Leon eventually shared his famous salad recipe with the world, which the Los Angeles Times published in 1989. The LA Times recipe has many renditions today, so you may see it referred to as the “Beverly Hills Salad,” “Hollywood Salad,” the “Kardashian La Scala Salad,” or even the “Kim Kardashian Salad.”
Whatever you choose to call it, celebrity salad recipes like the La Scala Salad go viral for a reason. They’re flavorful, easy to recreate, and are usually made up of wholesome ingredients. If you love to jump on the celebrity salad recipe bandwagon, you’ll also love the famous Jennifer Aniston Salad and Columbia 1905 salad.
La Scala Salad Ingredients
This famous chopped salad has a truly international flavor, with Italian-inspired ingredients like pecorino romano and mozzarella. The La Scala dressing, also known as the “La Scala Leon dressing,” contains French-style ingredients like dry mustard. It may sound fancy, but chances are you already have many of the ingredients on hand. Here’s what you’ll need:
For the salad, you will need:
- Salad greens: You will need a head of iceberg lettuce and a head of romaine lettuce for all the crunch.
- Chickpeas: You will need a can of chickpeas (also sold as garbanzo beans)
- Salami: Italian salami is what the original La Scala salad uses but if you can’t find Italian salami at the store, feel free to use pepperoni, beef salami, or turkey salami instead. If you’re not a fan of salami in a salad, you can also use Baked Turkey Bacon.
- Cheese: This recipe is famous for its generous amount of shredded mozzarella cheese.
For the La Scala Salad Dressing, you’ll need:
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Red wine vinegar
- Dry mustard (or Dijon mustard): The original La Scala Leon dressing recipe uses dry mustard, which is essentially ground mustard seeds. If you can’t find dry mustard or don’t have any on hand, you can easily substitute two teaspoons of Dijon mustard.
- Salt & pepper
- Pecorino romano cheese (or parmesan cheese): It sounds fancy, but pecorino romano is simply an Italian cheese that’s similar to parmesan. If it’s not available, use shaved parmesan cheese instead.
Optional Add-Ins
While this California chopped salad recipe uses many basic ingredients, a few are more specialized and may be difficult to find at your local grocery store. Thankfully, you can easily substitute without significantly affecting the flavor. The salad is also a great base for add-ins of your choice. Here are some suggestions:
- With just a few ingredients, this chickpea salami salad provides a great base for other Italian-inspired additions, which many have used to customize their celebrity chopped salad recipe. I recommend adding a small jar of drained artichoke hearts, fresh tomatoes or sun-dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, or roasted red bell peppers. I also love to add a minced clove of garlic to the chopped salad dressing for extra flavor. Feel free to get creative and use what you have on hand.
- Make it vegetarian: If you’re one of my vegetarian friends, you can easily transform this salad with salami into a vegetarian recipe by omitting it. In its place, I recommend adding Baked Shiitake Mushrooms for that “meaty” texture. You can also add chopped boiled eggs to add more protein, if you wish.
- Add pasta: I’ve seen versions of this La Scala salad mixed with cooked pasta and served as a pasta salad, and I tried it myself. It was a fantastic weeknight dinner idea.
How to Make La Scala Chopped Salad Recipe?
This La Scala chickpea salad requires a little chopping, as the recipe name suggests, but it’s a breeze to throw together once the prep work is done. Drizzle it with the homemade dressing, and you’ll enjoy a restaurant-quality salad without leaving your home! Here’s how to make it:
- Add salad ingredients to a bowl: Add the romaine, iceberg lettuce, chickpeas, salami, and mozzarella to a large bowl and set aside.
- Make the dressing for the chopped salad: In a small bowl, combine the salad dressing ingredients, including the extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, mustard, salt, and black pepper, with a whisk. Taste and add more salt or pepper if needed. Stir in the pecorino romano. Alternatively, you can place all ingredients in a jar, put the lid on and give it a good shake.
- Add the dressing and toss: Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well to combine.
- Serve: Garnish the salad with additional cheese and serve.
