Copycat Olive Garden Salad

Valentine’s Day is this Saturday…. Do you know what you’re cooking for your special someone?  Well I have an idea of what I am cooking.  I am going to create an Olive Garden experience right in the comforts of my own home.  My sister made up this recipe a few years back when I wanted to serve an Olive Garden style dinner menu for my daughter’s birthday party.  She went to the Olive Garden and counted the ingredients in the salad bowl.  That effort was a great start, but we needed more information to get it very close.  Fortunately my sister-in-law (who used to work at the Olive Garden) gave us some suggestions to perfect the recipe.  When I served this salad for the first time, it was paired with lasagna.  However, I have an amazing Chicken Alfredo recipe here on the blog that would be a wonderful addition to your Valentine’s Day menu.  

Here are the ingredients you will need:  1 (9oz.) bag of Italian Blend salad mix, 1/2 of a purple onion sliced, 3 Roma tomatoes sliced, 10 black olives, 5 Pepperoncini peppers, croutons, shredded Parmesan cheese, and your favorite Italian dressing. 

 Start by slicing the onion and tomatoes.

 Then pour your salad mix into a large bowl.  If you didn’t want to use a salad mix, you could chop up romaine lettuce to fill the bowl.

Then add the onions and tomatoes.

Next drain and rinse the olives.

Add ten olives to the salad and then add five Pepperoncini peppers.

Mix the salad together.  

Serve with shredded Parmesan cheese, croutons, and Italian dressing on the side .

 Now you are ready to bring the Olive Garden experience into your home this Valentine’s Day.