Olive Garden Salad Recipe (Copycat House Salad)

Name: Olive Garden Salad Recipe (Copycat House Salad)
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 2 (9 oz) Packet Italian salad mix ((It contains Romaine lettuce, red cabbage and sometimes carrots)); 2 Roma Tomatoes (Sliced); ½ small Red onion (thickly sliced); 1 cup Pepperoncini (keep whole); 1 cup Olives (Pitted, whole); 1 cup Croutons; ¼ cup Vegetarian parmesan cheese (freshly grated, for garnishing only); ¾ cup Olive Garden Salad Dressing

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Make this Olive Garden salad at home in just 10 minutes — Crisp romaine, briny olives, tangy pepperoncini, crunchy croutons, and that iconic Italian dressing.

Olive garden salad served in a large bowl with a small bowl of croutons in the back.

About Olive Garden House Salad

The Olive Garden house salad is the most famous starter salad in American casual dining. It is a simple Italian-American salad of romaine lettuce tossed with red onion, Roma tomatoes, black olives, pepperoncini peppers, seasoned croutons, and Olive Garden’s signature creamy Italian dressing, finished with freshly grated Parmesan at the table.

It became iconic for one reason: the “Unlimited Soup, Salad and Breadsticks” promotion that Olive Garden has offered since the 1980s. Since people could enjoy unlimited salad refills, this simple salad became memorable and loved by many. The creamy salad dressing is what gives the salad most of its flavor.

My Recipe

I started making this at home after realizing that the restaurant experience is almost entirely about the assembly — fresh ingredients, very cold, dressed at the last second. The salad itself is not complicated. What makes it feel special is doing a few small things right:
– using a pre-mixed Italian salad blend (which already contains the red cabbage and sometimes carrots),
– not skimping on the pepperoncini or olives,
– tossing with the dressing at the very last moment, and
– finishing with freshly grated Parmesan rather than the shelf-stable powdery kind.

This recipe pairs directly with my Olive Garden Salad Dressing — make a jar of that dressing once and you’ll have both this salad and the dressing covered for the whole week. Use store-bought Olive Garden dressing if you prefer, but the homemade version genuinely tastes closer to the restaurant.

⭐ Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Ready in 10 minutes — no cooking, no heating, nothing
Tastes exactly like the restaurant version, at a fraction of the cost
The pre-mixed Italian salad blend does half the work for you
Naturally vegetarian and easily made gluten-free (see tips)
Perfect starter for any Italian-themed dinner
Scales easily — double or triple for a crowd

Ingredient Notes

Complete list of ingredients and amounts is written in the recipe card below.

Copycat Olive Garden salad ingredients in bowls with labels.

Italian salad mix: The pre-packaged Italian blend — which contains romaine, red cabbage, and sometimes shredded carrots. Look for it in the refrigerated produce section.
If you prefer to build from scratch: use chopped romaine, add ¼ cup shredded red cabbage, and ¼ cup matchstick carrots (optional).
Roma tomatoes: Roma tomatoes hold their shape better than regular tomatoes and have less juice, which means they don’t make the salad watery. Slice them into rounds.
Red onion: Thickly sliced — not rings, not finely chopped. Thick slices give you a satisfying bite and a sharp-sweet flavor that is visually recognizable as part of the Olive Garden presentation.
If you find raw red onion too sharp, soak the slices in cold water for 10 minutes, then drain and pat dry — this removes most of the sharpness while keeping the flavor.
Pepperoncini: (also called golden peppers or Tuscan peppers) They are small, mild yellow-green pickled chili peppers. They are tangy, slightly spicy, and briny — a key part of the Olive Garden salad’s flavor profile.
Find them in the pickle aisle at any grocery store.
They should be used whole, straight from the jar.
If you can’t find them, banana peppers are the closest substitute.
Olives: Use black olives — the standard Olive Garden choice. Regular canned pitted black olives or Kalamata olives are perfectly fine here.
Croutons: Store-bought seasoned croutons work great. Italian-seasoned or garlic-flavored croutons are the best match.
Parmesan cheese: This is garnish only. Always grate it freshly from a block using a microplane zester.
Dressing: Use my homemade Olive Garden salad dressing for the closest restaurant taste — it uses extra virgin olive oil, white vinegar, lemon juice, mayonnaise, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning.
Or use the store-bought Olive Garden Signature Italian Dressing.

