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This Italian-inspired Antipasto Salad is sure to satisfy your cravings for fine dining. Each bite of this incredibly easy-to-make salad is full of color, flavor, and nutrients. Switch out the salami for your favorite protein or add some extra veggies to add a personal twist to this antipasto salad.
If you are a fan of fine dining then you are probably familiar with a classic antipasto platter. Full of meats, cheeses, and vegetables, antipasto is a staple in many restaurants. This easy-to-make recipe brings that fine dining experience to your own kitchen with a salad that comes together in minutes!
We love how the homemade dijon mustard dressing pairs with the spice of the salami, sweetness of the bell peppers, and tang of the green olives.
Salami—Provides some protein to the salad and adds some spice.
Green Olives—With or without pimento. Can be replaced with black olives.
Bell Peppers—Any color.
Cherry Tomatoes—Cut in half.
Feta Cheese—Can be found near the deli section of your grocery store.
Olive Oil—Acts as the base of your dressing.
Dijon Mustard—Or stone ground mustard.
Salt and Pepper—To help balance the flavors of the dressing.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Popular Substitutions and Variations
Vegetarian Antipasto Salad:Omit the meats and focus on a variety of marinated vegetables, cheeses, and olives. You can add grilled or roasted vegetables like bell peppers, artichoke hearts, and eggplant for extra flavor.
Seafood Antipasto Salad:Incorporate seafood elements like marinated anchovies, smoked salmon, or shrimp into the salad for a seafood twist.
Caprese Antipasto Salad:Focus on the classic Caprese salad components, including fresh tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, basil leaves, and balsamic glaze. You can add olives and roasted red peppers for extra flavor.
How to Make Antipasto Salad
Step #1. Gather and prepare all of the ingredients for antipasto salad.
Step #2. Place the lettuce, salami, green olives, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, and cheese in a large mixing bowl. Toss the ingredients together and set aside.
Step #3. Whisk together the olive oil, dijon mustard, salt, and pepper in a small bowl until homogenous.
Step #4. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and fold to combine.Serve and enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
What is antipasto?
The term antipasto refers to a traditional first course Italian meal. The course is traditionally composed of a variety of cheeses, meats, olives, and vegetables. Other common additions to the course include roasted peppers, anchovies, and light crackers. While antipasto is traditionally meant to help awaken your appetite and get you hungry for the next course, this salad is designed to hold its own as a star entree or be paired with a variety of dishes.
Does this salad go well with any other dressings?
Of course! Our homemade mustard dressing is designed to provide a nice, sharp vinegar taste that pairs well with the feta cheese, olives, and salami. However, you are more than welcome to switch it out for your favorite dressing. This salad is particularly good topped with a balsamic vinaigrette. This salad is also great topped with ranch dressing.
What meats are traditionally served with antipasto?
The most common cuts of meat served in antipasto include salami, prosciutto, mortadella, and capicola. Each of these meats has a slightly different heat level. While each of these meats goes great with this salad, we decided to stick with salami because it is the easiest cut to get a hold of.
Expert Tips
This dish comes together in about five minutes as long as you have all your veggies prepped and ready to go. Cutting the veggies before you need to make this salad is a major time saver.
If you aren’t a fan of goat cheese, you can replace the feta cheese with fresh mozzarella slices or freshly grated parmesan cheese. Any of these cheeses works great with the other ingredients in the salad.
The sweetness of the cherry tomatoes and bell peppers help balance the tang of and sharpness of the dijon mustard dressing.
Green olives stuffed with pimento add some extra flavor to the salad, but you can always switch out the olives if you don’t like pimento.
In addition to using salami, you can use pepperoni, ham, or prosciutto. Prosciutto in particular is a great addition to this salad, but it is important to note that it is a bit more expensive than the other ingredients.
Serving Ideas
This salad has enough ingredients and flavor to hold its own as an entree, or it can be served as a side dish. Being an Italian-inspired salad, you can’t go wrong serving this antipasto salad alongside a homemade lasagna, chicken alfredo, or chicken parm. Other dishes that pair nicely with this dish include steak, baked potatoes, and meatloaf.
How to Store Your Salad
If you would like to store your salad, we recommend keeping the dressing and the actual salad separate. While you can store the salad and dressing together, it will cause the lettuce to become soft and a little soggy. Either way, you can store the salad and dressing in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 5 days before the lettuce will begin to wilt. The dressing itself can be kept in an airtight container or mason jar with a tight fitting lid for up to a month.
This Italian-inspired Antipasto Salad is sure to satisfy your cravings for fine dining. Each bite of this incredibly easy-to-make salad is full of color, flavor, and nutrients.
In a large bowl, combine the lettuce, salami, olives, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, and cheese. Fold the ingredients together until they are evenly distributed.
In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, mustard, salt and pepper until homogenous.
Pour the dressing over the salad and fold to combine.
Top your salad with a little extra feta cheese if desired, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
This salad comes together very quickly if you have all of your ingredients pre cut/ diced.
You can substitute the feta cheese for mozzarella or parmesan cheese.
In addition to using salami, you can use pepperoni, ham, or prosciutto. The prosciutto adds some richness to the salad and can help balance the slight spice of the salami but it is a more expensive ingredient.
The sweetness of the bell peppers and cherry tomatoes help balance the tang and sharpness of the Dijon mustard dressing.
If you want to store this salad, I recommend keeping the dressing separate. You can store the mixed veggies and dressing in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Storing the salad and dressing separate helps keep the lettuce nice and crispy.
Storing the ingredients together can cause the salad to become soggy and a little mushy.
We like to use green olives stuffed with pimento but plain green or black olives work great as well.
