Simple Italian Salad
This post may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
This Simple Italian Salad with homemade zesty vinaigrette pairs perfectly with any Italian meal. It’s quick and easy and rivals any restaurant. Serve with cheesy garlic bread to complete your dining experience!
Italian salad is our go-to side salad. Not only is it the best salad to serve with Lasagna, or French Bread Pizza but also with Three Cheese Baked Mostaccioli, One-Pot Spaghetti, Cheesy Ravioli Bake, or any pasta dish.
Table of Contents
Simple Italian Salad
Believe it or not but this old recipe has been in my mom’s recipe box for years! We always make it for holiday meals and parties and refer to it as the “Rich and Charlie’s salad” (a St. Louis Italian restaurant for over 50 years). You might also recognize this side salad as a copycat Pasta House salad recipe.
No matter what you call it, one thing always stands true with this Italian salad, it’s one of the best there is out there! Let’s face it, one of the best parts of going to an Italian restaurant is the amazing restaurant-style side salad that really sets the tone for the rest of the meal.
Now you can enjoy your favorite Italian side dish from the comfort of your own, home! Make it any time you want, for whoever you want because this recipe makes enough to feed all your family and friends too!
What’s In A Simple Italian Salad?
As I mentioned before, the Italian side salad holds a special place in my heart, so I knew I needed all the ingredients to be spot on before I ever shared the recipe. With these ingredients, you’ll come as close as you can get the traditional Pasta House or Rich and Charlie’s salad.
For specific amounts, please refer to the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Iceberg lettuce
- Romaine lettuce
- Artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
- Hearts of palm, drained and chopped
- Diced pimentos, drained
- Red onion, thinly sliced
- Italian Dressing (vinaigrette recipe below)
How To Make A Simple Italian Salad Dressing
The dressing is one of the best parts of the salad, so I highly recommend taking a few minutes to make it, instead of opting for premade salad dressing. You would think that with as many toppings as you have on this salad, the dressing wouldn’t matter, but oh it does.
It only takes a few minutes to throw together, and it’s so simple!
What You’ll Need For Homemade Italian Vinaigrette
- Olive oil
- Red wine vinegar
- Parmesan cheese
- Sugar
- Salt and pepper to taste
Combine olive oil, vinegar, cheese, and sugar in a salad cruet or jar with a lid. Secure the lid on the jar and shake until well combined. Add salt and pepper to taste. Shake again and refrigerate until ready to serve.
What Goes With A Restaurant Style Salad?
You are going to absolutely love how versatile this salad is. It goes with just about any main dish, which means you should have this recipe saved for any occasion. It’s that perfect side salad to accompany all your Italian pasta, chicken, or fish dinners, or anything you can think of.
If you’re hosting a dinner party, serve it up as a first course, along with some garlic cheese bread, followed by the main dish, and then a dessert of your choice.
If you’re hosting a buffet-style party, place it on the table along with a few accompanying side dishes like Cheesy Baked Tomatoes, and Asparagus Pasta Salad.
Tips For Making The Best Italian Salad
- Prep and chop all your ingredients first. This way you can just toss everything in instead of stopping every few minutes to go back to the cutting board.
- If you’re preparing this salad recipe in advance, don’t add the dressing until you’re ready to serve the salad or you’ll end up with a soggy salad.
- To switch things up and make it a little more filling, add cooked and cooled pasta noodles and turn it into an Italian pasta salad.
- Hearts of palm can be found near the canned artichoke hearts at the grocery store. If you’re unfamiliar, hearts of palm are slightly crunchy and tender and taste similar to artichoke hearts and water chestnuts.
How Long Does A Restaurant Style Salad Keep?
Like with any salad, the lettuce doesn’t keep very long, so, while you can make the salad slightly in advance, it’s not a recipe you can leave sitting in the refrigerator for half the week.
To make ahead of time, add the ingredients to the bowl, cover with a slightly damp paper towel and loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 24 hours.
As mentioned above, be sure you remember to not add the dressing until ready to serve.
More Salad Recipes You’ll Want To Make
Feta, Peach & Prosciutto Salad – Sweet, salty, cheesy with a hint of lemon and mint. This salad is like summer on a fork! and blows a garden salad out of the water.
Spinach Salad with Apples & Pecans in an Apple Balsamic Vinaigrette – This deliciously flavorful Spinach Salad contains only five ingredients and takes about 10 minutes to make. Perfect for lunch or dinner!
