The Best Salad Greens To Toss With Italian Dressing

A good dressing ties a salad's ingredients together. Whether thick and creamy or smooth and silky, it coats the greens and toppings, ensuring all components mix cohesively together. Of course, to make a great salad, the dressing is only as good as the greens it's paired with. To learn the best greens to eat with Italian dressing, we went to an expert.

The tangy dressing is a fixture at plenty of restaurants, and store-bought Italian salad dressings are to be found stocked in a number of fridges. The blend of vinegar or lemon juice, olive oil, and herbs complements a variety of greens, according to Megan McCarthy, the Edible Garden Chef at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. "Use mixed greens (both mild and bitter) or spinach," she recommends. As the founder of Healthy Eating 101 and a Have a Plant Ambassador for The Foundation for Fresh Produce, McCarthy's promotion of fruit and veggie consumption gives her firsthand knowledge on the flavor profiles that pair well with the dressing.

"Italian dressing's tangy, herby flavors complement the natural sweetness and earthiness of these greens," she says. A bag of mixed greens may consist of leaves like romaine lettuce, frisée, mizuna, and radicchio, among other types of greens that are perfect for salads. Overall, the flavor is gentle and earthy, perfectly befitting for acidic Italian dressing. The draw of the dressing is its bright, slightly sweet taste. In order to fully experience the refreshing flavor, Italian dressing should be paired with greens that won't overshadow it.

Once you've got the greens down, you can move on to picking the rest of your salad ingredients. Like chef McCarthy mentioned, sweet, earthy flavor profiles mesh well with the bright zest of Italian dressings. To pick the best toppings, look to ingredients frequently used in Mediterranean cooking to match the vibrant taste of the dressing.

The peppery olive oil, fruity red wine or balsamic vinegar, and herbs pair well with red bell peppers. The sweet peppers add a touch of heartiness to salads, while still maintaining the sweet, earthy flair to balance out a tangy dressing. Pistachios also mesh well with the dressing. Nutty, a little sweet, and savory, the green nuts get a bright kick with the addition of Italian dressing.

To match the bitterness of some of the greens and temper the dressing's acidic kick, try pairing it with eggplants. A roasted eggplant and lentil salad features a tangy vinaigrette of olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and oregano — ingredients commonly featured in Italian dressing. The zestiness enhances the earthy, mild eggplant, nutty lentils, and creamy feta.