38 Must-Make Salad Recipes From the Heart of Italy

Italian salads are loved around the world for their unique and delicious flavors. Perhaps you’ve tried panzanella, the wonderful bread salad, or maybe you’re a fan of Caprese, the classic basil, tomato, and mozzarella salad that features the colors of the Italian flag. There are many delicious Italian salad recipes to explore, including tuna and bean salads, pasta salads, deli meat salads, seafood salads, and more!

Italian Panzanella Salad

Panzanella salad is a refreshing summer side dish that combines juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, and chunks of crusty bread, all tossed in a tangy vinaigrette. It’s the perfect accompaniment to grilled meats and a delightful way to enjoy the flavors of the season.
Get the Recipe: Italian Panzanella Salad

Italian Rice Salad – Insalata di Riso

This colourful, flavourful Italian rice salad is perfect for a picnic, potluck, summer BBQ, or as a versatile side dish for a simple lunch or dinner. Every mouthful of this Mediterranean brown rice salad is bursting with fresh ingredients such as tasty salad vegetables.
Get the Recipe: Italian Rice Salad – Insalata di Riso

Smoked Italian Pasta Salad

Add some smoky flavour to your favorite pasta salad with this delicious smoked Italian pasta salad recipe. Packed with pepperoni, salami, mozzarella cheese, and a pepperoncini dressing, it’s the perfect dish for your summer BBQ.
Get the Recipe: Smoked Italian Pasta Salad

Radicchio Endive Chicken Salad

As the weather gets warmer, this radicchio endive chicken salad with creamy honey mustard dressing is a fresh and delicious option for a filling summer meal. With its unique combination of flavors and textures, including tender chicken and crisp veggies, it’s a must-try recipe for anyone looking for a simple and satisfying dinner salad.
Get the Recipe: Radicchio Endive Chicken Salad

Heirloom Tomato Burrata Caprese Salad

This authentic Italian burrata caprese salad is a delicious side dish or appetizer that features heirloom tomatoes and creamy burrata cheese with balsamic vinegar and truffle salt for added flavor. With every bite, you’ll savor the delicious flavors of this simple yet impressive dish.
Get the Recipe: Heirloom Tomato Burrata Caprese Salad

Italian Tuna White Bean Salad

Simple ingredients combine to make this Tuscan classic. Juicy fresh tuna pairs with beans for a Tuscan tuna white bean salad everyone will enjoy. It makes a tasty meal, whatever the season.
Get the Recipe: Italian Tuna White Bean Salad

Antipasto Salad With Dairy Free Creamy Italian Dressing

This antipasto salad is an Italian-based salad filled with lettuce, grape tomatoes, salami, pepperoni, olives, red onion, roasted red peppers and tossed with a dairy-free creamy Italian dressing. Think of a delicious antipasto platter, but made even better in veggie-loaded salad form!
Get the Recipe: Antipasto Salad With Dairy Free Creamy Italian Dressing

Pesto Pasta Salad With 5 Ingredients

In the summertime, my garden is always overflowing with fresh basil, so I’m constantly making fresh Homemade Pesto Sauce. It’s a great herby additional to almost anything and great to have on hand. Make your own, or grab a quality fresh-made pesto at any market, and dinner is instantly better!
Get the Recipe: Pesto Pasta Salad With 5 Ingredients

Orzo Pasta Salad

This Orzo Pasta Salad is fresh, healthy, and flavorful, easy to put together, and perfect for making ahead.
Get the Recipe: Orzo Pasta Salad

Burrata Salad

Cool and refreshing, this burrata salad is a delicious take on the classic Caprese salad. Instead of mozzarella, this recipe takes a fresh piece of burrata and surrounds it with chopped tomatoes, leafy greens and a flavorful pesto dressing that perfectly compliments the creaminess of the cheese.
Get the Recipe: Burrata Salad

Marinated Tomato Basil Salad

This Marinated Tomato Salad is full of fresh flavor and can be used in many ways as a side dish or a topping for chicken, beef, or fish. You’ll be enjoying this simple tomato salad all summer long.
Get the Recipe: Marinated Tomato Basil Salad

Mediterranean Chickpea Salad

This easy Mediterranean Chickpea Salad is a cinch to make and it’s packed with flavor. Using lots of herbs really fills it with seasonal goodness.
Get the Recipe: Mediterranean Chickpea Salad

