My vegan antipasto salad is loaded with delicious ingredients like tangy olives, smoky tofu, marinated veggies, and a zesty homemade vinaigrette. It takes just minutes to throw together and is guaranteed to steal the show at your next cookout!
You know those elaborate antipasto platters you see at parties? They always catch my eye. I mean, the olives and marinated veggies do, anyway. Then I realize they’re piled with meats and cheeses, and I’m instantly disappointed. So I decided to create something with all the antipasto elements I do love and skip the ones that don’t fit my diet. And just like that, this vegan antipasto salad was born. It’s become a new favorite in my summer salad lineup, right up there with my vegan Caesar salad and vegan Greek salad.
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This salad features all of my vegan antipasto favorites—both green and black olives, marinated artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, and pepperoncini, all tossed with crisp greens and juicy cherry tomatoes. But I didn’t stop there! Traditional antipasto usually includes smoky meats, so I swapped them out for smoked tofu, which pairs beautifully with all those zesty, briny flavors.
It’s such a delicious combo, and I think even omnivores would be pleasantly surprised by how satisfying it is. Best of all, it comes together in just minutes!
Ingredients You'll Need
Below you'll find a list of ingredients in this recipe, with notes and substitutions. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the post to see the full recipe, including the amount of each ingredient.
- Olive oil. Use good quality extra virgin olive oil for your dressing. The flavor makes it so worth it!
- Red wine vinegar.
- Dijon mustard. Use a creamy Dijon to give your dressing the best texture.
- Garlic.
- Italian seasoning.
- Sugar. Conventional sugar is often processed using animal products, so we're using organic sugar (processed differently) to keep the recipe vegan.
- Salt & pepper.
- Red onion.
- Romaine lettuce. Prefer another variety of lettuce? Go ahead and use it!
- Cherry tomatoes. You can dice up some large tomatoes if you don't have cherry tomatoes on hand.
- Marinated artichoke hearts.
- Kalamata olives. You can use another variety of high quality black olives, like Niçoise or Gaeta, if you'd like.
- Green olives. Most varieties are fine! Castelvetrano are a great choice. Manzanilla also work great, and are really easy to find.
- Roasted red peppers.
- Pepperoncini. These add a tiny bit of heat. You can leave them out or serve them on the side if you're concerned about that.
- Fresh basil.
- Smoked tofu. You can buy this at the store, or whip up some homemade smoked tofu.
- Vegan Parmesan cheese. Top your salad with some store-bought or homemade vegan Parm.
How It's Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Step 1: Make the dressing. Place your olive oil, vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic, Italian seasoning, sugar, salt, and pepper into a jar. Close the jar and shake it up. No jar? No problem! Whisk it all together in a bowl.
Tip: Feel free to experiment with different dressings! Try any of my homemade vegan salad dressing recipes, or your favorite vegan store-bought dressing.
Step 2: Soak the onion. This step is optional, but if you generally find the flavor of raw onion overpowering, it's a great way to mellow it out. Place your sliced onion into a bowl, cover it with water, and let it soak for a few minutes.
Step 3: Assemble the salad. Place all remaining ingredients into a large bowl. Drain the onion (if you soaked it) and add that as well. Drizzle it with dressing, then toss to coat.
Tip: This recipe makes a generous amount of dressing. Use just as much as you like. The rest will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about two weeks.
Step 4: Serve. Your vegan antipasto salad is done! Give it a sprinkle of salt, pepper, and some vegan Parmesan cheese before digging in.
Variations
- Make it a grain salad. Skip the lettuce, and instead use a base of quinoa, farro, or barley.
- Antipasto wraps. This salad is absolutely delicious wrapped up in tortillas with a slathering of hummus. Try my roasted garlic hummus or pesto hummus.
- Delicious additions. Want more stuff in your antipasto salad? Go for it! Try diced or shredded vegan cheese, homemade vegan mozzarella, marinated mushrooms, or vegan pepperoni.
Frequently Asked Questions
Green salads are generally best served immediately, as lettuce can wilt or get soggy over time. If you do have leftovers though, they'll keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about two days. The texture won't be as great as it was on the first day, but it'll still taste delicious.
It can be! Make sure your smoked tofu is gluten-free. If you make your own using my recipe, simply substitute gluten-free tamari for the soy sauce.
Most of the sodium comes from the briny, marinated veggies. You can lower the sodium content of these by rinsing them. In some cases, fresh or lower sodium veggies can be substituted — try for example fresh red peppers in place of roasted red peppers, or water packed artichoke hearts in place of marinated. Making your own smoked tofu using low sodium soy sauce will also help.
More Vegan Salad Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Antipasto Salad
Ingredients
For the Dressing
- ½ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon organic granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
For the Salad
- ¼ medium red onion, sliced
- 4 cups romaine lettuce, roughly chopped
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
- ¾ cup marinated artichoke hearts (one 6 ounce/170 gram jar, drained)
- ½ cup Kalamata olives
- ½ cup Green olives
- ½ cup roasted red peppers, chopped
- ½ cup pepperoncini
- ½ cup fresh basil, roughly chopped
- 8 ounces smoked tofu (one 8 ounce/227 package if using store-bought, or half a batch of the homemade tofu from the link)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Vegan Parmesan cheese, for serving
Instructions
- Place all of the dressing ingredients into a sealable jar with a lid (Note 1). Close the jar, then shake it until the ingredients are fully combined and the mixture looks slightly creamy.
- Optional step: Place the red onion slices into a small bowl and cover them with cold water. Let them soak for about 10 minutes, while you prepare the other ingredients (Note 2).
- Arrange the lettuce, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, both types of olives, roasted red peppers, pepperoncini, fresh basil, and smoked tofu into a large salad bowl. Drain the onion if you soaked it, then add it to the bowl with the other ingredients. Drizzle the salad with the dressing, using as much as you like (Note 3), then toss the salad. Season it with salt and pepper.
- Divide the salad onto plates and top each portion with a sprinkle of vegan Parmesan cheese. Serve.
Notes
- If you don't have a suitable jar, instead place the ingredients into a bowl and beat them vigorously with a wire whisk.
- This step will mellow the flavor of the onion slightly. Skip it if you like your onion to have a little bite.
- Leftover dressing will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about two weeks.
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