It’s been a LONG time since I’ve been inside an Olive Garden restaurant … the unlimited salad and bread sticks used to always get me … I am a sucker for warm, soft bread, you know? Oh, and I just love that salad too … the dressing, luckily, is easy to replicate, as is the salad itself.
The salad is simple:
1 head of iceberg lettuce, rinsed, dried and torn into bite size pieces
half of a red onion, sliced thin and rings separated out
2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
handful of sliced black olives
handful of banana pepper rings (or pepperoncini)
handful of shredded carrot
Layer all in a large bowl, cover and refrigerate.
The most important part of this salad is the dressing … here’s my ORIGINAL recipe, but I’ve since modified it as follows and personally, prefer THIS now! The main difference is NO corn syrup or garlic AND I used avocado oil instead of the previously called for vegetable oil!
2/3 cup distilled vinegar
8 tbs of Parmesan cheese, Romano/Parmesan blend works well too, shredded or grated
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp dried parsley
juice of one lemon (smallish in size)
You can either put a tight fitting lid on the jar and shake it like crazy or use an immersion blender, OR dirty up a blender and use that. Whatever you do, you really need to mix it well.
Toss the jar in the fridge for a few hours. When ready to serve the salad, you can dress the salad if you prefer, or serve the dressing on the side. Just make sure you shake well to redistribute the cheese that will sink to the bottom 😉
Enjoy!
WorkingSaving.com 
We love Olive Garden salad! Now we can make it at home! 😉 Thanks for sharing! #SmallVictories
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Looks good!
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I love restaurant knockoffs!! I will definitely try this out!! =)Melanie | Blog: Toots + Dill
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This looks and sounds delicious.Thanks for sharing this at Cooking and Crafting with J & J.
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Oh I can't wait to try this out!! The only reason I go to Olive Garden is salad and breadsticks!
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This salad sounds so good!Thanks for sharing the recipe at Cooking and Crafting with J & J.
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One of the main reasons I got to Olive Garden is because of their salad!! Thanks for sharing <3Blessings,Edye // Gracefulcoffee.wordpress.com
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I haven't been to an Olive Garden for quite some time either, but I do remember their delicious salad, this sounds wonderful, I will have to try it! Thanks for sharing at What'd You Do This Weekend?!
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So delicious! YUMMY!I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
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That looks so colourful and delicious. I'm not a fan of olives but I love everything else about this recipe! This was our most clicked post from last week's Blog Fair, so pop over to this week's party and grab a featured pin!
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Olive Garden's salad is the best part of the restaurant. Thanks for sharing your recipe at the Over the Moon Link Party.
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Delicious salad, thanks for sharing with Hearth and soul blog hop, pinning.
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What a great Salad!! it's that time of year where I'll be eating more salads!! Thanks for sharing on My 2 favorite Things on Thursday!! Hope to see you again tomorrow!! Pinned!
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oh the BREADSTICKS! I have seen so many recipes out there for those and I refuse to even try to make them … afraid of the consequences!
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I'll be honest: I pick out the olives as I'm not a fan of them either!
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Love this! Never thought to recreate it for at home, pinning for later!
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I was just talking about ordering an Olive Garden salad on my blog and linked to your recipe here. Pinned it to try out later as well although I'll have to add a few croutons 😉
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Hi Jan, love this. Would you like to share this with the other participants in Food on Friday over at Carole's Chatter? I have a weekly link up party – each week there is a different ingredient or theme. The current theme is Salads. You can see upcoming themes in one of the pages at the top of my home page. If you would like to join in the fun please schedule a reminder for each week. The collection starts at 7am Friday New Zealand time – which is probably some time Thursday your time – I do find time zones quite confusing. Hope to see you soon. Cheers, Carole
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What is simple syrup? How do you make it?
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Simple syrup is just a mixture of half water and half sugar. You heat the two over low heat so the sugar dissolves and creates a very loose syrup mixture. It's great in that you don't have to dissolve the sugar when adding it to anything cold and it keeps in the fridge for a week at least 😉
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One of our standby favorites around here!
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Ha! I don't think the \”original\” recipe or restaurant has croutons either but hey, it's your salad, you add them croutons! 😉
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Congratulations!Your recipe is featured on Full Plate Thursday this week. Hope you are having a great week and thanks so much for sharing with us. Enjoy your new Red Plate and come back real soon!Miz Helen
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Thank you Miz Helen!
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