Cannellini Bean Salad

This cannellini bean salad is packed with Italian flavors and ready in less than 10 minutes! Learn how to make this authentic recipe as a side or appetizer for your al fresco dinners.
Get the Recipe: Cannellini Bean Salad

Italian Tuna Potato Salad

This Italian tuna potato salad is chunky, refreshing, and packed with Mediterranean flavors. It’s easy to make, customizable to personal taste, and loved by many for its simplicity and deliciousness.
Get the Recipe: Italian Tuna Potato Salad

Pesto Rice Salad With Tuna

Pesto rice salad is a refreshing Mediterranean dish that is perfect to make ahead and enjoy on one of those lazy, warm days. This salad is a perfect weeknight light meal or a side for your favorite mains. It is easy, quick, and so flavorful!
Get the Recipe: Pesto Rice Salad With Tuna

White Bean Antipasto Salad

For a quick and easy dish, make this white bean antipasto salad. Bold flavors of bright and briny ingredients that need very little prep.
Get the Recipe: White Bean Antipasto Salad

Pasta Fredda (Italian Tuna Pasta Salad)

This pasta fredda (Italian tuna pasta salad) is so flavorful, fresh, and loaded with tomatoes, tuna, artichokes, and olives. The recipe is very easy to make and is perfect as a quick and light lunch, dinner, or a prep-ahead side dish for summer cookouts.
Get the Recipe: Pasta Fredda (Italian Tuna Pasta Salad)

Italian Seafood Salad Recipe

This Italian seafood salad recipe is filled with seven different types of seafood and flavored simply. The best addition to your Italian Christmas eve dinner and for the feast of seven fishes.
Get the Recipe: Italian Seafood Salad Recipe

Italian Tomato Salad (Insalata di Pomodori)

This simple Italian tomato salad can be ready in just 10 minutes! It is fresh, sweet, and with a tangy kick, perfect to pair with your favorite proteins.
Get the Recipe: Italian Tomato Salad (Insalata di Pomodori)

Italian Bow Tie Pasta Salad

This Italian Bowtie Pasta Salad is a hearty side dish that’s full of flavor and easy to make! It’s a great make-ahead dish for any family gatherings or dinner.
Get the Recipe: Italian Bow Tie Pasta Salad

Peach Arugula Salad With Prosciutto and Burrata

Peach Arugula Salad with Prosciutto and Burrata is a sweet and savory salad that tastes like Italy in the summertime. The ripe sweet peaches and heirloom tomatoes complement the savory prosciutto and burrata. It only takes 10 minutes to assemble and goes well with a glass of white wine from the wine cooler.
Get the Recipe: Peach Arugula Salad With Prosciutto and Burrata

Italian Grinder Salad (Tiktok Viral Recipe)

This Italian Grinder Salad has taken the Tik Tok world by storm, and it’s easy to see why it’s gone absolutely VIRAL on social media! Taking the heart and soul of your favorite sandwich ingredients and transforming it into a refreshing salad is pure genius. Crunchy lettuce teams up with a delicious creamy dressing, cheese, and those classic Italian flavors we all adore.
Get the Recipe: Italian Grinder Salad (Tiktok Viral Recipe)

Pesto Tortellini Salad

This Pesto Tortellini Salad is the perfect recipe for Summer. It is light and garden fresh with the pesto sauce, but also provides a feeling of indulgence with the cheese filled pasta. Serve it as a side dish or a meal!
Get the Recipe: Pesto Tortellini Salad

Italian Chopped Salad Recipe With Chicken

Italian Chopped Salad with Chicken is loaded with crisp fresh greens, vegetables and protein dressed with a lively vinaigrette you’ll want to drizzle on everything! It’s the perfect salad to have on hand all spring and summer long for a quick lunch or light dinner and can be assembled a day ahead of time!
Get the Recipe: Italian Chopped Salad Recipe With Chicken

Italian Wild Rice Salad

You’ll love my easy green bean wild rice salad. It’s a delightfully different side dish that’s brimming with fresh, concentrated flavors like oil-packed sun dried tomatoes, briny kalamata olives, vibrant green beans and soft, fresh mozzarella chunks. Earthy wild rice is nuttier with more texture than the long-grained variety and stands up to the Mediterranean flavors in this Italian rice salad. The sherry shallot vinaigrette adds a soft, tangy, hum to each bite.
Get the Recipe: Italian Wild Rice Salad