Pecan Grilled Chicken Salad – Try this fruity salad with grilled chicken is a fresh, fast, and delicious meal any time of day!
Mediterranean Quinoa Salad – This healthy vegetarian quinoa salad makes for a simple lunch or dinner, thanks to staples like roasted red bell peppers, kalamata olives and feta from your fridge and pantry.
BBQ Chicken Salad – A flavorful dinner salad that’s a favorite at our house! It’s super easy to make but tastes like it’s straight from a restaurant.
Avocado Bacon Butternut Salad with Pumpkin Vinaigrette – If there was ever a salad that represented Fall, I truly believe it’s this salad It’s truly a burst of fall flavors in an amazing healthy salad that you can serve with any meal, or for a meal itself.
Tools used to make this simple Italian salad
Salad dressing shaker: Make sure you never have separated, or chunky dressing that’s not properly mixed, and use a dressing shaker instead. It will make any homemade dressing taste like it came out of a restaurant.
Salad bowl: A good wooden salad bowl never goes unused in my house. I love having a bowl that’s big enough to serve a large salad and still looks good too.
Salad tongs: You never want to forget to mix your salad up before serving, so make sure you have a good set of salad tongs on hand.
Like This Recipe?
I’d love to hear what you think! Leave a review below and let me know how you liked the recipe!
Simple Italian Salad
This simple Italian Salad with homemade zesty vinaigrette pairs perfectly with any meal. It's quick and easy and rivals any restaurant. Serve with cheesy garlic bread to complete your dining experience!
Ingredients
- 1 head of iceberg lettuce
- 1 head of romaine lettuce
- 1 (8 or 10 ounce) jar artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
- 1 (10 ounce) can of hearts of palm, drained and chopped
- 1 (4 ounce) jar diced pimentos, drained
- 1 large red onion, thinly sliced
Dressing
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Tear up lettuce into a large bowl. Add artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, pimentos, and red onion. Mix and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Combine olive oil, vinegar, cheese and sugar in a salad cruet or jar with a lid. Secure lid on the jar and shake until well combined. Add salt and pepper to taste. Shake again and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- When ready to serve; shake dressing and pour over salad. Toss and plate.
Notes
Hearts of palm can be found near the canned artichoke hearts at the grocery store. They don't have a ton of flavor and can be left out if you'd prefer.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 249Total Fat: 21gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 7mgSodium: 245mgCarbohydrates: 12gFiber: 4gSugar: 6gProtein: 5g
Nutrition information is estimated based on the ingredients and cooking instructions as described in each recipe and is intended to be used for informational purposes only. Please note that nutrition details may vary based on methods of preparation, origin, and freshness of ingredients used and are just estimates. We encourage, especially if these numbers are important to you, to calculate these on your own for most accurate results.
Hi there, I'm Cheryl!
As a wife, mom, and caffeine enthusiast, my journey has taken me from bustling mornings with my family to sharing delicious recipes, home care tips, and heartfelt decorating insights with wonderful readers like you. My love for baking, photography, and tidiness shines through every post I craft. Dive into my world and discover the art of homemaking, one tidy moment at a time. Read more...
Tidymom is a participant in the amazon services llc associates program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Please respect my work, recipes and photographs. If you do use a recipe in your own writing, please give proper credit and link back to the original post.
This truly was simple. We love easy salads and this one really hit the spot. Will be making again, thank you!
Sometimes the simplest recipes are the best! I can see myself making this all the time!
I love the story about this salad, and I can relate to it too. It looks really tasty and easy to put together, and it would probably be great with alot of different types of dinners, or all by itself.
Do you use freshly grated parmesan cheese or the pre-grated variety found in the green shaker bottle at the grocery store? Thank you.
Also…just double checking… There is no garlic in this recipe?
I usually use fresh grated, but you can use the stuff in the green shaker if that’s all you have 😉
Correct – no garlic
Please correct the spelling of “Pimiento” for the olives. Pimento and Pimiento are NOT the same thing. Had me very confused especially since you didn’t indicate olives next to it. Thanks.
I used DeLallo Diced Pimentos -from their website the description reads: DeLallo Diced Pimentos are known as the tender red sweetness inside a classic stuffed olive. The pimento is a heart-shaped red pepper with a tender flesh and sweet aromatic flavor. Diced for kitchen convenience and ready to accent nearly any dish, pimentos are perfect for everything from salads and pizzas to cheesy dips and roasted vegetables.
Really don’t like to use sugar. Otherwise this recipe looks very clean and tasty. Wonder about leaving the sugar out?