Enjoy extra leafy greens and all your favorite antipasto vegetables in this loaded Italian sub salad! Big enough for a party, this deli-style chopped salad has a creamy, zingy dressing and all your favorite meats and cheeses to easily double as a hearty side dish or meal in itself.
In truth, this loaded Italian sub salad transcends its name.
- At its base it's an Italian chopped salad with radicchio, but is extra heavy on the meats, cheeses, and marinated veggies...
- so then it's also a sort of antipasto salad, but with a more generous serving of leafy greens, extra fresh vegetables, and thinly-sliced meats and cheeses...
- ...which combined with its creamy-with-a-little-bite, oregano-forward dressing screams Italian sub salad (never will the words "grinder" or "hoagie" pass my lips!).
So, a chopped Italian antipasto sub salad, yeah? It can be anything you want it to be.
What I do know is that this Italian sub salad is loaded with extra goodies, featuring all of the elements I love from the above named dishes and makes the best big party salad. It can hold its own on a dinner table or act as dinner or a fabulous lunch itself.
It serves a crowd (cannot understate this), has lots of prep-ahead elements, and tons of wiggle room. A little something for everyone!
Loaded Italian Sub Salad Ingredients
- Iceberg Lettuce & Radicchio: We're going for maximum crunch here with bright iceberg and slightly bitter radicchio.
- Meats: I used a medley of Genoa salami, pepperoni, and smoked ham, but pretty much any variety you enjoy on an Italian sub or an antipasto platter would work nicely, though personally I'd skip prosciutto as its flavor may get lost in the shuffle here and will be chewy.
- Cheeses: Sharp provolone and shaved Pecorino Romano for bold flavor. Serving Pecorino in thin shaves (versus tiny shreds) allows for it to make a bold impact. That said, you can substitute in fresh mozzarella pearls or cubes, or use Parmesan in place of Pecorino.
- Fresh Vegetables: Classic salad options of cucumber, tomatoes, and red onion. Grape or cherry tomatoes hold together better than cubed beefsteak or Roma tomatoes, which will mush up when mixed in a salad.
- Marinated Vegetables: Any you love from your favorite antipasto platter would work great if cut down to bite-sized pieces. Here you see roasted red pepper slices, peperoncini peppers, and an Italian olive medley.
- Dressing: This easy homemade version includes mayo, peperoncini brine, red wine vinegar, garlic, dried herbs and spices, a pinch of sugar, and olive oil.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Step 1: Whisk together all dressing ingredients in a jar or bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve - this can be made a day ahead of time.
- Step 2: Prep and toss iceberg and radicchio with just a small amount of dressing. Use a very large bowl!
- Step 3: Add the rest of the salad ingredients and some more dressing (not all of it).
- Step 4: Toss well to combine and serve with additional dressing tableside.
Tips and Tricks
- Avoiding sogginess - Dry the greens well and dress this Italian sub salad in stages: a small amount to lightly coat the iceberg and radicchio when tossing the greens, another small amount when adding the meats/cheeses/veggies, and then serve the rest on the table. That way everyone can add just enough to taste without sogging the whole thing up.
- Prepping ahead - The big prep work is all the chopping! Nearly everything can be chopped and refrigerated ahead of time, though I might wait to slice the tomatoes until just prior to serving so they don't become too mushy.
- Storing leftovers - It bears repeating: this is a big salad. If you know you won't go through the whole batch at once, consider just dressing the amount of salad you'll eat, leaving the leftover components undressed.
Italian Sub Salad Variations
The beauty of a chopped Italian sub salad is that it has big wiggle room for you to do your own thing.
- Lettuce: Use romaine or your favorite leafy green variety. I avoid more delicate spring mix blends for a salad with hefty toppings like this one. Plus they get soggy in a hurry.
- Meats: You can cut it down to two kinds used to keep things easy, or add or substitute in capicola, soppressata, or mortadella.
- Vegetables: Add in marinated artichoke hearts (cut into smaller bite sizes) or a little giardiniera - mild or hot!
- Cheese: Substitute in fresh mozzarella pearls or small strips of fontina.
- Legumes: Add drained and rinsed canned chickpeas or jarred lupini beans.
- Dressing: Your favorite store-bought creamy-ish Italian dressing would work great.
