It’s no secret that I LOVE a big bowl of greens. But, what I love even more is a big bowl of greens piled high with protein and yummy toppings. That’s why this macro-friendly grinder salad recipe has become one of my favorites. It’s easy to make and the flavor is out of this world.
This grinder salad is easy to make, full of flavor, and macro-friendly! And most importantly, it’s BIG. This salad is big enough that you can eat it for lunch without feeling hungry after. Major win!
Italian Grinder Salad
This salad is similar to an Italian grinder sandwich, which was super popular on social media for a while. This salad has been lightened up a bit with a few changes so that you can enjoy the same flavors of a grinder sandwich but in salad form! It’s packed with tons of flavor and is full of tasty veggies and oh-so tasty meats. This salad is HUGE and will keep you full all day!
This grinder salad recipe is written for an individual salad portion, but you could double or triple the recipe to take as a side for your next get-together. It’s a definite hit at potlucks!
Grinder Salad Ingredients
To make this Italian grinder salad, you’ll only need a few ingredients to make it super yummy! Let’s start with the grinder salad dressing ingredients–they’re super simple.
For the grinder salad dressing, you’ll need:
- Nonfat Greek or dairy-free yogurt
- Red wine vinegar
- Frozen garlic cubes, or minced garlic cloves
- Oregano
- Red pepper flakes
- Kosher salt
For the grinder salad, you’ll need:
- Jarred mild banana peppers
- Red onion
- Iceberg lettuce
- Cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes
- Cucumbers
- Sweet bell pepper
- Turkey pepperoni
- Deli turkey or chicken
- Salt and pepper to taste
You can also add cheese to this salad if you want, just make sure to include those in your macros (if you’re tracking). There are so many to choose from, but my favorites are parmesan cheese, mozzarella, and havarti.
How to Make a Grinder Salad
When I’m making this grinder salad, I like to start by making the dressing. It’s super simple and flavorful, and it really brings this macro-friendly salad together. Plus, I love the extra creaminess the yogurt adds.
And if you’re not already, I highly recommend using an alligator chopper to chop all of your ingredients. It makes cutting your vegetables quick and easy. I’m not usually a kitchen gadget person, but I pull out my alligator chopper pretty frequently.
- Make the Dressing. Start by grabbing your favorite large mixing bowl. In the bottom of the bowl, add your non-fat Greek yogurt, red wine vinegar, garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, and salt. Whisk everything together until it all combines.
- Make the salad. Grab all of your salad ingredients. Add your jarred chopped mild banana peppers, diced onion, finely chopped iceberg lettuce, halved cherry tomatoes, diced (or thinly sliced) cucumbers, diced sweet bell peppers, chopped turkey pepperoni, and chopped deli turkey cold cuts or chicken to your large mixing bowl right on top of the dressing. I also like adding in extra cheese depending on where I’m at with my macros. My favorites are parmesan cheese, mozzarella, and Havarti.
- Toss and serve. Now that the ingredients are in the mixing bowl, toss well and enjoy your grinder salad! This grinder salad is a meal in itself. Before indulging, I like to finish off with additional salt and pepper to taste. It just takes the flavor to the next level.
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Is this Grinder Salad Recipe Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free?
This grinder salad recipe is naturally gluten-free, but there are some ingredients that will need to be modified to make it dairy-free. When making your dressing you can swap out the non-fat Greek yogurt for your favorite dairy-free yogurt. My favorite dairy-free yogurt is the coconut yogurt alternative from So Delicious. I really like how tastes in creamy dressings and sauces.
The other dairy-free modification for this recipe is the cheese. I wrote the recipe with cheese being optional, but they really do make this macro-friendly salad extra yummy. If you want to add cheese to this recipe, feel use your favorite dairy-free cheese. I LOVE the parmesan cheese and feta cheese from Follow Your Heart. You can’t even tell that they are dairy-free.
For more dairy-free and gluten-free recipes, you can search my blog, cookbooks, or dinner meal plan! Almost all of my recipes are either naturally gluten-free and dairy-free or have easy swaps.
Similar Salad Recipes
I love BIG salads that are packed with protein and flavor while still light enough to have a huge serving. I love sharing them on my blog as well as on Instagram!
Here are a few of my favorite salads from the blog that are similar to this grinder salad recipe:
- Wedge Salad with Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing
- Salmon Romesco Salad
- Cobb Salad with Creamy Lemon Basil Dressing
- Summer Chop Salad with Light Champagne Vinaigrette Dressing
- Chipotle Grilled Chicken Salad and Mango Cobb Salad
- Chopped Peach Caprese Salad
- Easy Dairy-free Cava Bowl
- Chopped Green Goddess Salmon Flatbread
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Grinder Salad Recipe
My family and I seriously love this macro-friendly grinder salad recipe. And I also love that it makes eating healthy easy. If you are looking for other easy recipes that stay in line with your macros, then you should check out my cookbooks or my weekly dinner meal plan.
They are full of yummy recipes that my family and I eat on the regular. I also share new things I’m trying on Instagram, so make sure you are hanging out with me over there too.
Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission. Read the full privacy policy here.
Grinder Salad
Ingredients
- ¼ cup nonfat Greek or dairy-free yogurt (60 g)
- 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar (15 g)
- 1 frozen garlic cubes, or minced clove
- 1/2- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/4- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ cup jarred mild banana peppers, chopped (28 g)
- ¼ cup red onion, diced (35 g)
- 4 cups iceberg lettuce, finely chopped (300 g)
- ½ cup cherry tomatoes, halved (80 g)
- ½ cup cucumbers, diced or thinly sliced (60 g)
- ½ cup sweet bell pepper, diced (60 g)
- ¼ cup turkey pepperoni, chopped (28 g)
- ¼ cup deli turkey or chicken, chopped (65 g)
- salt and pepper to taste
- optional cheese: parmesan, mozzarella, havarti, they’re all good!
Instructions
- In the bottom of a large bowl, whisk together yogurt, red wine vinegar, garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, and salt.
- Add the rest of your salad ingredients right on top and toss well!
- Finish with additional salt and pepper to taste! This salad is ready to be enjoyed immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Tried this recipe?
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Eh, I didn’t really like this recipe. I like the idea, but didn’t care for the dressing. I have one of those choppers though that made it easier to chop everything up. It’s my meal prep for the week, but probably won’t make again. I think it was too much oregano and it needed something beyond the Greek yogurt. I also didn’t love the red wine vinegar but to be fair I just bought a regular one at Walmart so maybe a different brand or more expensive brand would have been better.
Meh – the spice overpowers the salad that is completely flavorless. This was one of Lillie’s misses. Also way too much effort for what this is.
I LOVE each of these ingredients but this salad was not for me. I followed the recipe exactly but hesitated at the 1 tsp red pepper flakes, love spicy foods but it was way too much for this salad.
I made this for lunch and it is SO good and SO much food! It hit the spot!
I thought this salad was flavorful although it took me a lot longer than 10 mins to chop and assemble everything. The only thing I did extra was grill plain chicken breasts and dice. But still, it was more time consuming by 2-3X’s!
Absolute YUM! The absolute perfect, fresh lunch that tastes like it came straight from the Italian deli. I love that it was a mix of things I already had on hand/usually keep in stock with a few items I don’t normally choose (pepperoni, banana peppers). Will be making again this week!
If you were to make this ahead would you put the banana peppers in the dressing to top it later or include them in the salad?