This Vegan Italian Salad is bright and fresh. Chop up your veggies, whip up a creamy Italian Dressing, and toss it all together in less than 15 minutes. With a variety of colors and flavors, this quick salad can be the perfect side dish or stand alone as a main course.
I've always been a fan of big entree salads. What better way to get a bunch of veggies into every bite. Plus, the contrast of colors and flavors always makes for an appealing and hearty meal.
This Italian salad combines of variety of ingredients but remains simple and versatile. From the crunchy and slightly bitter radicchio to the briny and flavorsome olives, this salad offers Everything you need for a stand-alone main dish, but it also makes perfect side salad or starter.
You'll love this Vegan Italian Salad because it's:
- Quick & Easy
- Full of a variety of flavors
- Bright & Colorful
- Healthy
- Oil-free, Dairy-free, and Gluten-free
- Crunchy & Delicious!
Ingredients for this Vegan Italian Salad
- Choice of lettuce (I used Romaine, but any mix you like will do)
- Radicchio
- Cucumber slices
- Cherry or plum tomatoes
- Choice of olives (I used Green Pitted Olives
and Kalamata Olives, but black olives are also fine) - Artichoke hearts (in water)
- Chickpeas
- Vegan Parmesan Cheese
- Creamy Vegan Italian Dressing
and 
, but black olives are also fine)How to Make an Italian Salad
This salad combines a classic variety of fresh and jarred ingredients, but everything is really easy to prep. You can put this salad together in 15 minutes (maybe less if you've already made the dressing). Just wash, chop, and assemble your salad ingredients as needed, whip up your dressing, mix the vegan parmesan, and get ready to put it all together.
How to Serve this Chopped Italian Salad
Once you've assembled all of your ingredients, you can either toss everything together in a big bowl or make your own salad bar and let everyone take what they want.
Notes on Meal Prep and Mason Jar Salads for Packed Lunches
Salads tend to get soggy after a day in the fridge, so if you want to prep this salad to use for lunches throughout the week, keep the ingredients in separate containers and assemble each morning. Prewashed salad mixes will keep better than washing your own lettuce.
You could also use a mason jar to stack the ingredients with the more liquid heavy ingredients (artichokes, tomatoes, and cucumbers) close to the bottom. Keep the dressing in a separate container until you're ready to serve.
If this recipe speaks your language, you might also love these oil-free salads and dressings:
- Hearty Country Salad with Chick-fil-A Tofu Nuggets and "Honey" Mustard Dressing
- Southwestern Salad with Chili-Lime Tofu Nuggets
- Cilantro-Lime Avocado Dressing
- Pesto Pasta Salad with Roasted Veggies
- Creamy Vegan Potato Salad
📖 Recipe
Vegan Italian Salad (Quick, Healthy, & Oil-Free)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 head romaine lettuce
- ½ small radicchio, cored and chopped
- 15 oz or 250g can of chickpeas
- 15 oz (250g) jar or can of artichokes (in water)
- ½ cup pitted green olives
- ½ cup pitted kalamata olives
- 2 cups cherry or plum tomatoes
- 2 cups sliced cucumber
- 1 cup Creamy Vegan Italian Dressing
- ¼ cup Vegan Parmesan
Instructions
- Follow the linked instructions to make the Creamy Italian Dressing and the Vegan Parmesan. Do the rest of the salad prep work while the cashews for the dressing are boiling.
- Wash and chop or tear the lettuce. Wash the radicchio, cut in half, remove the core, and chop into strips. Add the lettuce and radicchio to a large bowl.
- Wash the tomatoes and cut them into halves. Wash the cucumber and slice into half-moons. Add the tomatoes and cucumber slices to the salad bowl.
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas and artichokes. Add to the salad bowl and toss everything together.
- Blend the dressing ingredients following the linked instructions.
- If you need to make the vegan parmesan, follow the linked instructions.
- Add the olives, drizzle with Creamy Italian Dressing, sprinkle with Vegan Parmesan.
Notes
- You can save time by using a bag lettuce mix that includes greens and radicchio.
- Radicchio has a somewhat bitter taste that is counteracted by the creamy dressing, but if you don't like the flavor you can substitute with slivered red onion or carrots.
- If you prefer the artichokes to keep their shape, do not toss with them with the other ingredients. Keep them separate and garnish at the end.
- Instead of tossing everything together in a big bowl, you can set out the ingredients salad-bar style and let everyone choose their own toppings.
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Tricia says
Very good! I added sun-dried tomatoes and red onions. Loved the dressing (no oil)!
Nice change from my usual salad
Julianne Lynch says
Wonderful! So glad you liked it. The red onions and sun-dried tomatoes sound like a good addition.
Jennifer says
This was a fantastic salad! The dressing is exceptional. I must admit that I do not care for radicchio at all so used a little bit of purple cabbage instead and it was fantastic. Thanks for all your great recipes. I really appreciate your work and creativity.
Julianne Lynch says
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed the recipes!