Creamy Italiano Salad – our favorite salad!!! Romaine, tomatoes, thinly sliced seedless cucumbers, sliced banana peppers, croutons, parmesan cheese, and homemade Creamy Italian dressing. The dressing really puts this salad over the top!!! Mayonnaise, red wine vinegar, milk, sugar, Italian seasoning, garlic, salt, and pepper. I made this for a dinner party and everyone RAVED about it!! A million times better than Olive Garden’s salad! #salad #saladdressing #sidedish #vegetables
Salad with Creamy Italian Dressing
We are obsessed with this yummy Creamy Italiano Salad. It is seriously delicious. The salad is good, but it is the tangy homemade dressing that really puts this salad over the top! I made this for a dinner party and everyone LOVED it! Everyone asked for the dressing recipe. I am not even kidding! The dressing is seriously the best. It is a little tangy with tons of great flavor. I could drink it with a straw.
How to Make Homemade Creamy Italian Dressing
The salad is super easy to make. Start with making the dressing. Whisk together mayonnaise, milk, red wine vinegar, sugar, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Next toss together the salad – romaine, tomatoes, thinly sliced seedless cucumbers, sliced banana peppers, shaved parmesan cheese, and croutons. Toss the salad with the dressing and serve.
- I know some people don’t like cucumbers, so they are totally optional.
- Can substitute grated parmesan for shaved parmesan.
- Can add bell peppers, onions, or olives to the salad mixture.
- For the croutons, I like to use the Olive Garden croutons that are in the grocery store.
- You can make the creamy Italian dressing ahead of time and refrigerate it until you are ready to toss the salad. I usually make the dressing a day or two in advance of serving.
- You can assemble the salad mixture in advance and refrigerate until ready to serve. Toss it with the dressing just before serving so the lettuce isn’t soggy.
- If you aren’t making this for a crowd, just make as much salad as you want and toss it with a little dressing. YUM!
- The dressing will keep a week in the refrigerator.
Better than Olive Garden Salad
This Creamy Italiano Salad is the perfect accompaniment to our traditional Christmas Eve lasagna. This salad, my homemade lasagna, and some garlic bread is my all-time favorite meal! Give it a try the next time you have a salad. I promise it will be a hit!
Here are a few of our favorite recipes from the blog that go great with this salad:
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Creamy Italiano Salad
Ingredients:
Dressing
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 3 Tbsp milk
- 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste
Salad
- 1 (9-oz) bag chopped romaine lettuce
- 1 cup sliced seedless cucumbers
- 1 cup purchased croutons
- ½ cup banana pepper rings
- ½ cup grape or cherry tomatoes halved
- ¼ cup shaved parmesan cheese
Instructions:
- Whisk together mayonnaise, milk, vinegar, sugar, Italian seasoning, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper.
- In a large bowl, combine romaine lettuce, cucumbers, croutons, banana peppers, tomatoes and parmesan.
- Add some dressing and toss. Continue to add dressing until the salad is dressed to your preference. You may have some leftover dressing.
Notes:
Steph
Are these pickled banana peppers from a jar or fresh sliced?
from a jar