Julie’s Italian House Salad with Red Wine Dressing
This easy Italian green salad recipe is one of my favorite Italian side dishes. Fresh, crisp lettuce with artichoke hearts, parmesan cheese, and onion. Topped with a red wine vinaigrette!
My mother-in-law, Julie, is famous for making this simple salad! It’s a close replica of the side salad from a local restaurant in our hometown, called Madison’s Café. Madison’s is famous for this salad! You have to order it when you eat there!
What makes this easy recipe the BEST easy Italian green salad? Fresh produce and a homemade Italian vinaigrette! This side salad recipe has a base of crunchy veggies.
I use romaine hearts, iceberg lettuce and fresh onions. Then, I add Parmesan cheese, artichokes and a homemade, delicious dressing. It’s so good!
This hearty salad makes a wonderful side dish for almost any main course! Serve with your favorite Italian dish, or with pork chops for a light dinner.
“This was excellent. Husband really liked the dressing and the addition of the artichokes.“
– Mary
Recipe Additions:
As with any recipe you find here on Blackberry Babe, use it as a base recipe, and add whatever sounds good to you! Here are a few suggestions:
- diced red bell peppers or green bell pepper
- black olives or kalamata olives
- cherry tomatoes
- sun-dried tomatoes
- pepperoncini peppers or banana peppers
- sliced English cucumber
- crunchy croutons
- add a teaspoon of Dijon mustard to the homemade dressing for extra flavor
- add whole garlic cloves to the dressing
“One of my favorite salads, I literally crave it all the time- good thing it’s super easy to make!! Great work Michelle!”
Emily B.
Substitutions:
And, it’s always best to use the ingredients you have on hand! Here are a few substitution suggestions:
- mozzarella cheese or provolone cheese for the Parmesan cheese
- grape tomatoes or your favorite veggie for the artichoke hearts
- butter lettuce or the lettuce of your choice for the iceberg and/or romaine lettuce
But, if you do substitute the lettuce, you may want to skip “resting” the salad in the refrigerator.
Serving Suggestions:
I love to serve this salad with crusty bread and my favorite Italian meal. If you need suggestions, try Chicken Pasta with Rosa Sauce, Crab Carbonara Pasta, Pasta alla Norma or my awesome Easy Red Wine Pasta Sauce over pasta of your choice!
Storing Leftovers:
Keep leftovers separated (salad and dressing). Store leftover lettuce in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. The dressing will keep on your counter at room temperature in a sealed container for up to one week.
Julie's Famous Italian House Salad
This easy Italian house salad is one of my favorite Italian side dishes. Fresh, crisp lettuce is paired with artichoke hearts, parmesan cheese, onion and a red wine vinaigrette. .
Ingredients
For the salad ingredients:
- ½ head iceberg lettuce, washed and chopped into bite size pieces
- ½ head romaine lettuce, washed and chopped into bite size pieces
- 7 ounces marinated artichoke hearts, drained
- ½ cup red onion, sliced
- ⅔ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
For the homemade Italian dressing:
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ⅓ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- In a large bowl, toss iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, artichoke hearts, red onion and Parmesan cheese.
- In a small bowl or mason jar, combine olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Whisk well or shake to combine.
- Top salad with dressing and let stand for 15 minutes in refrigerator before serving.
Notes
I like a more acidic dressing, so I typically add a bit more vinegar, or a big squeeze of fresh lemon juice to the Italian salad dressing.
Wonderful served with crusty bread.
Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 255Total Fat 23.8gNet Carbohydrates 4.6gProtein 4.7g
Love this recipe? I think you’d also love my Easy Chicken Milanese, or this Crab Linguine Carbonara pasta.
Count me in for a BIG BOWL! I could eat salad everyday!
I love simple and delicious salads like this! Perfect to counteract all those holiday pies we indulged in last week! 🙂
I need some healthy recipes to counterbalance all of the desserts! I can’t wait to try this!
This looks perfect!! I love Italian House Salads. Can’t wait to make this for Pat!
Hahaha. I was also kind of a picky kid and not much of a cook until after college. It’s crazy where life takes us!
So weird… look at us now! 🙂
The perfect salad! And I love the addition of the artichokes!
I love salads so this is right up my alley. You can’t never go wrong with a salad!
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This was excellent. Husband really liked the dressing and the addition of the artichokes.
This excellent and husband liked the dressing and addition of the artichoke
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Please what are the measurements for the parm cheese, vinegar and olive oil
Hi Cindi! It should be corrected now. There was something weird going on in the background of the site, but my tech person has it fixed! 🙂
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One of my favorite salads, I literally crave it all the time- good thing it’s super easy to make!! Great work Michelle!
Awwww thanks Emily! 😉
I love this salad and Madison’s Cafe in Jefferson City. I worked in Jefferson City for 26 years and ate at Madison’s more times than I can count!
Terra, that’s awesome! So glad you found this recipe!