Grinder Salad
Crispy lettuce, savory meats, and a tangy dressing come together for a low-carb version of a delicious Italian grinder. This salad is full of flavor and texture and is perfect for a quick lunch, dinner, or appetizer!
Grinder Salad is the perfect dish for anyone who hates salad. This is not a traditional salad filled with dry greens and veggies and a drizzle of light dressing.
Grinder salad has all the flavor, texture and interest of a loaded Italian grinder sandwich–but without the bread! It’s no wonder this recipe has gone viral on TikTok in recent years!
This Italian Grinder salad has it all. It has crisp iceberg lettuce, a mixture of savory deli meats, salty banana peppers, zesty red onions, sweet cherry tomatoes, creamy provolone cheese and a dressing that is creamy, packed with flavor, and covers every delicious bite. It’s a salad that I promise your taste buds will not grow tired of.
This Grinder Salad is the perfect recipe to turn to when you are craving a big delicious sandwich, but need a low-carb option. It’s also the perfect salad to mix up in a huge quantity to serve at your next get-together. The Grinder salad has something for everyone to love and it comes together so easily.
So whether you’re looking for a low-carb version of your favorite sub or just a twist on your favorite lunch, this grinder salad recipe should be your new go-to!
Why You Should Try This Recipe
- So Much Flavor: Seriously! Every bite of this grinder salad recipe is filled with flavor from the vegetables, the lettuce, the meats, and of course the amazing homemade dressing. It’s a mixture of flavors you will be craving again and again.
- Easy to Switch Up: This dressing and the base of simple iceberg lettuce make it easy to switch up the flavors in this salad. Don’t like deli meat? You could easily change it out for grilled chicken, roasted chickpeas or cheddar cheese. Need more veggies? You could easily hide some brussels sprouts, red peppers or olives among all these flavors. Switch it up to whatever you are craving!
- Meal Prep: Salads are great for meal prep and this one is no exception. You can easily leave off the dressing and store this salad for the future or pre-chop your ingredients and throw them together when you are ready to enjoy.
Ingredients for Grinder Salad
Dressing Ingredients
- Olive oil: Olive oil is the base that brings all of your dressing together. You could use avocado oil as a substitute.
- Red Wine Vinegar: Red wine vinegar has the perfect amount of tang and the perfect depth of flavor for this dressing. If you don’t have any on hand you could substitute apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar but your dressing may not be as sweet. If possible, I don’t recommend making any substitutions.
- Mayonnaise: A good high-quality mayonnaise will provide the best flavor and creamy texture. If you are trying to be a little bit healthier you could substitute half the mayonnaise for some plain Greek yogurt but be aware it will add an extra tangy flavor to your salad.
- Dijon Mustard: Dijon mustard adds a little extra flavor and interest to the dressing. You could substitute yellow mustard or stone ground mustard.
- Italian Seasoning
- Garlic Powder
- Black Pepper and Salt
Salad Ingredients
- Shredded Iceberg Lettuce: Iceberg lettuce has just the right flavor and texture for this sandwich. If you are not a fan of iceberg lettuce or are hoping for a more nutritious option, you could easily swap it out for romaine.
- Red Onion: Just a hint of red onion is necessary in this salad. If you are not a big fan of raw onions, you can slice your onions and then soak them in water for about 15 minutes before adding them in. This helps take the bite out of the onions.
- Sliced Pepperoncini: These jarred peppers add the perfect amount of tang to this salad. Feel free to use spicy pepperoncini if that’s your thing!
- Provolone Cheese: You could also use mozzarella but provolone holds its shape better.
- Deli Ham: A slightly sweet meat helps balance out the saltiness of the salami
- Salami: Salami gives this salad a distinctly Italian flavor. You could also add turkey, roast beef or pepperoni to the mix for even more protein.
- Cherry Tomatoes: The sweetness of the tomatoes helps to balance out all the salty and savory flavors.
- Parmesan Cheese
Tools
- Cutting Board or veggie chopper
- Knife
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Large spoon or tongs
How to Make This Recipe
Step One: Mix the dressing
Add all of the dressing ingredients into a small blender and blend until the dressing is creamy.
Step Two: Chop and Toss
In a large serving bowl, combine the grinder salad ingredients. Pour over the dressing and toss until everything is evenly coated.
Expert Tips
- I love to chop all my ingredients small for this salad so you get bits of everything in every bite. If you plan to make this salad ahead of time for meal prep, you may not want to cut your tomatoes as it may make them soggy faster.
- Dress this salad just before serving so your lettuce doesn’t go soggy. This is not a salad that needs to soak in the dressing overnight.
