This delicious antipasto salad features all your Italian antipasto favorites in a refreshing, flavorful salad. With plenty of salami, prosciutto, and pepperoni, plus mozzarella balls, tomatoes, olives, roasted red peppers, pepperoncini, and red onion, tossed in a quick and easy Italian vinaigrette.
What Makes This Antipasto Salad So Good
- It’s basically charcuterie on a bed of lettuce! This antipasto salad is loaded with healthy fats and protein, which makes it a perfect main course.
- There’s absolutely no cooking involved. None. You don’t even have to pull out the blender to make the dressing!
- The easy Italian vinaigrette is tangy and herbaceous. It’s made from a blend of extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, and a handful of spices.
- If you’re watching your carbs, you’re in luck here. The vinaigrette only has 1g total carbs, and 0g net! The antipasto salad as a whole is low carb and keto-friendly.
Key Ingredients for Antipasto Salad
Mozzarella Balls – Also called mozzarella pearls, depending on the brand! These are cool, creamy round morsels of mozzarella cheese. You can use plain mozzarella balls or marinated. The flavors in the marinade could compliment your antipasto salad nicely!
Olives – I recommend a mix of olives for variety, but you can use just one kind if you want! Green olives and black olives are actually the same. Green olives are picked and brined before they ripen, and black olives after.
Pepperoncini – These sweet Italian peppers add a little heat to this antipasto salad. If you’re heat sensitive, though, don’t worry – it’s not much! These have less heat than a jalapeño pepper (thanks, Scoville scale!). You can use pickled or fresh pepperoncini here, whichever you prefer.
Salami – This slightly sweet, savory cured sausage adds a little smokiness to the salad. You can also use prosciutto, either instead of the salami or along with it!
Chef’s Tips
- The homemade Italian vinaigrette only takes a couple of minutes to make, but you can use a store-bought vinaigrette if you want. Personally, I like the way a homemade vinaigrette lets you really dial in the flavors so you’ve got your perfect dressing!
- Can’t find mozzarella balls? You can use cubed mozzarella instead, or use provolone or feta!
- Turn this into an antipasto pasta salad by adding cooked, cooled pasta to the mix. I prefer a good spiral noodle for this, like rotini or fusilli.
- To meal prep this salad, prepare it as instructed and divide it into servings. Refrigerate the salad and the vinaigrette in airtight containers – your meals will keep up to 5 days! Store the dressing separately from the salad, then add it when you’re ready to eat. The dressing will keep up to 3 weeks.
More Delicious Salads
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Antipasto Salad
Equipment
- Large bowl
- Jar with lid
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 2 heads romaine lettuce chopped, about 8 cups
- 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 cup mozzarella balls
- 1 12-ounce jar marinated artichokes drained and chopped
- ½ cup mixed olives black, green, Kalamata
- ½ cup roasted red peppers chopped
- 4 ounces salami or prosciutto diced or sliced
- 4 ounces pepperoni quartered
- ½ cup sliced pepperoncinis
- ¼ cup sliced red onion optional
- fresh basil chopped, for garnish, optional
For the Italian Vinaigrette
- ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 ½ teaspoons dijon mustard
- ¾ teaspoons garlic powder
- ¾ teaspoons oregano
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- pepper to taste
Instructions
- In large bowl, toss lettuce, tomatoes, mozzarella balls, artichokes, olives, red peppers, salami (or prosciutto), pepperoni, pepperoncinis, and red onion together to distribute ingredients evenly. Set aside.
- Add oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, garlic powder, oregano, and red pepper flakes to jar and seal with lid. Shake vigorously to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
- Dress salad with vinaigrette and serve. Alternately, portion salad into individual servings and dress with vinaigrette or serve with vinaigrette on the side.
Notes
- Make it Dairy Free: Use vegan mozzarella.
- Make it Vegetarian: Up the veggies and skip the meat. You can use chickpeas instead – just drain them and rinse them first!
- Italian Vinaigrette: Refrigerate any leftover dressing in an airtight container up to 3 weeks. Shake it up again before serving.
Nutrition
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Cheryl Malik is the recipe developer, writer, and photographer behind the healthy, flavorful, family friendly recipes at 40 Aprons. She’s been a blogger for 10+ years and is known for her delicious recipes and detailed recipe instructions. Cheryl is a mom of three who lives in Memphis, TN.
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