Kitchen Sink Chopped Salad
This Kitchen Sink Chopped Salad is packed full of refreshing ingredients! It’s a versatile salad in which you can substitute whatever tickles your fancy.
Gorgeous, colorful, and adaptable, add rows of your favorite salad add-ins, shake up the cheese, and top with your favorite salad dressing when you make your version of this tasty Chopped Salad Recipe!
Why You Should Make a Chopped Salad
- It’s a terrific entree salad for a gathering with girlfriends.
- This salad is also perfect tossed in a large bowl for summer picnics or potlucks.
- It’s easily customizable. Take out ingredients you aren’t fond of and substitute with another favorite salad addition like croutons, hearts of palm, etc.
I discovered this wonderful composed salad in the midst of a heatwave; there were many nights where a hot dinner was just plain unappealing. An entrée salad was the perfect option for those oppressively hot evenings, especially one chock-full of tasty veggies.
I turned to The Mom 100 Cookbook (affiliate link) for inspiration and saw this tasty and healthy composed salad. I was sold.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Composed Salad?
In contrast to a tossed salad, a composed salad is where the ingredients are artfully arranged. Known as salade composée in French, the dressing is typically drizzled over all the ingredients.
What are the 4 Components of a Composed Salad?
A composed salad must contain these four parts:
- Base – The layer of leafy vegetables, like lettuce, spinach or cabbage, that lines the serving dish.
- Body – The main part of the salad that may include meat, cheese, vegetables, pasta, etc.
- Garnish – An edible addition to add interest to the salad. This may be a sprinkling of nuts, cheese, croutons, etc.
- Dressing – The often creamy or vinegar based salad dressing that provides flavors and moisture to the salad.
Tips for Making a Composed Salad
As the name implies, this kitchen sink salad can be made with whatever you have floating around in your refrigerator.
- A layer of sliced Romaine lettuce creates a bed for rows of marvelous toppings. But iceberg, arugula, or any salad greens would be fabulous.
- From there, add black olives, artichokes, shredded cheese, and more. I was tempted to add diced avocados or fresh sweet corn off the cob but ran out of room. You can certainly tweak this to include your favorite veggies.
- PRO-Tip: If you aren’t a huge fan of onions, consider soaking them in ice water or vinegar for about 15 minutes to take the bite off.
- Add beans, grilled salmon, or even the meat off a rotisserie chicken for more protein. There are so many options.
- A simple vinaigrette with shallots and Dijon mustard drizzled over the salad was the finishing touch. But another homemade dressing or even your favorite store-bought salad dressing would work, too.
- Line up your ingredients in rows across a platter for a beautiful composed salad. Alternatively, fill your salad bowl with greens and add pie shape wedges of the ingredients around the bowl. Just wait to add your dressing before serving.
- It’s the perfect hot weather meal with added protein, and I love making it for a pitch in meals and even company!
More Delicious Salad Recipes You’ll Love:
- Peach, Blueberry, Arugula Salad from Two Peas and Their Pod
- Strawberry, Brie and Bacon Salad
- Gazpacho Salad
- Mexican Chopped Salad
- Cherry Orange Salad
- Best Balsamic Vinaigrette
- Blue Cheese Salad Dressing
- Spinach, Strawberry, Pomegranate and Feta Salad
- Peach Quinoa Caprese Salad
- Marinated Vegetable Salad
- More of the Best Salad Recipes
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This recipe was first shared in 2012. Photos and text were updated in 2020
Kitchen Sink Chopped Salad
A versatile Chopped Salad that can be tweaked to whatever is in your fridge.
Ingredients
For Salad:
- 2 hearts of romaine lettuce, sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch ribbons
- 1 red bell pepper (or orange, yellow, or green), stemmed, seeded, and diced
- 2 large carrots, peeled and sliced or shredded
- 1 (14-ounce) can artichoke bottoms, cut into 1/4-inch dice, or 1 (6-ounce) jar marinated
- Artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
- 1 cup thinly sliced seedless or English cucumber
- 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, cut into halves
- 1/2 cup chopped or slivered red onion
- 1/4 cup sliced pitted black olives (any kind)
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup shredded or grated cheese, such as Provolone, Cheddar, Swiss or Mozzarella
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup Classic Vinaigrette, to taste, or a salad dressing of your choice
Classic Vinaigrette:
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup vinegar of your choice (I prefer aged balsamic)
- 1 tablespoon minced shallot
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Instructions
- Place a layer of romaine on serving platter. Arrange strips of ingredients over the lettuce. Alternatively, combine lettuce, bell pepper, carrots, artichokes, cucumber, tomatoes, onion, and olives in a large serving bowl. Toss in the cheese, if using. Dress with Classic Vinaigrette.
- To make the dressing, put all ingredients in a container with a lid. With the lid on tightly, shake vigorously to combine. Taste for seasoning and add more mustard and/or salt if needed.
Notes
Recipe courtesy of the Mom 100 Cookbook
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 392Total Fat: 32gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 21gCholesterol: 32mgSodium: 425mgCarbohydrates: 17gFiber: 4gSugar: 8gProtein: 11g
Thatskinnychickcanbake.com occasionally offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site. This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although thatskinnychickcanbake.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased can change the nutritional information in any given recipe. Also, many recipes on thatskinnychickcanbake.com recommend toppings, which may or may not be listed as optional and nutritional information for these added toppings is not listed. Other factors may change the nutritional information such as when the salt amount is listed “to taste,” it is not calculated into the recipe as the amount will vary. Also, different online calculators can provide different results. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in any given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information obtained is accurate.
10 Comments on “Kitchen Sink Chopped Salad”
It turned out to be the best salad! All the crunch factors were the best!
My eating habits have been less than stellar since the pandemic and this salad is just what I need to help me get back on track.
We love a delicious chopped salad and yours looks Divine!! Love all the ideas and tips to adapt to this salad as well, thanks Liz! Have a great weekend! 🙂
Salad goodness right here. This is right up my alley. I think Wolfgang Puck actually coined the term chopped salad in the 80’s because of a signature salad of his at Spago. I was lucky enough to eat at one and have that salad, before that restaurant in Hollywood closed. It’s amazing he’s still around and still successful. Good for him!
That is a great name Kitchen sink chopped salad is really what it is! However, love your addition of artichoke hearts. That makes this recipe extra special.
kitchen sink salad – what a cool name, right? Actually the best recipes can be developed just when you are either limited to or need to utilize products from your refrigerator! Lol. Loving this simple yet refreshing, juicy, and delicious salad!
Still hot enough here most days to enjoy a big salad for dinner. So this is perfect for us! And this is a great recipe to use all those odds and ends that accumulate in the refrigerator. Really nice recipe — thanks.
That looks so fresh and yummy!! Simple salads are the best – why don’t I make these more often? Thanks for reminding me how delicious they can be! Hope you are keeping well and that Fall 2020 is kind to us all!
I adore a good chopped salad and this one inspired me way back after your original post, it was awesome!
I love how colourful and fresh the salad looks and the easy preparation. Thanks for sharing, Liz.