Although I do not frequent the Olive Garden often at all, I do enjoy their salad. Of course that meant when I craved it the other day I had to figure out how to make it on my own. Thanks to Copykat Recipes I was able to recreate the salad and dressing without troubleshooting (yes I was lazy). And it really does taste like their salad! I may have to use the dressing on other things too now that I’ve got my hands on it.

I served this along with dinner Saturday night with a group of friends. Huge hit! One person was even tricked into liking mayonnaise, which is part of the dressing. I feel like a mom trying to think of ways to get her kids to eat vegetables, but in this case it’s a not-so-healthy item O:-).

DRESSING

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used reduced fat)

1/3 cup white vinegar

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbsp corn syrup

2 Tbsp Parmesan, shredded

2 Tbsp Romano, shredded

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp Parsley

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1/2 Tbsp sugar (optional)

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in a blender and pulse until combined. Add sugar to taste (I used 1/2 Tbsp). Place in airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

SALAD

Ingredients:

1-12 oz bag American blend salad

4-5 red onion slices

4-5 black olives, sliced (I don’t like olives so I opted out)

2-4 pepperoncini or banana peppers

1/2 cup croutons

Small tomato, chopped

Fresh shredded Parmesan, for topping

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in a salad bowl and toss. Top with Parmesan and serve with dressing.

Source: Copykat Recipes for both the Salad and the Dressing