Name: Italian sub salad
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 4 cups lettuce (iceberg or romaine); 12 cherry tomatoes; 1/4 cup pitted olives (your favorite kind); 1/4 red onion; 1/4 cup pepperoncini; 2 ounces salami (or pepperoni, etc); 2 ounces ham; 2 ounces provolone cheese; 3 Tbsp olive oil; 1 clove garlic; 2 tsp red wine vinegar; 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning; 1 pinch salt; fresh cracked pepper; 1/4 baguette (or leftover bread, bagels, etc); 1/2 Tbsp olive oil (for toasting); salt

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This "recipe" takes the best flavors and ingredients from a sub sandwich and deconstructs them into a salad for a low carb dinner that fills your plate. This is intended to be more for inspiration than specific instructions, so I've also included alternate ingredient ideas and notes about nutrition.

italian sub salad with closeup of ingredients — Sub salad ingredients

Tips for making a fast salad

Just like making a sub sandwich is fast, you can get by with almost no prep work for the sub salad version if you use the following:

Deli sliced salami, pepperoni, and ham (plan on 2-3 oz of meat per person)
Jarred condiments from your pantry, like pepperoncini, pickles, and olives
Pre-cut bags of lettuce
Store bought croutons*
Store bought italian dressing*

*I suggest making these yourself if you don't mind the extra 10 minutes of work because they are healthier and more flavorful, while still being easy.

Recipe

Italian sub salad

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Prep Time10

Total Time10

Calories668

Servings people

Ingredients

SUB SALAD

4 cups lettuce iceberg or romaine
12 cherry tomatoes
¼ cup pitted olives your favorite kind
¼ red onion
¼ cup pepperoncini
2 ounces salami or pepperoni, etc
2 ounces ham
2 ounces provolone cheese

ITALIAN DRESSING

3 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic
2 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 pinch salt
fresh cracked pepper

CROUTONS

¼ baguette or leftover bread, bagels, etc
½ tablespoon olive oil for toasting
salt

Instructions

Cut bread into bite-size pieces and toss with olive oil and salt. Toast.
Whisk dressing ingredients together (or use your favorite store-bought Italian dressing).
Mix all ingredient together to make the salad.

Nutrition

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Calories & nutrition

While calories are not the perfect measure of healthiness, I like to use them for their relative value. Knowing the caloric information helps keep things in check, like over using cheese, adding a ton of carbs with croutons, or using too much salad dressing.

If you are eating a salad to watch your calories, several things can start to add up:

Each ounce of cheese is roughly 100 calories. The recipe accounts for 1 ounce per serving.
Salami is about 100 calories per ounce, while deli ham is 50 per ounce.
Salad dressing can add up, so I already kept the volume low in the 'recipe' above, to 1.5 Tbs of olive oil per person.
Croutons can be cut back as well. Add couscous to the salad if you want to replace croutons with a healthier alternative.

Homemade dressing

If you haven't made dressing before, you'll be surprised at how easy it is once you give it a try.

While olive oil is high in calories, many nutrients are fat soluble, so it is a great ingredient in salad dressings. 1 tablespoon is roughly 100 calories. I already kept the volume of the dressing low in the 'recipe' above.

You could cut the olive oil down even further and get creative with replacing some of it:

Juice from that jar of pepperoncini or olives you opened
Pureed onions or shallots
Extra vinegar
Lemon juice
Mustard (works as an emulsifier too)

I have an alternative dressing that works great on this salad, which is half the calories because it gets a lot of its volume and creaminess from pureeing roasted sweet onions and garlic.

Roasted garlic and sweet onion sauce

An easy sauce recipe that roasts sweet vidalia onions along with garlic. After blending, it becomes a smooth, creamy, sweet sauce. You can thin it down to make a salad dressing too.

Check it out

Homemade croutons

You can turn almost any bread product into croutons with minimal effort. Baguettes are great, but I often take this opportunity to use leftover bagels or bread before it goes bad.

How to make croutons

Cut bread into bite-sized cubes
Place in a bowl and drizzle olive oil (or garlic olive oil if you have it) over the top. Add salt (and other seasonings if you want). Toss to lightly coat the bread.
Toast until golden brown
1. In a toaster oven for 5-7 minutes
2. In the oven at 375 for 5-7 minutes (times will vary)
3. On the stovetop in a pan over medium heat, tossing as they crisp up