Antipasto Salad

All flavors of Italian Antipasto Salad, ready at home in minutes with quick marinated artichoke, mozzarella, chickpeas and pepperoncini. Also sharing a lite and creamy dressing to serve on the side.

Posted On: Apr, 6 |  Author:
With lean proteins from shrimp and chickpeas, it is also a self-sufficient dinner salad. (hint hint)
Antipasto Salad
Diet Info: DF GF F LF Na LS VG V Fa

Sharing today this delicious recipe for Antipasto Salad with quick and easy home marinated antipasto ingredients such as artichoke hearts, mozzarella, chickpeas, olives, and pepperoncini. With crunch of romaine and peppery arugula, every fork-full of this Salad is a party of flavors. So lite and refreshing that your guests will love it. 

It is a perfect starter for a formal festive dinner. Serve in platter or in small appetizer plates. Antipasti look gorgeous either ways. 

This salad is self-sufficient as marinade does two jobs; 1) works as marinade 2) works as refreshing and lite salad dressing. I have included a recipe for lite creamy Italian dressing to serve on the side. But for the record, I enjoy eating the antipasto as-is. 

With this recipe, I'm keeping my promise to share more healthier and delicious homemade salads-for-dinner. Today's Antipasto Salad is mostly eaten before dinner but with protein from shrimp and chickpeas, it makes a great filling dinner salad.

Let's make Antipasto today!

Antipasto Salad

Antipasto, means pre-meal, is an Italian salad served as first course. It is eaten before the main meal to whet the appetite. In short, it signals the official beginning of an Italian meal. 

This before-meal salad is sometimes referred as Antipasti Salad. Antipasti is plural of antipasto.

Antipasto Salad with Creamy Dressing

Picture above features antipasto, marinated artichoke, mozzarella, chickpeas, olives with crunchy romaine and peppery arugula. A party of flavors and colors on the platter.

What Do You Need To Make Antipasto?

Typical ingredients for antipasto includes olives, mushrooms, fish, artichoke hearts, marinated vegetables and cheese such as mozzarella or provolone. where typical antipasto includes cured meat.

Here is Antipasto Ingredient List for this recipe:

  1. Artichoke hearts (water packed)
  2. Olives
  3. Mozzarella
  4. Chickpeas
  5. Red Bell Peppers (water packed)
  6. Celery
  7. Pepperoncini
  8. Shrimp 
  9. Arugula and Romaine 
  10. Olive oil and herbs

Note: For this recipe, I decide to skip cured meats; instead used fresh shrimp cooked in salted water and then marinated for more flavor. 

Marinade and Salad Dressing

In this salad, marinade also works as Salad Dressing. To marinate, I make a marinade of olive oil, herbs, and lemon juice. Add the cooked shrimp, diced mozzarella, celery, and chickpeas. Leave aside to marinate for 20 minutes (up-to an hour). 

When ready to assemble salad, layer greens on a platter, top with pre-marinated ingredients such as red bell peppers and olives. Top with home marinated shrimp, mozzarella, chickpeas and celery. Drizzle any remaining marinade on the top. 

That's it. Antipasto is ready to serve.

Antipasti Salad Recipe

Tip: Skip shrimp and this recipe is a completely Vegetarian Antipasto Salad. Also skip cheese and you have a Vegan Antipasto Salad.

My 5 Top Favorite Salads for Dinner

Friends, I'm excited to include one more dinner salad in your recipe repertoire. There are plenty of Dinner Salads on the blog. I'm listing my top 5 favorites below:

  1. Sweet Potato Feta Chickpea Salad
  2. Chinese Chicken Salad
  3. Greek Chicken Cucumber Avocado Salad
  4. Tuna Nicoise Salad
  5. Grilled Shrimp Avocado Salad

Check more in Salads Category, or try search. You can also write to me to create a salad that you can't find on blog. I'm always excited to test and share new recipes. Happy feasting.

Salads for Dinner:

Strawberry Spinach Salad Shrimp Caesar Salad Crab Louie Salad

Antipasto Salad

5 (6 reviews)
Antipasto Salad
Total Time: Prep Time: Cook Time: Cuisine: Italian () Difficulty: Easy
Yields: 8-10 Servings - Serves: 8

Ingredients

Antipasto Salad
Marinade

Directions

  • 1. Cook Shrimp:  Bring a pot of water to rolling boil. Season with salt. Cook shrimp until shrimp curls and turn opaque. Transfer to small bowl and let cool completely.
  • 2. Marinate :  In a bowl, add marinade ingredients - olive oil, herbs, lemon zest and juice, with salt and black pepper. Whisk to emulsify. Add chickpeas, diced mozzarella, celery, shrimp, and artichokes. Toss in marinade and set aside for at-least 20 minutes up-to 1 hour.
  • 3. Assemble Salad :  On a platter, top arugula and chopped romaine hearts. Top with marinated antipasti ingredients (in layers or even distributed) along with diced olives, red bell pepper, and pepperoncini. Serve immediately at room temperature or chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes before serving. Additional Notes: See Note 1 for Creamy Dressing on side.
Savita's Notes:
  1. Creamy Italian Dressing (if serving): For Italian dressing, mix 1/4 cup mayo and 1/2 cup Greek yogurt with 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp shallot, 1 small grated garlic clove, 1/4 tsp chili flakes, and 1/4 cup of chopped mixed herbs such as basil, oregano. Whisk well. Adjust salt and black pepper to taste. Serve on the side with salad.
  2. Skip shrimp and this recipe is a completely Vegetarian Antipasto Salad.
  3. Skip shrimp and cheese and you have a Vegan Antipasto Salad. 
  4. Try my Marinated Mushrooms recipe. It is a great addition to Antipasto Platter.
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? Tag @SAVITACHEFDEHOME on Instagram and hashtag it #SAVITACHEFDEHOME

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11 Responses

  1. This salad looks so good. I’ll have to make it one evening for dinner.
  2. It looks like an excellent salad recipe! I cant wait to try it! So yummy
    ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
  3. Made this as a side while we BBQed the other night and it was a hit! This was incredibly tasty! Will definitely be making again!
    ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
    Thanks for letting me know.
  4. Love all of the tangy and fresh flavors in this! Im all about antipasto, so throwing everything together in a salad is pure perfection in my eyes :)
    ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
  5. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe. It's one of my favorite in buffets.
    ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
    I'm happy to share. Indeed these flavors are everyone's fav.
  6. This is a great one! I love all the flavors, and I love the versatility. I can just as easily make this something I bring to a potluck as something I can make for a full dinner.
    ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
    Ditto! By far, it's the potluck favorite of my friends.
  7. A true classic! So easy and delicious. Nobody ever turns down antipasto salad! Thanks for sharing another winner :)
    ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
    Thanks Traci! You got it.