La Scala Chicken Chopped Salad: Easy Dupe Recipe

Because this salad is ICONIC here in Los Angeles and it’s super easy to make…

I first tried this salad from La Scala, a legendary Italian restaurant in Beverly Hills, a few years ago…but only after hearing how delicious it is about 2,000 times.

And, I gotta say, for a salad with such simple ingredients, it really IS the best.

A little background:

The original La Scala Chopped Salad (which is apparently trademarked!) consists of lettuce, salami, mozzarella cheese, garbanzo beans and their Leon dressing.

If you see “La Scala Grilled Chicken Salad” on the menu, don’t order this. Tricks! It’s not the same.

You want the OG CHOPPED salad and they, surprisingly, welcome substitutions and additions (for an extra fee, of course, lol). I sub grilled chicken for the salami, and always pay extra for tomatoes and cucumber since they are considered an “add on,” but it’s totally worth the extra few bucks.

Here’s how to make one of the best salads in LA…

La Scala Chicken Chopped Salad

Ingredients:

SALAD

Romaine and iceberg lettuce, finely chopped
fresh mozzarella, chopped (but if you’re looking to cut calories from this recipe, you can use part-skim/lite shredded mozzarella, too! I love the one from Trader Joe’s)
Garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
Tomatoes, chopped
Cucumber, chopped
Grilled chicken (I like to use a grill pan since I don’t have an outdoor grill)

DRESSING

*note: this isn’t the exact dressing recipe that they use but it’s pretty close, IMO

1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil (I love Primal Kitchen’s!)
1/2 TBSP white wine vinegar
1 clove of garlic, pressed
1 TSP dry mustard or a dab of Dijon mustard
1/2 TSP salt
1/2 TSP fresh ground pepper
A pinch of grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

Cook chicken breast (coated with salt and pepper) on grill pan or grill until cooked through
While chicken is cooking, chop up the lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and fresh mozzarella – you want small pieces (hence, “chopped” salad).
Mix all chopped ingredients over lettuce and add in the garbanzo beans
Whisk all dressing ingredients together and pour over salad/mix in.
Enjoy!