- This salad comes together super quick if everything is chopped ahead of time. If you want to make this meal ahead of time I recommend chopping everything and storing the ingredients separately or stacked in a mason jar. I like to put the meat and dressing at the bottom, then the pepperoncini, red onion, lettuce and tomatoes.
Recipe Variations
This grinder salad is so delicious and simple, but it can also be customized to whatever you prefer. Try adding these different ingredients for even more interest:
- Shaved brussels sprouts
- Romaine lettuce
- Fresh spinach
- Sweet red peppers
- Green bell peppers
- Turkey
- Roast Beef
- Pepperoni
- Chicken
- Cheddar cheese
- Colby Jack cheese
- Chickpeas
- Kale
- Pasta or Orzo
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Avocado
This salad is also delicious as a sandwich. Just chop the ingredients nice and small and pile them on your favorite bread or hoagie for a delicious grinder salad sandwich. Yum!
FAQs
If you don’t mind your lettuce getting a bit soggy, you can store leftovers of this salad overnight but for most people that just isn’t appealing. I would recommend storing the ingredients separately and adding the dressing only to individual servings.
Did you enjoy this Grinder Salad Recipe? If so, make sure to check out these other recipes I picked out just for you:
Grinder Salad Recipe
Equipment
- Cutting Board or veggie chopper
- Knife
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Large spoon or tongs
Ingredients
Dressing Ingredients
- ½ cup Olive oil
- 2 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
- 1 Tbsp Mayonnaise
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Garlic Powder
- ¼ tsp Pepper
Salad Ingredients
- 1 lb Iceberg Lettuce, Shredded, about 8 cups
- ½ cup Red Onion, finely diced (about ¼ large red onion)
- ½ cup Pepperoncini, Sliced
- 1 cup Provolone cheese, cup up
- 1 cup Deli Ham, cut up
- 1 cup Salami
- 1 cup Cherry Tomatoes, halved
- 2 Tbsp Parmesan Cheese, Grated
Instructions
- Add all of the dressing ingredients into a small blender and blend until the dressing is creamy.
- In a large serving bowl, combine the salad ingredients. Pour over the dressing and toss until everything is evenly coated.
- Serve as a main course or as a side. Enjoy!
Notes
- Olive oil: Olive oil is the base that brings all of your dressing together. You could use avocado oil as a substitute.
- Red Wine Vinegar: Red wine vinegar has the perfect amount of tang and the perfect depth of flavor for this dressing. If you don’t have any on hand you could substitute apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar but your dressing may not be as sweet. If possible, I don’t recommend making any substitutions.
- Mayonnaise: A good high-quality mayonnaise will provide the best flavor and creamy texture. If you are trying to be a little bit healthier you could substitute half the mayonnaise for some plain greek yogurt but be aware it will add an extra tangy flavor to your salad.
- Dijon Mustard: Dijon mustard adds a little extra flavor and interest to the dressing. You could substitute yellow mustard or stone ground mustard.
- Italian Seasoning
- Garlic Powder
- Black Pepper and Salt
- Shredded Iceberg Lettuce: Iceberg lettuce has just the right flavor and texture for this sandwich. If you are not a fan of iceberg lettuce or are hoping for a more nutritious option, you could easily swap it out for romaine.
- Red Onion: Just a hint of red onion is necessary in this salad. If you are not a big fan of raw onion, you can slice your onions and then soak them in water for about 15 minutes before adding them in. This helps take the bite out of the onions.
Sliced Pepperoncini: These jarred peppers add the perfect amount of tang to this salad. Feel free to use spicy pepperoncini if that’s your thing! - Provolone Cheese: You could also use mozzarella but provolone holds its shape better.
- Deli Ham: A slightly sweet meat helps balance out the saltiness of the salami
- Salami: Salami gives this salad a distinctly Italian flavor. You could also add turkey, roast beef or pepperoni to the mix for even more protein.
- Cherry Tomatoes: The sweetness of the tomatoes helps to balance out all the salty and savory flavors.
- Parmesan Cheese
- I love to chop all my ingredients small for this salad so you get bits of everything in every bite. If you plan to make this salad ahead of time for meal prep, you may not want to cut your tomatoes as it may make them soggy faster.
- Dress this salad just before serving so your lettuce doesn’t go soggy. This is not a salad that needs to soak in the dressing overnight.
- This salad comes together super quick if everything is chopped ahead of time. If you want to make this meal ahead of time I recommend chopping everything and storing the ingredients separately or stacked in a mason jar. I like to put the meat and dressing at the bottom, then the pepperoncini, red onion, lettuce and tomatoes.
