Do you love Olive Garden’s famous house salad? Learn how simple it is to make at home with this Olive Garden salad recipe so you can enjoy your favorite flavors without the cost of eating out!
When my kids were younger, eating out on a budget wasn’t too terribly difficult, even for our family of seven. One of our favorite restaurants has always been the Olive Garden.
To the kids, it was affectionately known to our family as “The Grape Place.” That’s what the kids called it when they were very young based on their familiar logo. Big portions of pasta and endless bowls of salad and baskets of breadsticks make for a hearty meal and went a long way with our large family.
But as time marches on, one by one my kids are starting to graduate from the children’s menu to the regular menu, and we’re finding out that a meal out can put quite a dent in our finances.
And that’s why we’ve started trying to recreate some of our favorite dining out dishes, like this Copycat Olive Garden Salad, at home. A favorite restaurant copycat dish of ours is this recipe for Olive Garden’s salad dressing. Our recipe is creamy and tangy, just like the original!
It’s delicious poured over a big bowl of salad greens, topped with red onion, black olives, Roma tomato, pepperoncini, and your favorite croutons. For homemade croutons, try this recipe for buttery sourdough garlic croutons (croutons are really easy to make and it is a great way to use up leftover bread that has maybe gone slightly stale).
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Olive Garden Salad Ingredients
For the salad itself, you’ll need:
- Your salad blend of choice
- Sliced red onion
- Black olives
- Pepperoncini
- Sliced Roma tomato
- Croutons
- Grated Parmesan
And for the copycat Olive Garden salad dressing, you’ll need:
- Mayonnaise
- White vinegar
- Granulated sugar
- Lemon juice
- Water
- Parmesan Romano cheese blend
- Olive oil
- Seasoning (Italian seasoning, parsley, garlic flakes)
How to Make Olive Garden’s Salad
You’ll first need to make the Olive Garden dressing. Simply blend everything up in a blender or food processor and chill in a fridge for at least two hours before serving.
Then toss all the salad ingredients together in a large bowl and drizzle with your desired amount of dressing. Sprinkle grated Parmesan on top and enjoy!
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Tips for Making This Olive Garden Salad Recipe
For a real Olive Garden restaurant-style experience, pick up one of these handheld rotary cheese graters and a big chunk of real, fresh Parmesan cheese.
Though fresh Parmesan is a little more pricey than its shelf-stable counterpart, a little of this cheese will go a long way. And fresh Parmesan lasts quite a while when wrapped well and stored in the refrigerator.
When making the dressing, you must let it chill in the fridge before serving it. This gives the flavors time to come together and actually makes a big difference in the flavor of the Olive Garden dressing!
Note that the dressing recipe listed makes enough for about four big bowls of salad. If you have leftovers, store it in an airtight container in the fridge (it’ll last for about a week). You can use it on other salads, or as a marinade for chicken.
More Italian Recipes:
Wondering what you should serve with your copycat Olive Garden salad?
If you’re a fan of Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana, you may want to try this creamy and rich Italian Sausage and Kale Soup (known as Zuppa Toscana) to serve alongside your Olive Garden Salad.
This Italian Beef Ragu with Pappardelle would also pair nicely with Olive Garden’s famous house salad. The rich meat sauce complements the tangy dressing perfectly!
For an even easier main dish, make this One Skillet Baked Ziti. It comes together in 30 minutes and would go well with this Olive Garden salad.
Add a few slices of this savory rustic homemade bread for a delicious comforting Italian dinner at home for a fraction of the cost of eating out. This bread recipe also makes great garlic bread!
What is your favorite restaurant dish recipe to recreate at home?
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Copycat Olive Garden Salad
Do you love Olive Garden's Salad? Learn how simple it is to make it at home so you can enjoy your favorite flavors without the cost of eating out!
Ingredients
For the Olive Garden Dressing:
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 2/3 cup white vinegar
- 5 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2/3 cup parmesan romano cheese blend
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon parsley flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
For the Olive Garden Salad:
- 1 bag salad blend of your choice
- sliced red onion
- black olives
- pepperoncini
- sliced Roma tomato
- croutons
- freshly grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Mix all of the salad dressing ingredients well in a blender or food processor.
- Chill for at least two hours before serving.
- Assemble salad and toppings in a large bowl.
- Pour on desired amount of dressing and toss right before serving.
- Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Notes
Note that the dressing recipe listed makes enough for about four big bowls of salad. If you have leftovers, store it in an airtight container in the fridge (it'll last for about a week). You can use it on other salads, or as a marinade for chicken.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 8 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 134Total Fat 12gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 9gCholesterol 10mgSodium 285mgCarbohydrates 4gFiber 0gSugar 2gProtein 2g
GoodLifeEats.com offers recipe nutritional information as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although GoodLifeEats.com makes every effort to provide accurate information, these figures are only estimates.
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Let me know if you try this recipe and what you think of it by leaving a comment below.
This post was written by Tara of Unsophisticook
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Denise King
Wednesday 23rd of March 2016
What kind of Olives do they use?
Katie Goodman
Wednesday 23rd of March 2016
regular black olives
Sandy
Monday 26th of October 2015
Made this tonight. Halved the recipe as I don't often use the same dressing more than twice. This one I will. It was very good. I also thinly sliced chicken brcipe. Season with Greek seasoning and grilled. Sliced and served over top. Everybody ate it and thought it was delicious, even the kids. I didn't have any croutons though. Will have to try again with them. Thanks so much for recipe.
Katie Goodman
Tuesday 10th of November 2015
So glad you liked it! Thanks for stopping by to tell us. :)
Beth Gabhart
Friday 5th of June 2015
I use this salad dressing for all of my salads. My family of 5 goes through a batch within 4 days. Definitely try this recipe! WARNING: one huge bowl of salad needs like 1/4 cup of dressing. It is very easy to over-dress the salad!
Pat Germal
Thursday 7th of May 2015
That was the best salad ever! thank you so much!
Karen
Monday 20th of April 2015
Thank you for this recipe - I cannot wait to try it using all organic ingredients. I love Olive Garden dressing, but dislike the preservatives, the GMO high-fructose corn syrup and fake colorings. Going to try this!!