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My favorite Chopped Antipasto Salad is a side dish salad that I love to make for dinner guests, and this kind of salad is always a hit! This is a perfect salad any time of year; you can vary the ingredients based on what’s in the fridge!

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Chopped Antipasto Salad shown in serving bowl with plates and forks in back.

My favorite Chopped Antipasto Salad is like the kind of salad you might order in an Italian restaurant, loaded with tasty ingredients like olives, hearts of palm, pepperoni, marinated Peperoncini, slices of Mozzarella and capers. And recently I decided this recipe really needed a photo makeover! I hope the new photos will entice you to try it.

Maybe some people might look at all that’s going on in this Antipasto Salad and worry that it will take too long to chop up all those ingredients. But truthfully, interesting salads like this can be easy to pull together once you master a few tricks for satisfying salads. Don’t miss my tips in this post for prepping ingredients and creating restaurant-quality salads at home!

What ingredients do you need?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe with ingredient amounts. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

What does Antipasto mean?

The word Antipasto refers to the first course of an Italian meal and acording to Wikipedia it includes things like “cured meats, olives, Peperoncini, mushrooms, anchovies, artichoke hearts, various cheeses, and pickled meats or vegetables in oil or vinegar.”

Do you need all these Antipasto ingredients to make a good salad?

This is one of those recipes with endless variations, and I think any combination of the ingredients I used will make a tasty salad, even if you don’t use every ingredient I have listed. And I’m also sharing some ideas for other flavorful add-ins if you happen to have some of those on hand, so don’t be afraid to adapt this recipe to your own taste and what’s in the fridge.

Square image of Antipasto Chopped Salad on plate with fork.

What else could you add to the Chopped Antipasto Salad?

There are lots of other antipasto ingredients you can add to this salad including marinated mushrooms (affiliate link), artichoke hearts (affiliate link), chopped salami or prosciutto, Roasted Red Peppers in a jar (affiliate link), cherry tomatoes, red or green onion, pickled asparagus, pickled green beans, fresh Mozzarella balls, and green olives. What else can you think of?

Tips for Making Satisfying Salads at Home:

  • Keep lettuce that’s chopped or torn, washed, and ready to eat in the fridge. You can even seal prepped lettuce in jars with a FoodSaver Vacuum Sealer (affiliate link) but when I’m eating salad regularly I just keep it in a plastic container with a snap-tight lid.
  • Whenever I’m prepping lettuce for any reason, I try to do enough for several salads so that I’ll always have prepared lettuce in the fridge.
  • For a satisfying salad it’s important to have a dressing that’s really flavorful, and tasty dressings with healthy oils like olive oil and not much sugar are abundant if check the label.
  • For my antipasto salads, I sometimes buy Columbia Restaurant 1905 Dressing (affiliate link) that’s used on one of my favorite restaurant salads, but that dressing is definitely a budget splurge and Newman’s Own Olive Oil and Vinegar Dressing (affiliate link) is the low-sugar dressing I use most often. 
  • Another tip for making satisfying salads like this is to prep generous amounts of all the special ingredients, so it’s easy to just pull the prepared ingredients out of the fridge and throw together a salad. All the things I use in this favorite salad will last in the fridge for more than a week, and I can eat this salad over and over without getting tired of it.
  • Even if you only use a few of the things I did, a salad with any type of antipasto ingredients will always be tasty!

Chopped Antipasto Salad Collage showing recipe steps and suggested ingredients.

Prepping and assembling the Chopped Antipasto Salad:

  1. Start by tearing apart lettuce and crisping it in ice-cold water in the salad spinner (affiliate link). 
  2. Drain olives and cut olives in half. (I used regular black olives, but use the olives you prefer).)
  3. Chop up a generous amount of pepperoni or salami. (Use turkey or regular pepperoni, your choice.)
  4. I love Hearts of Palm (affiliate link) in my salad. Drain and cut in half if they’re extra big.
  5. I always have jars of Sliced Peperoncini Peppers (affiliate link) in the fridge, and Peperoncini adds a lot of flavor.
  6. I use string cheese sliced into little rounds for the cheese.
  7. One ingredient I’d never skip in a salad like this is Capers (affiliate link). 
  8. This is the Columbia Restaurant 1905 Dressing (affiliate link) I love to use when I make this for dinner guests, but use any garlicky Italian dressing you prefer.
  9. When you’re ready to assemble the salad, spin the lettuce until it’s very dry and put into a large bowl. (If you don’t have a salad spinner, crisp salad in ice-cold water, drain dry, and dry the lettuce with paper towels.)
  10. Toss lettuce with salad dressing.
  11. Then add the olives, pepperoni, hearts of palm, peperoncini peppers, Mozzarella cheese, and capers (or any other ingredients you’re using).
  12. Toss again until all ingredients are well-coated with dressing.
  13. I like to add a generous amount of freshly-ground black pepper to the Chopped Antipasto Salad, then serve right away

More Satisfying Lettuce Salads from Kalyn:

Weekend Food Prep:

This Chopped Antipasto Salad recipe has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep where you will find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!

Chopped Antipasto Salad shown in serving bowl.

Chopped Antipasto Salad shown in serving bowl with plates and forks in back.
Yield: 6 large salads

Chopped Antipasto Salad

Prep Time 25 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes

This Chopped Antipasto Salad is a side-dish salad I love to make for dinner guests, and this type of salad with your favorite Antipasto ingredients is always going to be a hit!

Ingredients

  • 3 heads romaine lettuce
  • 6 oz. can black olives
  • 3 oz. sliced pepperoni
  • 14 oz. can hearts of palm
  • 3 T chopped peperoncini peppers
  • 6 string cheese, sliced
  • 3 T capers
  • 1/3 cup garlicky Italian salad dressing (see notes)

Instructions

    1. Tear or chop romaine lettuce, then crisp in ice cold water in a salad spinner while you prep other ingredients. (Crisp lettuce in a bowl, drain, and dry with paper towels if you don't have a salad spinner.)
    2. Drain black olives and cut in half.
    3. Slice pepperoni in half.
    4. Drain hearts of palm, slice, and cut larger slices in half.
    5. Chop up sliced peperoncini peppers. (If you don't have sliced peppers, cut off ends of peppers, drain, remove seeds, and then chop.)
    6. Sliced Mozzarella sticks into rounds.
    7. Measure out capers.
    8. Drain lettuce and spin until it's very dry. Put in large mixing bowl.
    9. Add salad dressing and toss until the lettuce is well-coated with dressing.
    10. Add other ingredients as desired and toss again.
    11. Season salad with a generous amount of freshly-ground black pepper and serve in large salad bowl or on individual serving plates.

Notes

I love Columbia Restaurant 1905 Salad Dressing for this recipe, but if that's too much of a budget splurge, Newman's Own Classic Oil and Vinegar Dressing will also be very good!

Recipe created by Kalyn.

Nutrition Information

Yield

6

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 299Total Fat 20gSaturated Fat 7gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 11gCholesterol 36mgSodium 1195mgCarbohydrates 19gFiber 9.5gSugar 6gProtein 15g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

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© All images and text ©Kalyn Denny for Kalyn's Kitchen.
Category: Salads
Square image for Chopped Antipasto Salad shown in serving bowl with plates and forks.

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
The Chopped Antipasto Salad is suitable for any low-carb or Keto diet, and with the right choices on ingredients it can be adapted for any phase of the original South Beach Diet.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Salad Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe for a chopped salad with Antipasto ingredients was first posted in 2012. It was last updated with more information and better photos in 2024.

Pinterest image for Chopped Antipasto Salad.

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