Copycat Olive Garden Salad & Dressing

Make your favorite copycat Olive Garden salad at home with its matching zesty Italian salad dressing! The flavors in both combine to make a subtly sweet yet slightly tangy dish that is sure to be a crowd-pleaser.

Who doesn’t like the all-you-can-eat soup, salad, and breadsticks from Olive Garden? Olive Garden is well-known for serving hearty pasta dishes, mouth-watering soups and buttery, garlicky breadsticks. 

However, I personally think that the salad steals the show. Olive Garden salads are so crisp, fresh, and addictive. Even known salad-haters love this salad and dressing combination! The crunchy, tangy, spicy flavors all come together with a burst of zestiness. 

Olive Garden Salad & Salad Dressing

It would be a disservice to this tasty salad to enjoy it without the addition of the heavenly Olive Garden salad dressing. Ingredients like garlic, parsley, and cheeses blend together to match the red onions and black olives in the salad. You simply must try them together! 

Olive Garden salad and dressing is perfect for lunches, and brunches and makes a wonderful side dish. Bring it to any potluck or get-together. It is a classic favorite that takes very little effort.

OLIVE GARDEN NIGHT AT HOME

One of my family’s favorite Sunday night dinners is when I make “Olive Garden Night at Home.” We gather around the table with this delicious Olive Garden Salad, piping hot bowls of Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana, and a big basket of warm Olive Garden Breadsticks. 

There is no need to go out, stay comfy and enjoy this classic meal at home. 

Looking for more copycat dishes to make at home? Try my Copy Cat Taco Bell Enchirito Recipe, Cinnamon Honey Butter – A Texas Roadhouse Copycat Recipe or Cincinnati Chili | Skyline Chili Copycat!

INGREDIENTS FOR COPYCAT OLIVE GARDEN SALAD & Dressing

FOR THE SALAD DRESSING

• Mayonnaise: Used as the base for many salad dressings, mayonnaise gives the dressing a nice creamy texture.
• White Vinegar: White wine vinegar is best used with more delicate salads and any situation where you want to add a hint of vinegar, but do not want that flavor to overwhelm the dish.
• Vegetable Oil: Any oil labeled “vegetable oil” or “salad oil” is fine for making a basic vinaigrette for salads.
• Corn Syrup: The syrup ensures a smooth texture and a natural sweetness to balance out the tangy mayonnaise and lemon juice flavors.
• Parmesan Cheese and Romano Cheese: While many salad dressings use these cheeses, this particular recipe calls for both because they blend so well with the Italian flavors.
• Garlic Salt: One clove of garlic can be used if no garlic salt is on hand.
• Italian Seasoning: The blend of herbs present in Italian seasoning usually consists of basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, and marjoram, with other herbs and spices sometimes making an appearance.
• Parsley Flakes: Parsley flakes make a good addition to salad dressings and vinaigrettes and add to the other seasonings in this recipe.
• Lemon Juice: Beyond keeping fruit salad fresh, lemon can also help enhance its flavor.
• Sugar: This step is optional. If you prefer your dressing on the sweeter, less zesty side, then you will want to add sugar.

FOR THE SALAD

• Dole American Blend Salad: To make this recipe as easy as possible, you can buy this salad blend in a bag at your local grocery. It contains green leaf lettuce, iceberg lettuce, red cabbage, carrots and radishes. If you cannot find the American Blend, I love to make it with the Italian Blend. So yummy!
• Red Onion: Red onions are most often used in salads, salsas, and other raw preparations for their relatively mild flavor and light crunchy texture.
• Black Olives: These tasty olives blend well with the other tangy flavors in this recipe.
• Pepperoncini: This particular salad is usually served with the whole pepperoncini. The flavor can be quite spicy so if you prefer a sweet pepper, you can use a banana pepper instead.
• Croutons: Croutons are deliciously crunchy and take a good salad to a great salad instantly!
• Tomato: This recipe calls for a small tomato, sliced in four portions. You can also use cherry tomatoes instead if you would prefer.
• Romano Cheese: Romano cheese blends perfectly in this salad because it is also in the dressing. For that reason, Parmesan cheese works well, too.

HOW TO MAKE COPYCAT OLIVE GARDEN SALAD AND SALAD DRESSING

FOR THE SALAD DRESSING

Place all ingredients in a blender until well mixed. If this is a little too tart for your own personal taste, add a little extra sugar.

You can enjoy your Olive Garden salad dressing for about 10 days if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

FOR THE SALAD

Chill one salad bowl in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. Place the bag of salad in a bowl. Place on top of the lettuce the red onion, black olives, pepperoncini, tomato, and croutons. Add plenty of Olive Garden Salad Dressing on top.

Finish it off with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

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Don’t forget where you found these tasty Olive Garden inspired Salad and Dressing recipes! Pin it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest before you go!

OTHER COPY CAT RECIPES YOU WILL ENJOY

• Taxi’s Cabbage & Blue Cheese Soup (pictured above)
• Dairy Queen Apple Pie Blizzard
• Copy Cat Hooters Wings in the Air Fryer
• Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Caramel Apples
• Copycat Starbucks Medicine Ball Tea
• Whatchamacallit Candy Bar Copy Cat
• Copy Cat Taco Bell Mexican Pizza
• Olive Garden Pasta Fagioli

Olive Garden Night at home isn’t complete without a big bowl of their signature Salad with its zesty Italian dressing! Let’s make some!