Easy Italian Salad Board

Easy Italian Salad Board contains your favorite Italian salad ingredients that you place on a charcuterie board. It is both super easy to make for family dinners and gorgeous for entertaining.

This is an easy way to refresh your salad-making. Instead of tossing your favorite Italian salad in a bowl, you can build that salad on a board for a fresh new look.

Jump to Recipe

Many salad boards place the ingredients in small bowls but this method has you build the salad on the board. You can easily see every vibrant ingredient and clean-up is super easy!

Jump to:

• Why This Recipe Works
• Ingredients
• Instructions
• What to Serve with an Italian Salad Board
• My Top Tips
• Substitutions & Variations
• Equipment
• Make-Ahead & Storage
• More Amazing Salad Ideas
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

Why This Recipe Works

At Chrismas, this past year I was blessed with receiving a round charcuterie board from my good friend and neighbor plus my mother-in-law gave me a book on building all sorts of food boards, from charcuterie to dessert, cheese, appetizers, crudites, and salads! So when I was planning my salad series for this year, I decided at least one salad needed to be built on a board.

This Italian salad is based on a salad my grandmother made. Hers was simply lettuce, tomato, black olives, and salami dressed in Italian vinaigrette and sometimes in champagne dressing.

It was the salami that was surprising. Salty with a bit of garlic and spice, it was a nice addition to an ordinary garden salad.

So, I've taken that salad and revved it up with some additional, delicious, salad ingredients that all work well together and dressed it lightly with an Italian vinaigrette.

But the real kicker is serving it on a charcuterie board. Placing the salad on the board makes it company-worthy and no one would ever guess how super simple it is to set up and clean up.

So, let's cook!

Ingredients

Here's what you need for this Easy Italian Salad Board:

• Romaine Lettuce - I like romaine lettuce for this salad since it is hearty and holds up well with lots of salad add-ins.
• Cherry Tomatoes - Small, sweet cherry tomatoes give a pop of red to the salad and a nice acidic component.
• Pepperoncini - Also called Tuscan peppers, sweet Italian peppers, or golden Greek peppers, these small yellow peppers are generally pickled and mild in flavor.
• Black Olives - Black olives are both salty and loaded with umami flavor. Plus, have you ever heard of the decorating rule that you should have one black accent in a room? That rule works for salads too!
• Marinated Mozzarella Pearls - There has to be cheese in this salad and I love adding these small balls of creamy mozzarella cheese that are marinated in olive oil and Italian spices.
• Croutons - Add a nice crunch to the salad and use your favorite croutons either store-bought or homemade. Good choices are cheese, garlic, parmesan cheese, and Caesar.
• Red Onion - Red onion is savory and has a slight sweetness that is perfect for salads.
• Salami - This is my grandmother's trick to enhance a salad. Italian salami is generally spicy and sometimes garlic flavored. I like to use a mild salami.
• Italian Salad Dressing - Add your favorite Italian salad dressing which can be store-bought or homemade. I prefer to use a vinaigrette style dressing, but you can use any Italian dressing you love.
• Celery Leaves - Use the innermost tender celery stalks and celery leaves for a delicious treat. Celery is often chopped and added to salads and the leaves are thrown away. Don't miss adding them to any salad. They are loaded with flavor.
• Italian Parsley (Optional) - This is also called flat-leaf parsley. Chop some of the leaves finely or add whole leaves of parsley for additional flavor.

Please see the recipe card for the exact quantities.

Instructions

Prepare the Board. Cover the board with a thin layer of food-grade mineral oil or safflower oil. Wipe away any excess.

Prepare the Ingredients. Wash and dry the romaine lettuce and chop it into bite-sized pieces. Save 6 smaller whole romaine leaves. Halve the cherry tomatoes and slice the red onion.

Arrange the Salad. Arrange the whole romaine lettuce leaves on one side of a large board and cover the remaining board with the chopped romaine.

Artfully arrange or scatter the remaining ingredients over the lettuce and on the board and drizzle everything with the Italian dressing. You can also leave the dressing on the side.

Garnish with leaves of Italian parsley if desired. Serve and Enjoy!

My Top Tips

♡ Buy the freshest produce for the best flavor. If red cherry tomatoes are not looking good but yellow are, buy the yellow.

♡ Prep everything in advance and assemble the salad just prior to serving it to keep it fresh.

Substitutions & Variations

• Substitute Feta or Goat Cheese. Instead of marinated mozzarella pearls, you can substitute feta cheese or goat cheese. Both add a creamy element to the salad.
• Substitute Pickled Red Onion. For another pickled element, you can substitute this for the fresh red onion.
• Budget-Friendly Version. Cut the quantity of black olives to one-half cup and slice them in half. Omit the pepperoncini and the marinated mozzarella pearls.

Equipment

Any charcuterie board, cutting board, or cheese board will work fine. The board I used is 17 ½" by 13 ½". I recommend you treat the board with a fine layer of cooking oil or food-grade mineral oil before layering the salad on it and wash and dry it well after using it.

If you don't have a board you can make this salad on an extra-large platter and still have a similar look.

Make-Ahead & Storage

Because this is a garden-type salad, it really can't be prepared in advance of serving it. But you can measure and prep the ingredients earlier in the day and refrigerate them.

Dressed salad doesn't really keep well. But if the salad is undressed, you can store it in a covered container in the refrigerator for a day.

More Amazing Salad Ideas

📖 Recipe