This Vegetable Chopped Salad is a light and refreshing salad recipe, loaded with juicy fresh vegetables and salad ingredients that can also be easily varied to suit your family’s preferences.
Enjoy this incredibly easy salad as a starter, side dish, or light main meal with your favorite salad dressing.
Whether you serve it as a light refreshing lunch, or as a side salad for a holiday dinner, you’ll love this refreshing Chopped Vegetable Salad. If you loved our Cucumber Tomato Salad and Broccoli Salad, then you’ll love this vegetarian chopped salad. It is one of my family’s favorite Green Salads that is perfect for a July 4th picnic.
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Why You’ll Love This Vegetable Salad
- Good Base Salad. This recipe is a base that you can build upon and adapt to create your ideal salad that can be enjoyed as a starter, side dish, or even main meal when adding in some meat.
- Fresh. This salad is loaded with fresh vegetables that are wholesome and nutritious and you can feel good about serving this salad to your family.
- Budget-Friendly. The Vegetable chopped salad uses fresh produce that’s budget-friendly – always a bonus for feeding a crowd or hungry family.
- No Cooking. There’s no cooking time required for this recipe – 30 minutes of preparation is all that you need!
- Fits In All Meal Plans. This salad with its fresh vegetables will fit into any type of meal plan, whether it is both Vegetarian, Vegan, gluten-free, low-fat, keto, or whole30. Just pair it with your favorite dressing appropriate for your meal plan.
Why This Recipe Works
- Easy Instructions. This vegetable chopped salad includes step-by-step instructions with photos for making the salad from start to end. There’s honestly no complicated process involved.
- Year-Round Vegetables. These salad ingredients are readily available in your local grocery store and are inexpensive too.
- 30-Minute Meal. You only need to spare 30 minutes of your time to make this salad. Most of that time is the preparation of the vegetables which you can do the night before.
- Recipe Tips Included. I’ve included helpful recipe tips and tricks for making this super easy vegetable chopped salad.
- Tried and True Recipes. This vegetable chopped salad is a regular side dish I’ve made over the years for cookouts and midweek family meals which means that you can trust my advice and suggestions in this recipe post.
- Variations. Recipe variations have been included in case you want to mix things up, or try something new to keep things interesting for yourself and the family.
- Serving Suggestions. Serving suggestions are provided in this recipe that you can use to enjoy this vegetable chopped salad to the maximum!
What’s Needed To Make This Chopped Salad
Equipment
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Ingredients
Below I discuss the ingredients and possible substitutions in case you don’t have a specific ingredient. However, if you are looking for the specific measurements of each ingredient, be sure to scroll down to the bottom of this article, just above the comments, for the printable recipe card, which includes all the ingredients and the specific amounts of each one.
- Lettuce. I’ve used Iceberg lettuce in this salad since it’s so deliciously crunchy. Go ahead and use your favorite lettuce. Green Leaf lettuce and Romaine are also great options.
- Bell pepper. I’ve used yellow and red bell pepper in this salad. You can include green bell pepper as well or stick to the color of bell pepper that you prefer the most. I love the pop of color added to the salad from the red and yellow pepper!
- Cucumber. The recipe calls for English cucumber but other varieties of cucumber can also be used. You can opt to peel the cucumber or leave the sin on. The texture of the skin can be quite lovely.
- Tomatoes. Chopped. I love the taste and juiciness of freshly chopped tomatoes but canned chopped tomatoes can also be used in the salad. You could even use grape or cherry tomatoes instead if you wish.
- Broccoli florets. Chopped.
- Cauliflower florets. Chopped.
- Celery – Chopped. This adds a juicy crunch to the salad as well as great flavor.
- Scallions. Thinly sliced.
- Carrot. Medium-sized and shredded.
- Salad dressing. Buy your favorite salad dressing like ranch dressing or make your own from scratch.
How To Make This Chopped Vegetable Salad
- Prep all your veggies and add them to a large bowl.
- Toss the ingredients to combine.
- Serve with your favorite salad dressing.
Recipe Tips
- Prep in Advance. You can prepare elements of this vegetable chopped salad to store in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator overnight, saving you most of the recipe time when it comes to assembling the salad the following day. Don’t store the ingredients together in one container otherwise, the color from some of the veggies will bleed and stain the lettuce. The lettuce will also start to go soggy from contact with the other salad ingredients.
- Jar Salad. If you need a salad to go, such as to take for lunch, add your salad to a jar and transport the dressing separately. Also, as some people don’t enjoy salad dressings added to their salads, serve your chosen salad dressing in a jar alongside the salad bowl that others can help themselves to.
- Side Salad. Enjoy this salad as a side dish to grilled meats and other meaty main meals or turn it into a well-balanced meal by adding in some shredded chicken, turkey, chopped ham, crumbled bacon, cheese, hard-boiled eggs, or even shrimp.
- Rinse. Be sure to rinse and drain the salad ingredients before combining them.
Variations
- Add Protein. Turn this vegetable chopped salad into a main meal by adding in some shredded meats, grilled meat, shrimp, hard-boiled eggs, shrimp, or crumbled bacon.
- Swap Vegetables. Add in or swap out ingredients to suit your preferences. Zucchini, red onion, artichoke hearts, or radishes are all great options to consider including in this salad.
