Restaurant Style Italian Salad with Homemade Italian Dressing, Vegan

glass bowl with Italian salad tossed with dressing

Restaurant Style Italian Salad with Homemade Italian Dressing, Vegan

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American, Italian fusion

Keyword: copycat olive garden salad, Italian Salad

Prep Time: 17

Total Time: 17

Servings:

Calories: 279kcal

Author: Cindy Rainey

This Italian salad recipe with homemade Italian dressing is just like you'd find in an Italian restaurant. In fact, we call it the Vegan Copycat Olive Garden salad. Drizzle with a generous portion of Italian Dressing you easily mix up in your kitchen. Make a big bowl because they will be asking for more!

Print Recipe

Equipment

blender

Ingredients

For the Salad

5 cups romaine lettuce chopped
1 small red onion sliced thin
2-3 Roma tomatoes sliced
8 pepperoncinis
⅓ cup pitted black olives

For the Dressing

½ cup vegan mayonnaise
⅓ cup red wine vinegar
2½ Tablespoons lemon juice
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2½ teaspoons Italian seasoning blend
½ teaspoon garlic powder
2 Tablespoons vegan parmesan cheese
¼ teaspoon sea salt

For Topping

vegan croutons
vegan parmesan cheese shreds

Instructions

Wash, dry, and cut the lettuce into bite-sized pieces. Slice the red onion. Wash and slice the tomato. Drain and pat dry the peppers.
Place the prepared vegetables into a large bowl and toss to combine.
Juice the lemon if using fresh lemon.
Place all of the ingredients for the salad dressing -except for the parmesan cheese - into a blender or small food processor. Place the vegan mayo, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and salt into the blender and pulse until well blended and creamy. Add the vegan cheese and pulse lightly once more until mixed in.
Add the croutons, drizzle the salad dressing and toss well. Add more vegan parm and croutons if desired.

Notes

The croutons and extra vegan parm are not included in the nutritional information.

This will serve 4 generous-sized portions.

Nutrition