Italian Hoagie Salad
Want that delicious flavor combo of an Italian Hoagie, but don’t want a belly full of hoagie? This vegan Italian Hoagie Salad is for you! The light, fresh flavor of romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, carrots and cabbage combined with the savory, mouthwatering notes of vegan cheese and plant-based deli slices is so incredibly satisfying. And no, there’s no need to totally ditch the bread. Instead you cube, season, and toast it. Making the perfect vehicle to sop up that delicious, Italian dressing.
This salad is super simple to make and is an excellent recipe for beginners. It is a wonderful option for a single meal, but is also perfect for meal prep or a large gathering. And to top it all off, you can prepare this salad in about 15 minutes!
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ABOUT THE FLAVOR
Whether you call them Italian Hoagie, Sub, hero, or grinder, this classic gem of a food has maintained its popularity for a reason…it’s absolutely delicious. This Italian Hoagie Salad has the essence and all of the ingredients of your classic Italian Sub, but the ratios of everything have changed…and it’s vegan. Basically, less bread, less meat and cheese, and a lot more veg! Turning this classic “splurge” meal into a meal you can really feel good about.
To really capture the same flavor profile, the trick is mostly in the dressing. The dressing is made up of only 5 ingredients! Vegan mayo, red wine vinegar, Italian seasoning, sugar, and a pinch of salt. That’s it! Don’t let its simplicity fool you, it’s absolutely delicious.
ABOUT THE VEGAN FETA CHEESE
Vegan cheese has come a long way since it originally hit store shelves. There are some truly amazing vegan options out there that are incredibly close in flavor and texture to the dairy cheeses they are trying to mimic. One of my favorite vegan cheeses that I have come across thus far is feta cheese. Follow Your Heart has an amazing version of crumbled vegan feta and Violife has a good version of sliceable feta. For this recipe in particular I went with Follow Your Heart Feta. It has a sharp flavor and an incredible texture. It crumbles very nicely as well.
ABOUT THE FIELD ROAST VEGAN DELI SLICES
For this recipe I used the Mushroom and Balsamic Vegan Deli Slices from Field Roast. This vegan cold cut alternative really is fantastic. It has a nice meaty flavor and texture to it and offers 17 grams of protein per serving! It also contains some calcium, iron, potassium, and vitamin D as well. The ingredients in these vegan deli slices are few and simple…aka you can easy pronounce them all.
You are welcome to go with any plant based meat alternative of course, but the flavor profile of this one really did the trick for this recipe. Or if you aren’t into vegan meat alternatives, swap this out for some canned chickpeas!
ABOUT THE CUCUMBERS
Persian Cucumbers, also known as mini seedless cucumbers are hands down always my cucumber of choice these days. Although I passed over them for years in the produce isle, once I tried them I never went back. Why? Because of their texture! Due to their smaller size, Persian cucumbers tend to have a much crisper bite than other cucumbers. Even when they are tossed in a dressing, these babies tend to keep their crunch for days.
Yes, you can substitute any cucumber for this recipe…but like I said above, Persian cucumbers are my fav.
A FEW THINGS TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT
First of all, when creating this recipe, you are taking an indulgent, calorie rich hoagie and transforming it into a fresh, nutrient dense, delicious meal loaded with low calorie, vitamin rich veggies. So that right there is DEFINITELY something to feel good about.
ROMAINE LETTUCE
I feel like the nutrient content of romaine lettuce is often overlooked and underrated. But romaine is actually packed with health benefits! Surprisingly, it contains Omega-3 fatty acids, which is an antioxidant that helps fight inflammation and keeps your heart healthy.
Romaine lettuce is also a great source of calcium, vitamin C, and iron…just to name a few of the MANY nutrients it has to offer.
It’s also very, very low in calories. So it allows you to create a large plate of food without breaking the calorie bank.
TOMATOES
Like romaine, tomatoes are also full of nutrients and health benefits. Most notable, tomatoes are full of an antioxidant called lycopene. Lycopene makes the tomatoes red, but also protects the tomatoes from sun damage. When we consume tomatoes, they help protect OUR cells from sun damage too! Tomatoes are also high in vitamins C, E, B and potassium.
Italian Hoagie Salad
Ingredients
FOR BREAD
- 1/2 baguette loaf, cut into cubes Can use more or less to preference
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- salt to taste
FOR SALAD
- 1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced
- 2 heads of Romain Lettuce, cut to bite size
- 1 cup red cabbage, cut into small slices Can substitute green cabbage
- 2 Persian cucumbers, cut into small slices Can substitute any cucumber
- 1/4 cup Castelvetrano olives, sliced Can substitute any olive
- 6 slices of vegan deli meat slices, cut into bite size pieces I used Field Roast's Mushroom and Balsamic Plant-based deli slices
- 1 cup carrot, shredded
- 1 large tomato, diced
- 1/4 cup fresh parley, chopped
- 1/2 cup vegan feta cheese, crumbled I used Follow Your Heart vegan feta cheese crumbles
- 1/4 cup pepperoncini peppers slices Can buy jarred and sliced. Can omit if you don't like spice
FOR SALAD DRESSING
- 2 tbsp vegan mayo I used Follow Your Heart brand
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
- 1/8 tsp salt more or less to taste
Instructions
TOAST THE BREAD
- Turn on oven to High Broil
- Cut 1/2 a loaf of fresh baguette into bite-size cubes
- Coat baguette in olive oil and a pinch of salt. Toss until evenly coated
- Place baguette on baking sheet and broil in oven for about 5 minutes
- **Keep an eye on the baguette! Time may vary depending on oven and it can burn quickly. While baguette is broiling you can move ahead to prepare the salad
- When bread is nicely toasted, remove from oven and set aside
PREPARE THE INGREDIENTS FOR THE SALAD
- Prepare all ingredients for the salad
- Slice red onion into thin slices. Place in bowl of ice cold water to soak. Set aside.
- **Let red onion soak for at least 5 minutes, but the longer the better. Drain onion before adding to salad
- Cut romaine lettuce into bite size pieces. Set aside
- Slice red cabbage into small slices. Set aside
- Slice cucumbers into thin slices. Set aside
- Slice olives into thin slices. Set aside
- Cut vegan deli slices into small, bite size pieces. Set aside
- Shred carrots. Set aside
- Dice tomato into small pieces. Set aside
- Chop fresh parsley. Set aside
- Measure out vegan feta cheese and pepperoncini peppers and set aside
MAKE THE DRESSING
- Combine all ingredients listed under dressing
- Mix until evenly combined. Set aside
PUT IT ALL TOGETHER
- In a large bowl combine all ingredients
- Mix until evenly combined
- Add salt and pepper to taste
- Serve and enjoy!!
- **If you are using this recipe for meal prep, combine all ingredients except dressing and bread. Add dressing and bread when you are actually serving the salad. This will prevent the salad and bread from becoming soggy as it is stored
