Olive Garden House Salad + Italian Dressing
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Olive Garden House Salad is literally the best restaurant salad! It has all your favorite toppings like olives and tomatoes and topped with that delicious and tangy dressing and I have the recipe to share with you!
What You Will ❤️ About Olive Garden House Salad
- Classic – This is a classic house salad with all your favorite things!
- Perfect Side – The only thing you need when you’re dining on a bowl of pasta and a handful of breadsticks is this salad!
- Favorite in Every Bite – I might have put far more olives in this copycat Olive Garden salad recipe because they are my favorite! But that’s why I love it – add more of what you love!
Olive Garden House Salad Ingredients
The Olive Garden Salad is pretty simple to replicate but that dressing takes a little work – but that’s why I’m here. I bought the Olive Garden salad dressing from the store and then tweaked and worked my recipe until it had that same signature OG taste!
- Olive Garden Copycat Salad – this is such a classic salad – I feel like you can just look at it and KNOW it’s from Olive Garden. Here’s what you’ll need for this classic favorite:
- Iceberg & Romaine lettuce – you can use a salad mix but I like to stay true to it and just use Iceberg & Romaine
- Red Onion
- Shredded Carrots – sometimes a salad blend comes with carrots in them – so no need to add additional if you use that
- Black Olives
- Pepperoncini Peppers
- Roma Tomatoes
- Croutons
- Fresh Parmesan Cheese – be sure to pick up one of these rotary graters for the easiest way to grate fresh Parm!
- Olive Garden Italian Dressing – this creamy Italian dressing is available in grocery stores but you can make a near identical version at home! Here’s what you need:
- Italian Dressing Mix package – full of Italian seasoning and a few extras – we’re going to jazz it up a bit!
- Extra virgin olive oil
- White vinegar – you can sub with white wine vinegar if you’d like
- Water
- Sugar
- Coarse Kosher Salt & Black Pepper
- Mayonnaise
- Garlic
How to make Olive Garden Salad & Italian Dressing
This copycat recipe is easy to make and will quickly become a family favorite. I always get the salad when I visit Olive Garden – because it’s so big, fresh and delicious. Now you can have all that at home!
- Mix all dressing ingredients together in a mason jar. Add the lid and shake! Refrigerate until ready to serve. (You can also make this in a blender – like the Vitamix!)
- In large bowl, mix together chopped iceberg and romaine lettuce
- Add in tomatoes, olives, red onion and pepperoncinis and lightly toss
- Top with croutons and freshly grated parmesan cheese
- Serve with homemade Italian salad dressing
This recipe was made using the Vitamix A3500.
Tips, Tricks & FAQs
For leftover salad – I recommend NOT dressing the whole thing! Just dress what salads individually if you think you might have leftovers. Then store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 1-2 days. The tomatoes may need to be removed as they’ll spoil the most quickly. The croutons will also soften quickly.
Store leftover dressing in a resealable container in the fridge. It’s easiest if it’s something you can shake or stir easily like these dressing containers or a mason jar.
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More Olive Garden Recipes
- Soups
- Appetizers
- Famous Pasta Dishes
- Classic Pasta Sauces
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Olive Garden House Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
Olive Garden House Salad
- 1 head iceberg lettuce chopped
- 1 head romaine lettuce chopped
- 1/2 medium red onion sliced and rings separated
- 1/4 cup carrots shredded
- 4 oz extra large black olives
- 6 pepperoncini peppers
- 3-4 roma tomatoes sliced
- 1 cup croutons
- 2-3 tbsp Freshly grated parmesan cheese
Olive Garden Italian Dressing
- 1 oz. Italian Dressing Mix package
- 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/8 cup white vinegar
- ¼ cup water
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 3 tsp mayonnaise
- 1/2 tsp minced garlic or use roasted garlic
Instructions
- Mix all dressing ingredients together in a bowl and whisk thoroughly – refrigerate until serving (best to put in a container you can shake to mix)1 oz. Italian Dressing Mix package, 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1/8 cup white vinegar, ¼ cup water, ½ teaspoon sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, 3 tsp mayonnaise, 1/2 tsp minced garlic
- In large serving bowl, mix together iceberg and romaine lettuce1 head iceberg lettuce, 1 head romaine lettuce
- Add in tomatoes, olives, red onion and pepperoncinis1/2 medium red onion, 4 oz extra large black olives, 6 pepperoncini peppers, 3-4 roma tomatoes
- Top with croutons and freshly grated parmesan cheese2-3 tbsp Freshly grated parmesan cheese, 1 cup croutons
- Serve with dressing made earlier
Looks delicious! Just like the original. Great job!
Oh my goodness…… this was amazing. It was even better than the original somehow!! Everyone LOVED IT! I’m saving this and will probably make it weekly!! Now I really REALLY can’t wait to try the Carlos O Kelly’s Enchilada de Monterrey recipe! This is my new favorite website! 🙂
Aw – thanks jared!!! Glad you liked it! I’m working on the enchilada – promise!
I agree. First recipe I have that looks authentic and dressing is spot on.
There are no pepperoncinis listed in the ingredients?
Yes – there are 10 pepperoncinis in the ingredients list between the olives and tomatoes. Here’s the italian dressing – https://www.kroger.com/p/good-seasons-zesty-italian-dressing-recipe-seasoning-mix/0004300097903
Love their salad