Antipasto Pasta Salad (With Pepperoni)

When craving a zesty Italian pasta salad, look no further than this Antipasto Pasta Salad. This recipe is easy to make with fresh and jarred veggies, mozzarella cheese and a tangy dressing. As a bonus, this pasta salad has pepperoni chunks for a delicious side dish.
Get the Recipe: Antipasto Pasta Salad (With Pepperoni)

Cold Italian Green Bean Salad (Quick & Easy Recipe)

This Cold Italian Green Bean Salad is a refreshing and healthy side dish that’s perfect for family gatherings. The combination of green beans, sweet cherry tomatoes, and pungent red onions creates a satisfying flavor and texture profile. The addition of garlic, parsley, and mixed dried herbs infuses the salad with a zesty and herbaceous aroma.
Get the Recipe: Cold Italian Green Bean Salad (Quick & Easy Recipe)

Italian Potato Salad

Italian Potato Salad is a lightened up twist on traditional potato salad. Red potatoes are coated in peppery olive oil and tossed with crunchy cucumber, tender tomatoes, briny olives and capers, buttery boiled eggs, then spiked with vinegar, oregano and slivers of fresh basil.
Get the Recipe: Italian Potato Salad

Italian Rice Salad

This Italian rice salad can be put together in 10 minutes and is packed with fresh, zingy flavour.
Get the Recipe: Italian Rice Salad

Zesty Pesto Orzo Pasta Salad: Easy 15-Minute Recipe

This flavorful pesto orzo salad is the perfect side dish for summer! Made with a few simple ingredients in under 15 minutes, you’ll want this salad recipe on deck all season long.
Get the Recipe: Zesty Pesto Orzo Pasta Salad: Easy 15-Minute Recipe

Easy Olive Salad Recipe

This quick 5-minute easy olive salad recipe is packed with good fats and very easy to make. Top it on a whipped feta dip for the perfect Keto, low-carb lunch.
Get the Recipe: Easy Olive Salad Recipe

Olive Garden Salad Recipe

This Olive Garden salad recipe is a copycat of the restaurant favorite with lettuce, tomatoes, olives, onion and croutons, all tossed with a creamy Italian dressing. Serve this salad as a hearty side dish, or add some grilled chicken to make it a meal!
Get the Recipe: Olive Garden Salad Recipe

Mediterranean Cucumber Tomato Salad

This fast and easy Mediterranean Cucumber Tomato Salad has just a few ingredients, but it’s packed with flavor.
Get the Recipe: Mediterranean Cucumber Tomato Salad

The Ultimate Mediterranean Chopped Salad

This easy Mediterranean Chopped Salad is packed with color and texture from a mix of fresh vegetables and jarred or canned pantry staples like roasted red peppers, chickpeas, and tuna. Topped with a simple homemade balsamic dressing, every bite is full of flavor.
Get the Recipe: The Ultimate Mediterranean Chopped Salad

Fresh Tuna Cucumber And Ricotta Cheese Salad

This easy and healthy Ricotta salad brings both taste and nutrition to your table.
Get the Recipe: Fresh Tuna Cucumber And Ricotta Cheese Salad

Italian Chopped Salad

What could be easier and tastier than this almost flawless Italian chopped salad recipe? Give this delightful salad a try as a complete meal or a refreshing side dish. Packed with classic Italian ingredients and topped off with an incredibly flavorful dressing, it brings everything together beautifully.
Get the Recipe: Italian Chopped Salad

Burrata And Prosciutto Arugula Salad

This Burrata and Prosciutto Salad with Arugula is pretty hard to beat. It’s creamy, rich, with the perfect zing of freshness, acidity, and salty prosciutto. An ultra-satisfying mouthful, with flavorful and fulfilling bites. You can serve it as a side dish, or even your entire meal!
Get the Recipe: Burrata And Prosciutto Arugula Salad

Arugula Spinach Salad

This Spinach Arugula Salad is the perfect side salad for busy weeknights. If you need an easy healthy salad recipe for your next meal, this recipe is the perfect addition to your table or meal prep!
Get the Recipe: Arugula Spinach Salad