Portillo's Chopped Salad Recipe
This copycat Portillo's Chopped Salad recipe is made with a zesty dressing, bacon, veggies, and spicy chicken. The ditalini pasta is what made this salad famous at Portillo's in Chicago.
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
For the Dressing
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
- ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
For the Salad
- ½ cup uncooked Ditalini pasta, about 2 ounces of dry pasta
- 1 cup cooked and diced chicken, see notes
- ½ pound bacon, cooked and crumbed
- 1 cup chopped romaine lettuce
- 1 cup chopped iceberg lettuce
- 1 cup chopped red cabbage
- 1 large roma tomato, diced
- 2 green onions, diced, whites and greens
- ½ cup crumbled Feta cheese, about 2 ounces
- ¼ cup hot giardiniera, optional
Instructions
- For the dressing, whisk all the ingredients together. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- Cook bacon until crispy. Or use real bacon bits (although cooking your own bacon does make it taste better). Cook chicken or chicken patty and cut into cubes. Set aside.
- In a large salad bowl, combine romaine, iceberg, and cabbage with tomatoes and green onions. Add cooled pasta, bacon, chicken, and feta cheese. Toss with dressing right before serving the salad.
Notes
- For the chicken, you can use one large chicken breast, cooked and diced. Or, to make it spicy, use a cooked spicy breaded chicken patty. Rotisserie chicken can also be used.
- If choosing the spicy chicken route, go all in and add the hot giardiniera to the salad mix!
- Store leftover salad in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- See blog post for more recipe tips and tricks.