More Italian American Dinner Recipes
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Loaded Italian Sub Salad
Enjoy extra leafy greens and all your favorite antipasto vegetables in this loaded Italian sub salad! Big enough for a party side or multiple dinner salads, this deli-style chopped salad has a creamy, zingy dressing and all your favorite meats and cheeses.
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Servings: 8
Calories: 466kcal
Ingredients
Chopped Italian Salad
- 1 head iceberg lettuce sliced into wide strips/shreds then chopped
- 1 head radicchio halved and cored, then chopped
- 6 ounces sharp provolone cheese small-cube or slices cut into matchsticks
- 3 ounces shaved Pecorino Romano cheese or Parmesan
- 6 ounces Genoa salami thick dinner-cut, sliced into strips
- 4 ounces pepperoni small-cube or sandwich-style cut into short strips
- 4 ounces smoked ham small-cube or cut into short strips
- 1 ½ cups sliced cherry or grape tomatoes
- ⅓ cup sliced peperoncini peppers
- ¾ cup chopped roasted red peppers
- ¾ cup pitted Italian green olives sliced, or your favorite variety
- Half of a large cucumber peeled and sliced into bite-sized pieces
- ¼ cup sliced red onion
- 6-8 fresh basil leaves sliced into thin strips
Dressing
- ½ cup mayonnaise light is fine
- 2 ½ Tablespoons peperoncini brine (from the jar)
- 2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 small garlic clove pressed
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon granulated sugar
- Ground black pepper to taste
- 6 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil more to taste
Instructions
- Prepare the leafy greens: Slice the iceberg into wide shreds, then rinse and thoroughly pat dry. Slice the head of radicchio in half, remove the inner white core, then chop the leaves into bite-sized pieces. Rinse and pat dry.
- Prepare the cheeses and meats: Cut provolone into small cubes if it's in block form, or cut into smaller strips if it's in slices. Use the large slicing side of a box grater to shave pieces off of a Pecorino Romano wedge if not buying shaved Parmesan. Cut the salami, pepperoni, and ham into small cubes or in thin strips if in slices.
- Prepare the vegetables: Slice the tomatoes, peperoncini, roasted red peppers, olives, and cucumber into bite-sized pieces. Slice the red onion thinly and cut into small pieces. Slice basil leaves into thin strips.
- Make the dressing: Add all dressing ingredients except for the olive oil to a jar or bowl and whisk well to combine. Pour in the olive oil while whisking until the dressing has a creamy, emulsified texture. Taste and add more salt and/or pepper, olive oil, etc. as needed.
- Assemble the salad: Toss iceberg and radicchio in a large bowl with a small amount of dressing - just enough to very lightly coat the greens. Add the rest of the salad ingredients to the bowl and lightly drizzle them with another small portion of the dressing before tossing to evenly disperse.
- Serving: Serve the salad alongside the remaining dressing to dress individual servings to taste.
Notes
Prep-ahead: The dressing can be made 1-2 days ahead of time, kept covered and refrigerated. Whisk or shake well before serving. All other salad ingredients can be prepared and refrigerated separately and undressed ahead of time, except for the tomatoes as they may get mushy if sliced early.
Substitutes: Lots of wiggle room here to do your own thing. Fresh mozzarella pearls, other deli meats, marinated artichoke hearts, giardiniera, canned chickpeas, lupini beans, or your favorite store-bought creamy Italian dressing are easy swap-ins.
Reduce red onion bite: If you'd like a more mellow red onion flavor, submerge the sliced pieces of red onion in cool water for 10 minutes before removing, patting dry, and adding to the salad.
Leftovers: If you know you'll have leftovers, add dressing only to the portion you know you'll eat to avoid sogginess, dressing the leftovers just prior to serving.
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Nutrition
Calories: 466kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 39g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 19g | Cholesterol: 65mg | Sodium: 1884mg | Potassium: 528mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 982IU | Vitamin C: 19mg | Calcium: 330mg | Iron: 2mg
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Nutritional information is provided as an estimate. As it can vary due to many factors (brands used, quantities, etc.), we cannot guarantee its accuracy.
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Eileen Ceconi says
looks great! I would add croutons...even more crunch!
Alyssa says
Yes! That sounds perfect. Like the whole sub in a bowl! 🙂