Italian Sub Salad has been one of my favorite lunch go-to's for years now.
It's satiating, tasty, easy, and cheap to make. One of the best parts about it is you can pretty much use up whatever you have on hand to help make it. This salad is incredibly versatile - I've used salami, many different flavors of turkey and ham lunch meat, salami, pepperoni, a variety of vegetables that were about to go up, varying leftover cheeses, remainders of canned goods like chickpeas and black olives, etc.
Think of your favorite sub you order from your favorite sandwich joint. What's on that sub? Try recreating it!
(Photos updated 1/6/23)
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How to make Italian Sub Salad:
This is the perfect meal prep lunch because of how simple it is to make. The best part? There's no cooking involved to make this salad. Woohoo!
All you have to do is: thinly slice your lettuce (I normally go for romaine or iceberg), then chop up or slice your veggies, roll your lunch meat and slice it, and then add your toppings and dressing. Yes, it's that easy.
Italian Sub Salad is like the charcuterie board of salads.
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Optional add-ins:
- Olives, such as black olives, green olives, or pitted Kalamata.
- Pepperoncini, jalapenos, or other pickled, spicy goods
- Deli cheeses like American, provolone, Swiss, Colby jack, pepper jack, muenster, etc.
- Red onion
- Roasted red peppers
- Chickpeas
- Croutons. Try my Gluten Free Croutons - Perfect for salads, soups, and stuffing!
What type of dressing do I put on Italian Sub Salad?
I always make my Homemade Italian Dressing. It uses mostly pantry staple ingredients and is seriously so delicious. It makes this salad really taste like a sub.
Short on time? You can buy your favorite Italian dressing straight from the store (when I take that route, I go for Ken's Simply Marinades/Dressings). Or, you could buy an Italian sub vinaigrette made for sub sandwiches.
Try this recipe for Homemade Italian Dressing/Sub Vinaigrette:
Homemade Italian Dressing Recipe
- ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove minced garlic or 1 teaspoon jarred
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese (You can use the kind in the green bottle if that's all you have on hand)
- 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- s&p to taste
Combine and adjust to your liking.
Equipment
You don't need anything special to make this Italian Sub Salad. I recommend:
- A crinkle cutter knife for the cucumbers
- Meal prep containers if prepping for work lunches
- A salad spinner for perfectly crisp lettuce.
- A lemon squeezer
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Italian Sub Salad with Cold Cuts
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Equipment
- crinkle cutter knife optional
- meal prep containers optional
Ingredients
For the Sub Salad:
- 2-3 romaine hearts or whole iceberg lettuce
- 1-2 red bell peppers sliced thinly
- 1 cucumber sliced thinly
- container of cherry tomatoes
- banana peppers added to your liking
- 16 oz. fresh mozzarella cut into cubes
- 1 ½ lbs turkey lunch meat I always buy honey turkey
- 1 lb salami or pepperoni or both
For the Italian Dressing:
- ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 clove minced garlic or 1 teaspoon jarred
- 1 tbsp. Italian seasoning
- 1 tbsp. honey
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
For the Homemade Italian Dressing:
- Add all ingredients to a glass mason jar and shake well until combined.
For the Sub Salad:
- Prep: Wash vegetables. Dry lettuce in a salad spinner (if you have one) or wrapped in paper towels. Chop lettuce. Thinly slice cucumber and bell peppers.
- Roll up lunchmeats and cut into rounds. Chop mozzarella.
- To assemble: Lay a bed of romaine on a large salad plate or in meal prep containers. Pile all ingredients on top in sections: rolled salami and turkey, mozzarella, sliced cucumbers and bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, banana pepper rings, and any other add-ins. Drizzle over dressing. Serve.
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