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An Antipasto salad is filled with sliced meats, soft cheeses, green and black olives with bright red cherry tomatoes that is simple to toss together and enjoy in a homemade light lemon olive oil dressing. This is an Italian salad that everyone loves!
Another Italian favorite is a Farro Caprese Salad or Italian Avocado Cucumber Tomato Salad that is loaded with cheese and vegetables with a sweet and savory dressing drizzled over top. Both recipes are easy to make and delicious!
Antipasto Salad
Get ready to be “WOWed” over this bright and colorful Italian salad. One of the best salads that is filled with soft, crunchy, savory and sweet bites. Simply add all the ingredients into one bowl and toss gently. Whisk together the lemon olive oil dressing and pour over top the salad and toss once more. Add this Focaccia bread recipe for a side of bread to this antipasto salad and make a complete meal. It is one of my favorites for good reason!
All the flavors and the perfect combination of sweet and savory are all tossed together in this antipasto salad. I know when I make this I have to store it and have again and again. It is truly one of my favorites as well as my families. Even my boys love the blends of meat, cheeses and vegetables all hand tossed together making this one AMAZING homemade salad. Lunch or dinner, this salad has all that you need and more!
What is Antipasto Salad?
Antipasto salad is known to be from Italy. It is a traditional Italian salad that is served as the first course during a meal. Most often an antipasto salads ingredients are slices of meat, various vegetables, olives, mushrooms tossed in a light oil or vinegar dressing. This antipasto salad is very similar to a traditional Italian salad that had all the flavor you are wanting.
What’s in an Antipasto Salad?
- Romaine: Chopped and made as the base to this Italian salad.
- Green Olives: These typically come from a can and are halved leaving a tangy and zesty flavor to the salad.
- Black Olives: Medium sized olives are best and taste amazing in this salad. They are soft in the salad with a hint of flavor.
- Cherry Tomatoes: Slice in half and add fresh tomatoes and brighten this salad up.
- Mini Pepperoni: Slice up and add into the salad for a sweet and spicy combination.
- Jarred Roasted Red Peppers: Just like they sound, a little spicy. Too much spice, leave out what is best for you and your family.
- Genoa Salami: Thinly slice salami that is chewable and ready to eat once served.
- Mozzarella Cheese Balls: These mozzarella cheese balls are one of my favorites for texture and adding to the salad.
- Artichoke Hearts: Canned and comes perfectly cut for you. Just drain and add right to the salad without the work.
- Provolone Cheese: Squared and squishy just the right amount of texture in between all the crunchy.
Lemon Olive Oil Dressing:
- Olive Oil: A light additive to the dressing that is drizzled over top of the salad.
- Lemon Juice: Zesty and fresh flavor of lemons just adds the right amount of sweetness to this salad.
- Italian Seasoning: Add in the Italian seasoning for a savory salad dressing.
How to Make Antipasto Salad:
- Toss the salad ingredients together: In a large bowl add the romaine, olives, tomatoes, pepperoni, red peppers, salami, mozzarella, artichoke hearts, and provolone.
- To make the lemon olive oil dressing: In a small bowl whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, and Italian seasoning. Pour over the solid and toss.
Variations:
There are several ways to make this antipasto salad and add in all your favorite Italian twist. Most cured meats add protein and flavor to the salad. Sliced mushrooms, anchovies and vegetables are always a fun way to add in more flavor, taste and texture. Try various cheeses to your liking and see how this antipasto changes with more or less variations. Create a salad that you love!
Storing Antipasto Salad:
Another thing I do love about this salad is how easy it is to make ahead and even store in the refrigerator. It does not do well in the freezer and don’t welcome that way of store in. This makes for a great meal prep salad or just eating on the go. When I know I have a busy day or even week, I just quickly add the ingredients together and leave the dressing off until ready to enjoy. Store in an airtight container for about 3 to 5 days in the refrigerator.
More Delicious Salad Recipes to Try:
- Chilled Cucumber Tomato Soup
- Avocado, Tomato and Cucumber Arugula Salad
- Tuscan Pasta Salad
- Easy Italian Tortellini Pasta Salad
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Antipasto Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups romaine chopped
- 1/2 cup green olives halved
- 1/2 cup medium black olives
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- 1/2 cup mini pepperoni
- 1/4 cup jarred roasted red peppers chopped
- 8 ounce Genoa Salami cut into bite sized pieces
- 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese balls
- 13 ounce artichoke hearts quartered
- 8 ounces provolone cheese cut into bite size pieces
Lemon Olive Oil Dressing:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Instructions
- In a large bowl add the romaine, olives, tomatoes, pepperoni, red peppers, salami, mozzarella, artichoke hearts, and provolone.
- To make the lemon olive oil dressing: In a small bowl whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, and Italian seasoning. Pour over the solid and toss.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gentle suggestions: Put all the veggies/cheeses at the bottom of the salad bowl topped w/the torn romaine & let them marinate w/the dressing. At the time you are ready to serve your antipasto salad THEN mix, otherwise everything will get soggy prematurely. Once mixed, its best to consume right way. Usually not very good the next day (soggy).
A friend brought this salad to a luncheon featuring Italian dishes and it was a big hit. So pretty and colorful, we all wanted the recipe. I have made this at least 4-5 times since July.
You cannot make a mistake with this salad. You can add other veggies, omit what you /family do not like and it will still be very good. You can add everything BUT the lettuce and make it in advance, at the last minute, mix in chopped romaine. I took a big bowl of it to my grandson’s birthday party a few years ago and people gobbled it down!
I made this salad and it was delicious! The only complaint from people was that it was wilted and a little soggy by the time they were ready to eat it! Any suggestions?
Toss the dress when you’re ready to eat.
I’m making this for an Italian themed dinner party, but one or two of the guests are vegetarian. I will have a meat tray on the side for the pepperoni, salami, suprasata,etc. and for protein in the salad itself, I will add red kidney beans and garbanzo’s. It sounds delicious. Thank you!
how much lemon juice? your recipe say 1/2 but nothing more. would like to try, it looks so good.
It’s 2 tablespoons of lemon juice!
Easy prep, tasty & pretty. Only needed fresh breadsticks to complete this seemingly, healthy meal 😊
This a delicious salad! It’s very forgiving to tweak as much or as little of your choice of ingredients. I stayed with same ingredients but added more of what we liked & made additional portions of that delicious dressing! I got several appreciate, “Oh man!” and “Holy cow!” when my bunch tried this salad.
I just made this salad and added a little white wine vinegar, simply because I love vinegar in all salads. It was perfect and everyone at the table asked for the recipe. Thanks for sharing!
This was incredibly easy to make and so delicious, perfect for a summer night. I added cucumbers only because my toddler pretty much only eats cucumbers right now but it would have been perfect without it too. I’ll definitely make it again.
I made this for friends that we had seen in years. It was so simple and so simple and refreshing! Our friends loved it! I did prep prior to making the salad which I always do. I cut up all the ingredients and put them in containers in the fridge until I was ready to mix it…
Thanks for antipasto salad.
Sounds delicious. For the dressing, is it 1/2 cup lemon juice or juice from 1/2 lemon?
Juice from a lemon.
Could you be more specific in terms of amount of juice needed—lemon can range greatly in size.
I used a medium-sized lemon and squeezed about 4 to 5 Tablespoons.