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Muffaletta Salad is a simplified and lightened up version of the legendary New Orleans sandwich that you can make in just 20 minutes.
The original sandwiches from Central Grocery are picnic perfect because they are best made ahead of time, giving the flavors time to meld and soak into the bread. When you make this Muffaletta Salad, you’ll toss the bread with dressing a few minutes ahead of time so you get that same flavor structure without the heft of a full sandwich.
To adapt the sandwich into a salad, I tested different breads and dressing ratios to keep it true to the original. Sturdy crusted breads like ciabatta and focaccia don’t fall apart and the fresh and soft middle is just right for soaking up delicious juices from the dressing. I also found that layering the dressing, first with the bread, then again after the meats and cheeses, and finally after adding the olive salad, best mirrors the sandwich. If you don’t have a good jarred olive salad to buy locally, make my homemade Muffaletta Olive salad recipe instead. It’s easy to make and what I use for this salad.
Table of Contents
Recipe at a Glance
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
- Skill Level: Easy
Muffaletta Salad Ingredients
- Red wine vinegar: This is one vinegar that varies a lot by brand. You want one with clean acidity that isn’t too sweet so it brightens the dressing without competing with the olive salad.
- Dijon mustard: Choose a smooth Dijon. I find the ones made in France are reliably good, even if the brand is unfamiliar. It works to emulsify the dressing and adds depth without taking over.
- Olive oil: Use a good-quality extra-virgin olive oil that has a fairly mild flavor. If it tastes aggressively peppery or bitter on its own, it will dominate the greens.
- Shallot: Look for a firm shallot with tight, papery skin. Mince it very fine so it blends easily into the dressing.
- Ciabatta or focaccia: Look for a loaf with a sturdy crust and soft interior. Don’t use soft sandwich bread or rolls because they’re more likely to fall apart once dressed.
- Mixed baby greens: Save yourself time and buy prewashed greens in a clamshell. Make sure they look fresh with no wilting. I avoid heavily bitter blends here so they don’t overpower the olive salad.
- Swiss cheese: You want thin slices that bend without cracking. A mild Swiss balances the salt from the meats.
- Provolone cheese: Look for deli-sliced provolone that’s smooth and flexible. Don’t use very sharp provolone here; it can throw off the flavor balance.
- Mortadella: Buy thin slices with visible fat cubes and, ideally, pistachios.
- Genoa salami: Choose one with balanced spice and moderate fat so you get flavor without too much heat.
- Capicola or good-quality ham: Buy thin slices with even marbling. When I substitute ham for capicola, I look for one that isn’t too smoky.
- Muffaletta olive salad: You can use a good store-bought version, but if you’d rather not track one down, I have an easy homemade Muffaletta Olive Salad that works really well here. If the mixture looks especially oily, give it a quick drain before measuring.
- Toasted sesame seeds (optional, but recommended): These echo the sesame-topped loaf traditionally used for muffaletta sandwiches and add subtle crunch.
- Fresh oregano (optional, but recommended): Look for bright green leaves without dark spots.
Why This Recipe Works
- Olive salad leads the flavor: It acts as the primary seasoning, just like it does in the sandwich.
- Intentional bread soak: Dressing the bread briefly before adding the greens recreates the make-ahead structure without turning it soggy.
- Balanced meat ratio: About 8 ounces total keeps the salad substantial but not heavy.
- Mild dressing: The meats, cheeses, and olive salad bring plenty of flavor and salt, so the dressing stays intentionally mild.
How to Make Muffaletta Salad
Make the dressing: Whisk the red wine vinegar, Dijon, and oregano in a medium bowl. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, whisking constantly until emulsified. Stir in the shallot and season with black pepper (no salt).
Dress the bread: Add the bread to a large bowl and drizzle lightly with dressing. Toss gently, just to coat, and let it stand for 2 to 5 minutes. You’re after lightly saturated bread cubes that hold their shape.
Build and finish: Add the greens, meats, and cheeses. Drizzle with more dressing and toss gently to coat. Add the olive salad and toss once more to combine. Serve right away.
Pro Tips
- Drain if needed: If your olive salad is heavily packed in oil, drain off a little oil so the greens don’t collapse.
- Slice for balance: Cut the meats into short, thin strips so they distribute throughout the salad instead of clumping.
- Serve right away: Once you’ve tossed the salad, get it to the table. Letting it sit too long will continue to saturate the bread and wilt the greens.
Storage
This salad is best served as soon at you assemble. If you want to prep ahead, keep the components separate and refrigerate. You can toss the bread with dressing up to 2 hours in advance, but wait to combine it with the greens and olive salad until just before serving. Once fully dressed, the bread will continue to soften, so leftovers are best eaten the same day.
More New Orleans Inspired Recipes
Muffaletta Salad
Ingredients
For the dressing:
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 medium shallot minced
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
For the salad
- 6 ounces ciabatta bread or focaccia cut into bite sized pieces (recipe note #1)
- 5 ounces mixed baby greens
- 2 ounces Swiss cheese thinly sliced or shaved
- 2 ounces provolone cheese thinly sliced or shaved
- 2 ounces mortadella sliced into thin, short strips
- 3 ounces Genoa salami sliced into thin, short strips
- 2 ounces capicola or good-quality ham sliced into thin, short strips
- 2/3 cup muffuletta olive salad (store-bought or homemade – see my copycat Central Grocery Muffuletta Olive Salad)
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds optional for garnish
- chopped fresh oregano leaves optional for garnish
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the vinegar, mustard and oregano. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, while whisking until emulsified. Stir in the shallot and season to taste with pepper (I skip the salt here since the meats, cheeses, and olive salad bring plenty of their own).
