dressing the salad (or tossing it, if possible) until 1 hour before serving. This keeps the lettuce as crisp as possible.

*Chopping romaine lettuce: Remove any wilted outer leaves and slice off the tips of each head. Slice the head of lettuce in half widthwise, and place the flat part of the lettuce on the cutting board. Make 5-6 vertical cuts, almost all the way back to the root end. Then, slice horizontally. This will create bite-sized pieces of lettuce that are about 1” in size. Repeat with the second head of lettuce.

**Antipasto meats: A good variety makes for better flavor. When using just 2-3 different types, we found the salad needed more meat (nearly double) to have a comparable flavor. We had the best success with using a multi-pack Antipasto meat tray we found at Costco, which had about 5-6 different types of meat with a variety of flavors.

***Types of vinegar: White wine vinegar has the most subtle flavor, but red wine vinegar can be used instead if you prefer a stronger taste. White vinegar is too strong and not recommended.

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