This Portillo’s style chopped salad is a lot like what you would get at the restaurant. It is hearty and full of flavor. With bacon, chicken, pasta, tomatoes, and cheese it is sure to win you over.
If you are a fan of Portillo’s chopped salad, you are going to love this recipe. It’s like a little taste of the Chicago restaurant made in your own kitchen.
I fell in love with the salads at Portillo’s years ago. I used to travel a fair amount for work, and if those road trips took me near a restaurant, I would always go straight to the salad counter and order one.
The poppy seed chicken salad was always one of my favorites until they stopped making it. So I started making a copycat poppy seed chicken and fruit salad at home.
It is loaded with fruit, chicken, cheese and a poppy seed dressing that is sooooo good. It is part green salad, part fruit salad, and together it is amazing.
When they took the fruit salad off the menu, I started ordering their chopped salad. It is probably their most popular salad, and for good reason.
It has a great mix of pasta, chicken, gorgonzola, and veggies. Toss it all with a nice vinaigrette and voila, it is a tasty meal.
Now, I stay much closer to home for work. It’s nice for my schedule, but it means less frequent trips to Portillo’s.
So instead, I make it at home. Now I can have it as often as I want!
Additions, Substitutions & Alterations
If you order the salad at Portillo’s, it will have shredded red cabbage in it. It didn’t seem worth buying a whole head to just add a little bit to the salad. If you have some, toss it in.
If you want to serve the salad as a side dish, you can leave the chicken out. It’s also a great way to use leftover chicken, or turkey.
Blue cheese is a love it or hate it kind of thing. If blue cheese or gorgonzola aren’t your thing, you can try crumbled feta or queso fresco if you prefer.
Small pasta shells work great in place of the ditalini. Really, any small pasta shape will taste great.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make this salad ahead of time?
You can assemble the salad a day or two ahead of time. Just wait to add the dressing until you are ready to serve it. Once it is served, it will start to wilt within 24 hours.
What else can I do with the dressing?
The salad dressing in this recipe is super versatile. You can use it on all kinds of green salads, pasta salads, and more.
More Great Salad Recipes To Try
Cowboy salad is perfect for potlucks. It is full of corn, black beans, jalapenos, cheese, and more. The simple creamy BBQ dressing ties it all together and adds more layers of flavor.
Napa cabbage salad with ramen noodles is a flavorful mix of crunchy goodness. The toasted ramen make for excellent croutons and a simple homemade dressing brings it all together.
Try making a black and blue salad for a salad that eats like a meal. It is great with leftover steak or make steak just for the salad.
Portillo’s Chopped Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 8 oz. ditalini pasta
- ½ lb. bacon cooked crisp and crumbled
- 1 head romaine lettuce
- 3 cups iceberg lettuce chopped
- 1 cup tomato diced
- 3 green onions sliced
- 4 oz. crumbled gorgonzola cheese
- 2 chicken breasts cooked and diced
Dressing
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup white wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Cook pasta to al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.8 oz. ditalini pasta
- Mix together all dressing ingredients in a jar. Refrigerate until ready to use.½ cup extra virgin olive oil, ¼ cup white wine vinegar, 2 teaspoons minced garlic, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- Clean the iceberg and romaine lettuce. Cut it nice and fine so that you don't have to cut the salad when you serve it.1 head romaine lettuce, 3 cups iceberg lettuce
- Mix lettuce together in a big bowl. Top it with all of the other ingredients, including the cooked pasta.½ lb. bacon, 1 cup tomato, 3 green onions, 4 oz. crumbled gorgonzola cheese, 2 chicken breasts, ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- Add dressing to taste right before serving so it doesn't get soggy.
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