- Go Nuts. Other add-ins could include nuts (raw or toasted), seeds, cheese (Parmesan shavings or crumbled feta), croutons, and legumes such as lima beans or sweet peas.
- Double It. If you’re serving a crowd, consider doubling the ingredients – it’s that easy!
What To Serve With this Side Salad
This vegetable chopped salad is the perfect side dish to serve with most main meals including roasts, such as my Crock Pot Chuck Roast, grilled meats like Barbecue Chicken Kabobs, Brown Sugar Meatloaf, hamburgers, Meatball Pizza, fried chicken, and casseroles. It’s a great option if your meal needs a boost of healthy vegetables – you definitely will be getting a good amount of variety from this side dish.
In addition, this vegetable salad goes great with your favorite soup, whether it is Chicken Noodle Soup, Tortilla Soup, Lasagna Soup, Leftover Ham and Potato Soup, or Enchilada Soup.
Whenever I serve this vegetable chopped salad, I also enjoy pairing it with pieces of bread, like my Focaccia Bread or crackers.
FAQs
HOW SHOULD I STORE LEFTOVER VEGETABLE CHOPPED SALAD?
This vegetable chopped salad can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Freezing this salad is not an option as the fresh salad ingredients will wilt and become soggy.
If you’ve added salad dressing to the entire salad and have leftovers, I suggest using up those leftovers as soon as possible otherwise the ingredients will wilt and become mushy.
IS VEGETABLE CHOPPED SALAD VEGAN-FRIENDLY?
Yes! As this recipe stands, it is vegan. Be sure to choose a salad dressing from your local grocery store that’s also vegan or make your own from scratch.
WHAT’S THE BEST TYPE OF LETTUCE TO USE FOR THIS SALAD?
You can use your favorite lettuce for this salad. I usually select Iceberg lettuce since it’s so crunchy. Green Leaf and Romaine are also good options.
CAN I MAKE VEGETABLE CHOPPED SALAD AHEAD OF TIME?
Yes, you can. If you plan to make this salad ahead of a party or gathering, prepare the vegetables and store them in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator the day prior to assembling the salad.
If you toss all of the salad ingredients together ahead of time then you risk them wilting or becoming soggy.
If you plan on making your own salad dressing for this salad, make this ahead of time too and store it in an airtight jar or container in the refrigerator.
More Salad Recipes
- Grilled Peach Tomato Salad
- Mexican Shrimp Salad
- Blueberry Gorgonzola Farmer’s Salad
- Apple Walnut Cranberry Salad
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Recipe
Vegetable Chopped Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 head iceberg lettuce shredded
- 1/2 cup finely chopped yellow bell pepper
- 1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
- 1/2 cup finely chopped English cucumber
- 1/2 cup finely chopped tomatoes
- 1/2 cup finely chopped broccoli florets
- 1/2 cup finely chopped cauliflower florets
- 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
- 1/2 cup scallions thinly sliced
- 1 medium carrot shredded
- Dressing of your choice
Instructions
- Prep all your veggies and add them to a large bowl. Toss to combine.
- Serve with your favorite salad dressing.
Video
Notes
- Prep in Advance. You can prepare elements of this vegetable chopped salad to store in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator overnight, saving you most of the recipe time when it comes to assembling the salad the following day. Don’t store the ingredients together in one container otherwise, the color from some of the veggies will bleed and stain the lettuce. The lettuce will also start to go soggy from contact with the other salad ingredients.
- Jar Salad. If you need a salad to go, such as to take for lunch, add your salad to a jar and transport the dressing separately. Also, as some people don’t enjoy salad dressings added to their salads, serve your chosen salad dressing in a jar alongside the salad bowl that others can help themselves to.
- Side Salad. Enjoy this salad as a side dish to grilled meats and other meaty main meals or turn it into a well-balanced meal by adding in some shredded chicken, turkey, chopped ham, crumbled bacon, cheese, hard-boiled eggs, or even shrimp.
- Rinse. Be sure to rinse and drain the salad ingredients before combining them.
- Add Protein. Turn this vegetable chopped salad into a main meal by adding in some shredded meats, grilled meat, shrimp, hard-boiled eggs, shrimp, or crumbled bacon.
- Swap Vegetables. Add in or swap out ingredients to suit your preferences. Zucchini, red onion, artichoke hearts, or radishes are all great options to consider including in this salad.
- Go Nuts. Other add-ins could include nuts (raw or toasted), seeds, cheese (Parmesan shavings or crumbled feta), croutons, and legumes such as lima beans or sweet peas.
- Double It. If you’re serving a crowd, consider doubling the ingredients – it’s that easy!
Carrie Robinson says
In my opinion, chopped salads are definitely the best salads. 🙂 I hate it when there are big chunks of lettuce and veggies that I need to cut up before digging in.
Andrea says
This is a quick, easy and fantastic side dish. Perfect on a busy weeknight.
nancy says
nice easy salad loaded with veggies. I love this for weekday lunches
Sharon says
I love how this chopped salad incorporates so many vegetables together for a healthy salad. Perfect for lunch.
Gabby says
Yum! This is so super fresh and delicious. I added a vinaigrette as my dressing, which was perfect.