How to Meal Prep & Store Leftovers?
If you want to make this viral chopped salad super quick and easy to throw together on a busy weekday, you can easily meal-prep it in advance. Leftovers are a breeze to store, too. Here are some tips:
- Meal prep: To meal prep this Italian salad with salami and mozzarella, chop up all the ingredients and store them in an airtight container. You can also prep the dressing in advance, but be sure to store it in a separate container (so the salad won’t get soggy). Both will keep for up to 2-3 days in the fridge.
- Store: If you have leftovers, store the rest of the salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1-2 days.
What to Serve It With?
Packed with meat, cheese, and chickpeas, this chopped iceberg salad can definitely stand alone as a light lunch or dinner. If you’re craving something a bit more filling, feel free to pair it with your favorite Italian entrees. Here are some of my favorites:
- Serve it with chicken breast: Sticking to the Italian theme, serve this famous Italian chopped salad with Panko Chicken Parmesan or Baked Bone-In Chicken Breasts for a 5-star meal. Or, keep things simple and whip up my juicy Greek Yogurt Chicken.
- Make it a vegetarian meal: Since this is a chopped salad with salami, you’ll want to omit the meat to make it vegetarian. Serve your now-vegetarian salad with this Easy Eggplant Involtini or classic Eggplant Pomodoro Pasta for a delicious Italian spread.
Expert Tips
This salami chickpea salad is easy for even a beginner chef to throw together, so detailed tips aren’t necessary for this recipe. However, I included a few notes below that you may find helpful along the way:
- Double the dressing: This La Scala Chopped Salad Dressing recipe is so simple and yummy that it likely pairs well with many of your favorite salads. Since you’re already making the dressing, why not double the recipe so you’ll have extra to drizzle on your next salad?
- Marinate the chickpeas: If you have the time, I recommend marinating the chickpeas in the tangy dressing to give the salad extra flavor. After draining and rinsing the chickpeas, soak them in the dressing for a few minutes while you prep the rest of the ingredients.
FAQs
The La Scala Chopped Salad, also known as the “Beverly Hills Chopped Salad” or the “Kardashian Salad Recipe,” is an Italian salad with salami that was first served at the La Scala Boutique restaurant in Beverly Hills, CA. The simple salad combines salami, mozzarella, chickpeas, iceberg lettuce, and romaine, all topped off with a simple red wine vinaigrette.
Chef Jean Leon, a restaurateur who is the owner of the La Scala restaurant in Beverly Hills, CA, invented the La Scala Salad, also known as the “Kardashian Chopped Salad,” in the ‘50s. This salad was popular among his business and high-profile clients, such as Elizabeth Taylor, Julia Roberts, and JFK, and the restaurant is still a hot spot for celebrities today.
A recipe for chopped salad, as the name suggests, contains ingredients that have been chopped into a uniform size. The salad is usually tossed together in a dressing for an easily consumable meal with well-incorporated ingredients.
This recipe serves 6 people and a serving is approximately 244 calories.
Other Famous Restaurant Salad Recipes You Might Like
Have you ever visited a restaurant and wished you could recreate a meal you had there? From the La Scala Chopped Salad in LA to Neiman Marcus’s Texas Caviar, these yummy restaurant dishes go viral all the time. Well, thanks to the Internet, there are many viral recipes out there that you don’t need a restaurant reservation to enjoy.
Since we’re on the topic of salads, here are a few famous salad recipes to try:
- Cowboy Caviar
- Houston’s Thai Steak Salad
- Caesar Salad
- Waldorf Salad with Chicken
- Looking for more tasty, fresh, and colorful salads? Try our seasonal summer, fall, and spring recipes that you can enjoy year-round.
If you try this Famous La Scala Chopped Salad recipe or any other recipe on Foolproof Living, please take a minute to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It helps others who are thinking of making the recipe. And if you took some pictures, be sure to share them on Instagram using #foolproofeats so I can share them on my stories.
