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Enjoy Olive Garden's famous salad right at your own dinner table with this easy copycat Olive Garden Salad recipe! Packed with fresh ingredients, croutons, and a homemade creamy Italian dressing, this easy salad recipe captures all the flavors of the original!
Olive Garden's Famous Salad Recipe
We can't talk about Olive Garden without talking about their soup, salad, and breadsticks combo! It is famous not only because of its affordability, but because of how satisfying the flavor is in all of their dishes.
And while I have shared with you a lot of Olive Garden copycat recipes in the past, from Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana to Instant Pot Pasta e Fagioli to Instant Pot Chicken Gnocchi Soup, it is well past time I share with you copycat version of their salad.
Made with fresh lettuce, crisp cabbage, shredded carrots, juicy tomatoes, tangy pepperoncini peppers, and briny black olives, the base of this salad features all the players in the iconic Olive Garden salad. But what makes this salad is the generous sprinkling of croutons and creamy Italian dressing. And it is so easy to make (not to mention better tasting!)
Happy Cooking! xo Kristen
Recipe Highlights
Ingredients Needed
This recipe is composed of the salad base, croutons, and a copycat Olive Garden salad dressing. Feel free to customize the classic version to fit your preferences and/or use produce that is in season.
- Salad Mix: Use a bagged iceberg salad mix or a combination of chopped iceberg lettuce, shredded carrots, and shredded red cabbage. Of course, you can swap out the base of the salad to use dark leafy greens, romaine lettuce, or cabbage, but that will not result in a copycat Olive Garden salad.
- Roma Tomatoes: While Roma tomatoes are what are classically featured, use what is in season or looks good. Vine-ripened tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, or grape tomatoes are all great substitutes.
- Red Onion: I don't recommend substituting the red onion for another variety, as other types of onions can easily overwhelm the salad. Feel free to omit the red onion if you don't care to add onion to your salad.
- Pepperoncini Peppers: Olive garden uses whole pepperoncini peppers in their salad. Feel free to use sliced peppers to make them easier to enjoy.
- Black Olives: Omit the black olives or swap them out for Kalamata or Spanish olives if preferred.
- Croutons: I recommend using homemade croutons or store-bought Italian or garlic-seasoned croutons.
- Copycat Olive Garden Dressing: The dressing is made with mayonnaise, distilled vinegar, sugar, fresh lemon juice, salt, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and parmesan cheese to replicate the flavors of Olive Garden's dressing perfectly. In place of the creamy dressing, Zesty Italian Dressing is a good substitute.
How To Make Olive Garden's Famous Salad
The following tips are provided to help you achieve perfect results. You will find the ingredient quantities and detailed instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Make the Creamy Italian Dressing. It is as easy as dumping the ingredients into the blender and blending to replicate Olive Garden's salad dressing.
- Toss Ingredients Together. Toss the lettuce, cabbage, carrots, olives, peppers, onions, and sliced tomatoes together until evenly distributed.
- Dress Salad. To prevent overdressing the Italian salad, drizzle with just ½ cup of the salad dressing and toss to combine.
- Serve. Right before serving the salad, add the croutons and parmesan cheese. Serve the additional dressing on the side to use as desired.
Storage Instructions
The salad is best served immediately after assembly. However, you can store the salad (minus the croutons) in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 48 hours. Store leftover dressing in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Make it a Meal
If you really want to recreate an Olive Garden experience, serve this salad with Olive Garden breadsticks, and a copycat Olive Garden Soup, such as:
- Instant Pot Minestrone
- Crockpot Minestrone
- Instant Pot Pasta Fagioli
- Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana
- Instant Pot Chicken Gnocchi Soup.
However, don't just limit yourselves to soup, salad, and breadsticks! This Italian salad is the perfect compliment to any of the following dishes.
Did you make this recipe?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a comment with a 5-star review at the bottom of the post. Thank you!
Olive Garden Salad
Ingredients
For the Dressing
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ⅓ cup white distilled vinegar
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
For the Salad
- 1 (12-ounce) bag iceberg salad mix
- 2 medium Roma tomatoes, sliced into rounds
- ¼ cup thinly sliced red onion
- ½ cup whole pepperoncini peppers
- ½ cup whole black olives
- 1 cup garlic or parmesan croutons
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese, shredded or shaved
Instructions
To Prepare the Dressing
- Place ½ cup mayonnaise, ⅓ cup white distilled vinegar, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, 4 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, and 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice into a blender and blend until smooth.
For The Salad
- In a large mixing or serving bowl combine the 1 (12-ounce) bag iceberg salad mix with 2 medium Roma tomatoes (sliced), ¼ cup thinly sliced red onion, ½ cup whole pepperoncini peppers , and ½ cup whole black olives together.
- Drizzle the salad mixture with ½ cup of the prepared salad dressing and toss to combine.
- Top with 1 cup garlic or parmesan croutons and ¼ cup parmesan cheese Serve immediately with the dressing remaining dressing on the side.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made a batch for a potluck and it disappeared within minutes - a definite crowd-pleaser!
Thanks for sharing your review, Audra! I love hearing that your friends enjoyed the salad.
The flavors in this dish really popped, I'll definitely be making it again!
I never need to go back to Olive Garden because this salad was everything and so authentic!
Love hearing you enjoyed so much! Thanks for sharing.
This tastes exactly like my favorite salad from Olive Garden. So happy to have found this recipe and I think the homemade dressing is even better!
Thank you, JJ! I am thrilled to hear you enjoyed this more than the original.