Colorful Italian chopped salad is both sweet and tangy, crunchy and juicy, and altogether harmonious. Radicchio and fennel add interest to leafy romaine while sweet bell peppers balance briny green olives and pepperoncini. Make this Italian chopped salad recipe once and eat it for lunch all week long.

A close up of the ingredients for the chopped salad neatly arranged in a serving bowl, just before being tossed together. Next to this is a bowl of the vinaigrette, lemons, a cloth napkin, and bowls of salt, pepper, vinegrette and pepperoncini. — Photo Credits: Katherine Irwin

Few things are better than having a crunchy, crisp and colorful salad at the ready to serve alongside recipes like Whole Roasted Chicken, Pan-Seared Pork Chops or a simple bowl of soup. You can serve this Chopped Italian Salad as a side for dinner or meal prep it for easy weekday lunches.

This salad recipe is bursting with vibrant vegetables—including thin slices of mildly spicy red onion and slightly sweet fennel—and tangy extras like green olives and pepperoncini. Although vegetarian, it’s a welcome canvas for your favorite extras, so consider adding fresh mozzarella cheese, salty prosciutto or even a can of cannellini beans to add more flavor and texture to this vibrant dish.

Like our Big Easy Italian Salad or Antipasto Salad this Italian Choppped Salad lets each ingredient shine. There is no need to weigh this recipe down with a heavy store-bought dressing. Instead, I like to whip up a light vinaigrette made simply with a robust extra virgin olive oil, lemon, and a few herbs in spices. If you haven’t tried your hand at making your own salad dressings let this be the time you go all in!

Table of Contents

What’s in an Italian Chopped Salad?

For the Vinaigrette:
For the Salad:

How to Make Italian Chopped Salad
What to Serve with Italian Chopped Salad
Leftovers And Making Ahead
More Must Make Italian Salad Recipes
Italian Chopped Salad Recipe

Ingredients for Italian chopped salad including romaine lettuce, radicchio, fennel, red onion, bell peppers, grape tomatoes, green olives, pepperoncini, olive oil, lemon, red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, dried oregano, salt, and black pepper.

What’s in an Italian Chopped Salad?

This hearty salad features a harmonious blend of colorful fresh vegetables, tangy olives and peppers and includes thinly sliced fennel, a surprising ingredient with a pleasant anise flavor and fragrance. The vinaigrette dressing coats it with a vibrant note and silky texture.

For the Vinaigrette:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil adds richness to the vinaigrette and balances the sharpness of the lemon juice and red wine vinegar. Use a good quality extra virgin olive oil, like our Nocellara Italian EVOO.
Lemon Juice and Red Wine Vinegar: Two kinds of acid in the vinaigrette tone down the richness of the olive oil while giving the dressing a balanced citrusy and puckery flavor profile.
Dijon Mustard adds a complex tangy flavor and helps with emulsification. Use whole-grain Dijon mustard for added texture.
Honey balances the tangy flavors of the vinaigrette and the bitterness of the radicchio while highlighting the delicate sweetness of the tomatoes. It also acts as a natural thickener for the vinaigrette. If you enjoy your vinaigrette on the sweeter side, add an extra teaspoon.
Dried Oregano: This traditional Italian herb is both mildly sweet and earthy, and it adds a nice aroma to the salad. Curious about the differences between Italian and Greek oregano? Check out our full guide to this delicious Mediterranean herb.
Crushed Garlic releases a slightly spicy flavor to flavor the vinaigrette.
Kosher salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper: A pinch of salt and pepper intensifies the flavors of the vinaigrette.

For the Salad:

Romaine Lettuce: This Mediterranean lettuce variety offers tons of texture and a balanced sweet and earthy flavor.
Radicchio: Deliciously bitter flavor and a hearty texture make this leafy vegetable, also known as Italian chicory, an elegant addition to this salad. It also adds a great burgundy color!
Fennel, thinly sliced, adds a crunchy element and pleasant sweet anise flavor.
Red Onion adds a mildly sharp flavor, crunchy texture, and vibrant color.
Bell Peppers: Red, orange or yellow bell peppers add color, crunch, and slightly sweet fruit-like flavor.
Grape tomatoes: These delicate tomatoes add a welcome burst of sweetness and texture.
Green olives add pops of tangy brightness to the salad. Pitted olives make for easy eating, and I would recommend halving them if they’re large. I love to use Italian castelvetrano olives in this recipe. They are meaty and buttery.
Pepperoncini: Mildly spicy pickled green chili peppers add a wonderful tang and crunch.
Parmesan cheese: Shaved slices of aged cheese finish the salad with bold, nutty, and salty flavors.

An overhead photo of the ingredients for the chopped salad neatly arranged in a serving bowl, just before being tossed together. Next to this is a bowl of the vinaigrette, lemons, a cloth napkin, and bowls of salt, pepper, oregano and pepperoncini.

How to Make Italian Chopped Salad

A few minutes of chopping, whisking, and tossing is all that’s needed to make this Italian vegetarian salad. And since every ingredient is bite-sized, you get a balanced combination of flavors and textures in every forkful.

Prepare the vinaigrette. In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1/8 cup red wine vinegar, 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, and 4 teaspoons honey until smooth and emulsified. Then add 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic, and kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Whisk until well combined and set aside.
Make the salad. In a large bowl or serving dish, combine 3 hearts (18 ounces) chopped romaine lettuce, 1/2 small head chopped radicchio, 1/2 cup thinly sliced fennel bulb, 1/3 cup thinly sliced red onion, 1 chopped orange bell pepper, 1 chopped yellow bell pepper, 1 cup halved grape tomatoes, 1/3 cup green olives, and 1/2 cup sliced pepperoncini peppers, arranging them in stripes, if you like.
Dress and serve. Give the vinaigrette a vigorous whisk, then pour over the salad. You can serve the salad without tossing it to preserve the ingredient groups or toss it to mix evenly. Serve immediately, finishing with shaved Parmesan cheese.

What to Serve with Italian Chopped Salad

To round this salad out into a meal, serve it alongside crusty Roasted Garlic and Rosemary Focaccia or cheesy Garlic Bread. Want to add some protein? Make some Grilled Chicken Breast, Pesto Salmon or Poached Chicken Breasts.

In cold weather, serve it alongside hearty and warming Pappa al Pomodoro or Eggplant Lasagna. If you want a beverage to accompany it add a refreshing Aperol Spritz.

An overhead photo of an Italian chopped salad in a serving bowl with serving utensils. Next to this is a cloth napkin, lemons and a bowl of salt.

Leftovers And Making Ahead

While this salad tastes best when prepared just before serving, you can save time by doing some of the chopping and slicing ahead of time (up to 2 days). Be sure to refrigerate each ingredient separately in airtight containers, adding a dry paper towel to the romaine and radicchio to help absorb excess moisture.

You can also make the vinaigrette up to 2 weeks ahead of time, storing it in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Mix well before using.

If you anticipate leftovers, it’s a good idea to refrain from tossing the entire salad with the vinaigrette. Instead, add the dressing to the individual servings so you can store any leftovers separately, as noted above.

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