- Add the bread to a large salad bowl and drizzle lightly with dressing; toss gently just to coat. Let stand for 2 to 5 minutes so the bread can absorb some of the dressing without going soft.
- Add the greens, meats, and cheeses. Drizzle with a bit more dressing and gently toss to combine. Add the olive salad and a final drizzle of dressing, if needed, and toss once more.
- Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and fresh oregano, if using, and serve right away.
Notes
- Bread: Muffuletta sandwiches are traditionally made with a round, sesame-topped Italian loaf that’s soft and tender inside. For the salad, I use ciabatta or focaccia; they hold their texture better than soft sandwich bread, which can fall apart once dressed.
- Olive salad: If your olive mix is especially oily, give it a quick drain before measuring. A rough chop helps if the pieces are large.
- Homemade option: I use my homemade olive salad when I have it on hand; it’s my take on the Central Grocery original and works perfectly here.
- Cheese and meats: Swiss, provolone, mortadella, salami, and capicola keep it true to a classic muffuletta while scaling back the richness.
- Dressing: This version is intentionally mild — enough to bring the salad together without competing with the olive salad. Yield is about 1/2 cup.
- Meats: You’ll want about 8 ounces total. I usually go with a mix of mortadella, salami, and capicola, but good-quality ham works too. Skip one if you need to, just aim for a mix of savory and salty.
- Sesame seeds: Toasted sesame seeds echo the sesame-topped loaf in the original sandwich and add a subtle crunch.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I love the sandwich and make it often, turning the ingredients into a salad was brilliant. Only addition i made was, being Italian, I had to add a sprinkle of parmigiana cheese at the end before serving.
Thanks Peter! The parmesan addition sounds perfect – of course you need a little parm! So glad you’re enjoying the salad version.
What a beautiful sounding salad. I love that there are just a few ingredients, but you have such a richly complex dressing! I always forget about panzanella. So delicious!
Thank you, Helen! You nailed it…it’s all about the dressing in this. I was thinking it would be a good base for bruschetta too – bruschetta muffuletta kind of has a nice ring to it. 🙂
Oh man, this is so genius! What a GREAT idea! I love everything in a typical muffuletta sandwich, and this bread salad version is freakin amazing! What a talented, fabulous friend I have! 😉 <3
You’re so sweet to me, Beeta. <3 This salad isn't exactly light fare - it's still pretty rich, but far less so than the traditional sandwich yet it really really really tastes like a genuine muffuletta.
SO genius!
I love New Orleans…so much that I did an entire post dedicated to it… The funny thing is I didn’t get to eat the mufelletta either time I was there 🙁 The first time I was preggo so no deli for me and the second time we just never made it to Central Grocery 🙁 So no mufeletta for me….but this salad Marissa…it’s everything!!!
Thank you, Mila! Central Grocery! That’s exactly the spot we ducked into on that rainy day…
I have yet to experience New Orleans, but it’s been on my bucket list for years and now even more so. Food is such a great way to relive our travel, isn’t it? These salads look killer – so completely packed with flavor!
Thank you, Faith. 🙂 We’ve only been there once and it was 5 days before Hurricane Katrina hit – so crazy. It really is an amazing place and we definitely want to go back.
I must be going crazy because I swear I commented on this! Maybe I just saw it on your social media and drooled so hard it made me forget to actually come here and comment? 😉 I’m glad you guys had a good time in New Orleans and got your eat on! SO much good food in that city! Hard to beat a traditional muffuletta sammie, but you have most definitely done just that with this panzanella!! This is so clever and it looks beyond delicious, Marissa! Totally need this in my life! Pinned! Cheers, friend! <3
haha, you always make me smile, Cheyanne. 🙂
I was this close to New Orleans when I went to Avery Island and didn’t make it! Dave has been there… one day! I would love to have beignets from Café Du Monde and coffee with chicory. I did get to try Po’ Boys and seafood jambalaya though!
As for this post, I love the name, but the salad has me hungry! Cheers!
Oh yes! How could I forget the Po’ Boys!? What’s funny about the beignets is that I REALLY loved them and, as a rule, I don’t really like donuts. #weirdo But there’s something about them…
This deconstructed muffuletta sandwich is genius! I LOVE it! And so perfect for summer when I’m generally craving something on the lighter side. I was only in New Orleans once, for Mardi Gras during my freshman year of college. Yeah… let’s just leave it at that 😉 I would love to go back and actually do some real exploring – and of course visit the home of the muffuletta!
Stories to tell next time I get to see you! 🙂 We did some exploring, but I’d love to do more. It was August and New Orleans, so…holy hot and humid! So we mostly ate…next time I want to spend more time walking around and seeing all of the cool old neighborhoods.
Thank you for bringing back memories of our trip to NOLA. What an extraordinary time that was and this is a good way to remember the flavours of that extraordinary city!
I would love to tag along with you in New Orleans, Lorraine! You are so good at scouting out the best places in your travels.
Hi Marissa! I’ve never been to New Orleans, but I have made a muffuletta sandwich at home! I love cajun/creole cooking! Jambalaya, barbecued shrimp, crawfish, red beans and rice…. In Nashville there is a hole in the wall restaurant, Bro’s Cajun and we went there with Gary’s brother last year. True, authentic cajun low country cooking and plenty of it! Napkins are rolls of paper towels on the table. I think that it is a must go to next year!!
That sounds like so much fun, Dorothy! I agree – LOVE cajun/creole cooking. In fact, I have a wonderful jambalaya slow cooker recipe that we’ve made about 25 times and it’s never made it to the blog! Soon… 🙂