Tried this recipe? A star rating ⭐️ and a quick comment below help others (and me!) know how it went.

Olive Garden Salad Recipe (Copycat House Salad)

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Make this Olive Garden salad at home in just 10 minutes — Crisp romaine, briny olives, tangy pepperoncini, crunchy croutons, and that iconic Italian dressing.

Kanan

Prep Time 10

Total Time 10

Serving Size

US measuring cups are used (1 cup = 240 ml)

Ingredients

2 (9 oz) Packet Italian salad mix, (It contains Romaine lettuce, red cabbage and sometimes carrots)
2 Roma Tomatoes, Sliced
½ small Red onion, thickly sliced
1 cup Pepperoncini, keep whole
1 cup Olives, Pitted, whole
1 cup Croutons
¼ cup Vegetarian parmesan cheese, freshly grated, for garnishing only
¾ cup Olive Garden Salad Dressing

Instructions

Layer the Salad: Add the Italian salad mix to a large serving bowl. Layer the sliced Roma tomatoes, thick-cut red onion, whole olives, and whole pepperoncini on top of the greens. Add the croutons last.
Dress And Toss: Drizzle the salad dressing over the top. Using salad tongs or two large spoons, toss gently but thoroughly until every leaf and ingredient is lightly coated in dressing.
Garnish, Serve: Finish with freshly grated Parmesan over the top. Serve right away.

Notes

Add the dressing right before serving. If you dress the salad too early, the lettuce will turn soggy. First, get everything ready and have everyone at the table. Then add the dressing and toss the salad just before eating.
More dressing is okay. Olive Garden is famously generous with their dressing — the salad should taste well-coated, not lightly touched. If the tossed salad looks dry, add more.
Gluten-free version: Use certified gluten-free croutons, or skip the croutons entirely and add toasted pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds for crunch.

Nutrition

🍽️ What to Serve With This Salad

This salad is the starter for any Italian-American dinner. Serve it with:

Creamy Pasta: Olive garden Fettuccine Alfredo, White sauce pasta, Pink sauce pasta, Cottage cheese mac and cheese
Light pasta: Penne pomodoro, Pesto ravioli, Zucchini pasta
Bread: Olive garden breadsticks, garlic bread. The dressing is excellent for dipping.
Soup: Olive Garden minestrone soup, Roasted tomato soup, Broccoli Potato soup, Spinach soup

🧊 Storage

Dressed salad: Does not store well — once tossed with dressing, the greens wilt and the croutons become soggy within 30–60 minutes. Always dress just before serving.
Undressed components: Keep all the prepped ingredients in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. This is the best approach for meal prep — you can have a fresh-tasting Olive Garden salad in 2 minutes whenever you want one.
Croutons: Store croutons separately in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Do not store them with the salad, or they will absorb moisture and become soft.

A bowl of copycat Olive Garden salad with block of Parmesan cheese and croutons in the back.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Olive Garden’s house salad uses a blend of romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce, and red cabbage. The easiest way to replicate this at home is with a pre-packaged Italian salad mix from the produce section, which typically contains all of these in one bag.

Banana peppers are the closest substitute — they are slightly milder and sweeter but have a similar tangy, pickled flavor.

Yes — the classic house salad is vegetarian. Use vegetarian Parmesan cheese for the garnish. The dressing contains egg yolk (in mayonnaise) but I use eggless Mayonnaise to make it vegetarian. It is not vegan. For a vegan version, use vegan mayonnaise in the dressing and skip the Parmesan garnish.

Did you make this Olive Garden house salad recipe? Leave a star rating and a comment below! Tag me on Instagram @spice.up.the.curry — I’d love to see your spread!

Olive Garden Salad (Copycat House Salad)