This colorful simple vegan Italian chopped salad made with romaine, chickpeas, chopped veggies, olives, and vegan deli meat is perfect for serving with pizza, lasagna, and more.
This may be a big salad, but somehow it was all gone in 2 days in our house! There’s just two of us… It is just that good. It feels like just about every pizza place has some variation of this Italian chopped salad. When I went vegan, I was craving those salads but couldn’t find a good recipe online so I made my own!
This salad is the perfect accompaniment to homemade pizza night or a pasta dish like my vegan stuffed shells, vegan baked ziti or vegan spinach lasagna.
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- A colorful and delicious salad that is bursting with tons of different flavors and textures.
- The perfect accompaniment to pizza or pasta night. You can also add it to a bowl meal like this cauliflower shawarma hummus bowl!
- This recipe is vegan, dairy free, egg free, and gluten free.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Romaine Lettuce: Roll the romaine leaves into cigar and thinly slice them to make bite sized pieces. If you prefer, you can use a mix of romaine and iceberg lettuce.
- Tomatoes, Cucumber, Pepper, Red Onion: Chop all of your veggies into small pieces that are all about the same size and shape. Use different colors of tomatoes and bell pepper for a more colorful finished salad.
- Pepperocini, Olives: These both add saltiness and tang to this chopped salad. You can also use sliced black olives instead of Kalamata olives.
- Chickpeas: Canned chickpeas are a great way to add plant-based protein to salads. If you don’t have chickpeas, you could also use canned white beans or kidney beans.
- Vegan Cheese: I like to use the vegan feta cheese from VioLife for this salad. However, you could use any block of dairy free/vegan cheese that you like. There are so many new options available now!
- Vegan Deli Meat: Traditional chopped salad has salami or ham so we are using a vegan/vegetarian-friendly alternative in this salad. I like to use chopped Tofurky deli slices but you could use any brand of vegan deli slices that you like. Try to use a vegan deli ham or turkey.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Recipe Variations
- Add different veggies: feel free to use a different combination of veggies based on what you prefer or have on hand in the fridge. Other veggies that would be good include: carrots, celery, and radish.
- Make it vegetarian: Instead of a vegan cheese, use mozzarella, provolone or a vegetarian parmesan.
- Add croutons: For more crunch, add about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of croutons to this salad if you’d like. To prevent them from getting soggy, add croutons right before serving.
How to Make Vegan Chopped Salad
Assemble the salad: Chop all the different elements of the salad including the veggies (romaine, pepper, tomato, cucumber, and red onion), pepperocini, olives, vegan deli slices, and vegan cheese.
Make the dressing: Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a small mixing bowl or add to a mason jar with a lid and shake to combine.
Toss and serve: Drizzle the assembled chopped salad ingredients with the dressing and toss well to coat everything.
Tips for Meal Prep
Here are some tips for prepping this salad in advance:
- Chop the veggies: Chop all of your veggies in advance (romaine, pepper, tomato, red onion, and cucumber). Add the cheese, chopped deli slices, and chickpeas. Store in an airtight container until ready to use.
- Make the dressing: Make the salad dressing in a mason jar or salad dressing shaker and store in the fridge for up to 3-5 days.
- Storage: Store the salad and dressing separately until ready to eat. If you want to pack this salad for lunch for work/school, divide the assembled salad between meal prep containers and put the dressing in a small jar with a lid. When ready to eat, add the dressing and toss.
Expert Tips
- Sharpen your kitchen knife: making recipes that require lots of chopping (like this salad!) can be a drag when your knife is dull. Make sure to regularly sharpen your kitchen knife to make chopping go so much smoother. You can also use a salad chopper for this recipe.
- Take the bite out of red onions: Sometimes red onion can be overpowering in salads. To take some of the bite out, let your chopped red onion sit in a bowl of ice cold water for 10-20 minutes while you chop the other salad veggies, then strain and use. It will be so much milder!
Recipe FAQs
Use it as a delicious filling for a pita pocket with some with more cheese and vegan deli slices or a smear of hummus. You can also toss leftover salad with some cooked pasta that has been cooled to room temperature for a quick and tasty pasta salad. It would also be a delicious topping for a hummus bowl.
For chopped salads, all of your ingredients are chopped into smaller, evenly sized pieces so that it is easier to get a little bit of every element on your fork in one bite. Tossed salads usually have larger pieces of lettuce and toppings.
Usually no. A lot of store-bought Italian salad dressings contain parmesan cheese so they aren’t vegan. You can use the Italian dressing in this recipe or a store-bought one. Some brands that have a vegan version are Primal Kitchen, Tessemae, and Daiya.
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Vegan Italian Chopped Salad
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Ingredients
For the Dressing:
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 dash red pepper flakes
Salad Ingredients:
- 1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
- 1 can (15.5 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes
- 1/3 cup quartered cucumber
- 1/3 cup chopped bell pepper
- 1/3 cup sliced pepperoncini peppers
- 1/4 cup chopped red onion
- 1/4 cup chopped kalamata olives
- 6 slices vegan deli meat, chopped
- 3.5 oz vegan cheese, cubed
Instructions
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Add all of the dressing ingredients to a salad jar and screw on lid. Shake vigorously to combine.
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To make the salad, add the lettuce to a large bowl and top with chopped vegetables. Pour dressing over top of the salad and toss to combine.
Notes
- White Vinegar Swap: you can also use red wine vinegar if you prefer.
- Like a sweeter dressing? Add 1-2 teaspoons of maple syrup to the dressing and shake to combine.
- Take the bite out of red onions: Sometimes red onion can be overpowering in salads. To take some of the bite out, let your chopped red onion sit in a bowl of ice cold water for 10-20 minutes while you chop the other salad veggies, then strain and use. It will be so much milder!
Nutrition
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