Diet Key
This Recipe is:
La Scala Chopped Salad Recipe
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 1 head iceberg lettuce, chopped
- 1 head Romaine, roughly chopped
- 1 can chickpeas, aka Garbanzo beans, (15 oz) drained and rinsed
- 1/4 pound Italian salami, chopped or julienned
- 1/4 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded
For the Dressing:
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, or 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- ½ teaspoon Kosher Salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup grated pecorino romano , or Parmesan cheese- plus more as garnish
Instructions
- Add salad ingredients to a bowl: Place iceberg lettuce, romaine, chickpeas, Italian salami, and mozzarella cheese in a large salad bowl. Set it aside.
- Make the dressing: To make the dressing, whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper in a measuring cup or a small bowl. Stir in the Pecorino romano.
- Add the dressing and toss: Drizzle the dressing over the salad. Give it a toss.
- Serve: Serve with more pecorino romano on top.
Video
Notes
- Meal prep: To prepare this salad ahead of time, chop up all the ingredients and store them in an airtight container. You can also prep the dressing in advance, but be sure to store it in a separate container (so the salad won’t get soggy). Both will keep for up to 2-3 days in the fridge.
- Store: If you have leftovers, store the rest of the salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1-2 days.
- To make it vegetarian, swap salami with roasted shiitake mushrooms.
- Optional add-ins: While this salad is great by itself, you can jazz it up by adding other ingredients, such as a small jar of drained artichoke hearts, fresh tomatoes or sun-dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, or roasted red bell peppers. I also love to add a minced clove of garlic to the chopped salad dressing for extra flavor. Feel free to get creative and use what you have on hand.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Loved this! It was the perfect lunch salad that felt healthy with a fun addition of what I’d normally consider sandwich ingredients (mozzarella and salami). Thank you for sharing!!
For sure! I am thrilled to hear that you liked it Christina.
Great salad…however I made to much …I had to refrigerate the prepared salad
Hope it holds for another day..
It should. Glad you liked it Judith.
It must be me. I followed it exactly and it was bland and yucky. I made it for a salad contest at work. Needless to say I didn’t win. It needs garlic at the very least. I was so excited to make it was a big let down. My husband feels the same way.
Update: my 24 year old daughter just ate it (before I was going to pitch it) and loved it. Go figure!!
Hello Jana,
I am sorry to hear you didn’t like it.
I would agree with you on the garlic. When I make it for ourselves I usually add some, which is why I included it as an ingredient in the optional ingredients section. I didn’t want to change the original La Scala recipe to stay true to it.
The good thing about all of my recipes is that you can taste as you make it and adjust it according to your tastebuds.
I hope this helps. Thanks for coming by and sharing your honest opinion.
It’s simple but I can’t stop eating this salad. If made exactly as the recipe it serves well as a main dish (I serve quartered boiled eggs on the side for my “salad is not a dinner” husband). I have made salad dressing thousands of times but this one is special.
Ha ha.. I totally feel you. I am happy to hear that you like it Donna. Thanks for coming by and taking the time to review the recipe.
Salad was good but dressing needs work. Mustard was too overpowering in the dressing. I added honey to cut the acidic flavor and it was better. I’ll make again but with spicy brown mustard but half the amount and adding honey.
Thanks for your input Moira. I like the idea of using spicy brown mustard.
I thought it needed a little sweetness, too. I’m adding honey next time.
Apparently I forgot to hit “send” earlier.
I wrote that in the early ’70’s I worked at Jax in Beverly Hills. Does anyone remember this boutique patronized by many of the young Hollywood set like Lauren Hutton and Liza Minelli? For special lunches I’d go to La Scala for “Chopped Salad”. A charming young French African sous chef would make my Chopped Salad and help me practice my pitiful French. He also made the salad for us at the Daisy Club owned by Jack Hanson, owner of Jax. Those were the days!! Spotting your “La Scala” version of this refreshing and filling salad brought back great memories of a wonderful B.H. era.
What a story! Thanks for sharing this insight with us Michele.
Good to know. Thanks for the suggestion.