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This grinder salad is a low-carb version of the viral Italian grinder sandwich. It features your favorite sandwich ingredients like crunchy lettuce, fresh veggies, savory deli meats, and Italian cheese all tossed in a creamy tangy dressing. Use this recipe to make mason jar salads by adding the homemade dressing to the bottom and filling it with toppings.
The grinder salad sandwich went viral on social media. And for good reason! The famous Tik Tok sandwich is loaded with deli meats, sliced cheese, broiled in the oven and topped with shredded lettuce.
This grinder salad recipe takes all the viral sandwich ingredients and turns it into a low carb recipe you can meal prep. It’s a crunchy chopped salad with the best tangy Italian dressing. The secret to the best dressing is adding the pepperoncini liquid.
If you want to check out more trending TikTok recipes, try cottage cheese flatbread, cottage cheese bagels, or viral feta eggs.
If you love the tangy Italian flavors, you’ll have to try this Italian Pasta Salad or Famous La Scala Chopped Salad (another viral recipe!).
Ingredients You Need
Here are the simple ingredients for this viral grinder salad. It includes all of the best ingredients of an Italian sub! Jump to the recipe card for exact measurements.
Grinder Sub Salad Ingredients
- Romaine and Iceberg lettuce: Use pre shredded lettuce to save time for the base of the salad.
- Cherry tomatoes: Substitute with grape tomatoes or Roma tomatoes.
- Red onion: Adds a nice crunch.
- Pepperoncini peppers: you can also use banana peppers.
- Provolone cheese: Substitute with swiss cheese or cheddar cheese.
- Ham: This is traditional but you can use other cold cuts like turkey or deli chicken.
- Sopprasetta salami and Genoa salami: Genoa is the lunchmeat salami you find at the deli. Sopprasetta is made from a leaner cut and is usually in the specialty cheese section in the grocery store.
Grinder Salad Dressing
- Mayonnaise: Puts the “creamy” in this delicious creamy dressing.
- Red wine vinegar: And the tangy red wine vinegar balances out the mayo.
- Pepperoncini liquid: Get this right from your jar of pepperoncini.
- Grated parmesan cheese: Substitute with pecorino romano, or nutritional yeast for a dairy-free salad.
- Garlic: fresh minced is best but garlic powder works too.
- Italian seasoning: You can make your own at home with equal parts dried oregano, dried basil, dried thyme, and dried thyme.
- Kosher salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
How to Make Viral Grinder Salad
Here are the basic steps, with images, for this easy grinder salad. Skip down to the recipe card below for the full printable recipe.
- Make the dressing. Combine everything in a small bowl or mix in a blender. Store in the fridge or divide it evenly into the bottom of mason jars.
- Add to jar or bowl. Chop up all of the salad ingredients on a cutting board and add to a large bowl or divide evenly into mason jars. If using mason jars, add the toppings first and finish with the lettuce to prevent it from getting soggy.
- Serve and enjoy. Add the dressing right before you’re ready to serve or flip the mason jar over into a bowl and enjoy!
Recipe Variations
- Add more veggies like artichoke hearts, bell peppers, black olives, and roasted red peppers.
- Mix in other Italian meats like prosciutto or totally make it your own with roast beef or deli turkey!
- Toss in some cubed mozzarella or provolone.
- Not a fan of mayo? Use plain Greek yogurt instead.
- Turn it into a grinder pasta salad by adding cooked pasta, just like this chicken caesar pasta salad.
- This is a great low carb salad, but you could serve it with crusty bread like Italian bread or a hoagie roll on the side.
How to Prep and Store
This salad tastes best fresh, but will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a day. If you want the salad ingredients to last longer, wait to dress it until you’re ready to eat.
To make mason jar salads, add the dressing to the bottom of mason jars and layer it with tomatoes, peppers, onion, cold cuts, cheese, and then lettuce. Store in the fridge for up to 5 days. Dump it out into a bowl when you’re ready to eat it!
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Grinder Salad Recipe
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Ingredients
Grinder Salad
- 1 head romaine lettuce shredded
- 1/2 head iceberg lettuce shredded
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 small red onion thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup sliced pepperoncini peppers
- 8 slices provolone cheese thinly sliced
- 1/4 pound sliced ham chopped
- 1/4 pound thinly sliced sopprasetta salami chopped
- 1/4 pound thinly sliced genoa salami chopped
Creamy Italian Dressing
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup pepperoncini liquid
- 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 3 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Crushed red pepper and cracked black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine.3/4 cup mayonnaise, 1/4 cup pepperoncini liquid, 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, 2 cloves minced garlic, 3 teaspoons Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, Crushed red pepper and cracked black pepper to taste, 1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
- Slice and chop all of the veggies and meat. Add the shredded lettuce to a bowl and top it with the ham, salami, cheese, onion, pepperoncini, and tomatoes. Toss with the dressing and serve right away.1 head romaine lettuce, 1/2 head iceberg lettuce, 1 cup cherry tomatoes, 1 small red onion, 1/2 cup sliced pepperoncini peppers, 8 slices provolone cheese, 1/4 pound sliced ham, 1/4 pound thinly sliced sopprasetta salami, 1/4 pound thinly sliced genoa salami
- Alternatively, make meal prep mason jar salads by dividing the dressing into individual mason jars. Top with the hearty toppings first including the peppers, tomatoes, and onions, then add the meats and cheese, and finish with the shredded lettuce. Store for up to 5 days then turn it over into a bowl before serving.
Equipment
- Sharp knife for cutting or viral veggie chopper
- Large bowl or mason jars
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
*peppercini* thanks autocorrect. :/
One of the best salads we’ve ever had. The dressing with the pepperoni juice is sooo delicious. Big favorite at our house.
Thank you so much, Lauren!! So happy to hear that!