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Italian Chopped Salad with Creamy Vegan Herb Dressing

Italian Chopped Salad with Creamy Vegan Herb Dressing

Salads get a bad reputation, and honestly, most of the time it's deserved. Sad, wilted lettuce with three croutons doesn't count as a meal. This Italian chopped salad with creamy vegan herb dressing is a different story entirely: it's loaded, tangy, satisfying, and it comes together without touching a single burner.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings: 6
Course: DINNER, Gluten-free, healthy dinner, No-Cook
Cuisine: American
Calories: 182
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • For the Oil-Free Italian Dressing
  • ¼ cup red wine vinegar
  • ¼ cup aquafaba
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
  • Salt and ground black pepper to taste
  • For the Italian Chopped Salad
  • 2 medium heads romaine lettuce chopped
  • 1½ cups shredded red cabbage
  • ½ small red onion quartered and thinly sliced
  • 2 cups cherry tomatoes halved
  • ½ cup pepperoncini rinsed, thoroughly drained, and sliced
  • ½ cup pitted and sliced black olives rinsed and thoroughly drained
  • 14.5 ounces chickpeas rinsed and thoroughly drained
  • Bold reminder here: rinse and drain the pepperoncini and olives thoroughly. Skip this step and your salad ends up swimming in brine instead of the dressing you just made.

Equipment

  • Here's the entire equipment list, and yes, it really is this short.
  • A small bowl - for whisking together the dressing
  • A large serving bowl - for tossing all the salad components together
  • A whisk - for combining the dressing ingredients
  • A cutting board and knife - for chopping the veggies
  • No blender, no food processor, no fancy kitchen tools required. If you own a bowl and a whisk, you're set.

Method
 

  1. How to Make the Dressing
  2. This part takes about two minutes, tops.
  3. Add the red wine vinegar, aquafaba, Dijon mustard, Italian seasoning, maple syrup, and nutritional yeast to a small bowl.
  4. Whisk everything together until fully combined and slightly frothy.
  5. Season with salt and pepper to taste, adjusting based on how salty your pepperoncini and olives already are.
  6. That's it. No cooking, no reducing, no waiting around for anything to thicken on the stove.
  7. How to Make the Italian Chopped Salad
  8. Now for the fun part, the actual assembly.
  9. In a large serving bowl, combine the romaine, red cabbage, red onion, cherry tomatoes, pepperoncini, olives, and chickpeas.
  10. Drizzle about half of the dressing over the salad.
  11. Toss gently but thoroughly, making sure every piece gets coated.
  12. Add more dressing if you like things extra tangy, or serve the rest on the side so everyone can adjust to their own taste.
  13. Some people like a heavily dressed salad, others prefer just a light coating. Serving the extra dressing on the side means nobody has to argue about it at the table.

Notes

Nutrition Breakdown

Curious what's actually going into this bowl? Here's the full nutrition rundown per serving:
  • Calories- 182kcal
  • Carbohydrates- 33g
  • Protein- 10g
  • Fat- 3g
  • Saturated Fat- 0.3g
  • Polyunsaturated Fat- 1g
  • Monounsaturated Fat- 1g
  • Sodium- 76mg
  • Potassium- 944mg
  • Fiber- 11g
  • Sugar- 9g
  • Vitamin A- 18,736IU
  • Vitamin C- 43mg
  • Calcium- 138mg
  • Iron- 5mg