This delicious prosciutto salad is a quick and easy, recipe! This salad features arugula, cherry tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, toasted pine nuts and crispy sourdough croutons. We serve this yummy salad with our homemade fig and balsamic vinaigrette.
Prosciutto salad has savory, sweet and salty flavors in a tangy vinaigrette! It's simply delicious!
For a big Italian meal, you may also like to serve our Cherry Tomato Caprese or our Tuscan Kale Salad with Parmesan Tahini Dressing.
Ingredients
This simple recipe is bursting with fresh Italian flavors! Here's what you need to make this prosciutto and arugula salad:
Salad Ingredients & Suggested Substitutions
These simple ingredients are one of our favorite combinations of flavors. However, feel free to customize this salad to your own tastes. We've included some of our favorite substitutions below:
- Fresh Arugula - We love to make this prosciutto salad recipe with spicy arugula. However, feel free to use any salad greens you like! This salad also tastes great with Spring mix or baby spinach.
- Prosciutto di Parma - For the star of this recipe use a high quality, thinly sliced, salty prosciutto! Prosciutto from Parma, Italy is king - but Iberian ham and domestic prosciutto can be great, too!
- If you love prosciutto as much as we do, be sure to check out our Grilled Peach & Burrata Bruschetta with Prosciutto, too!
- Cherry Tomatoes - For color and acidity! Diced heirlooms are a nice substitute in the late Summer.
- Parmesan Cheese - Parm, tomatoes and prosciutto are a match made in heaven! Sometimes we will substitute blue cheese crumbles, creamy goat cheese, burrata or pearls of fresh mozzarella cheese, instead.
- Pine Nuts - We always like to add nuts to our salad for a little salty crunch! Toasted almonds, pistachios or walnuts are other great options.
- Sourdough & Olive Oil Croutons - This salad is SO GOOD with these homemade croutons. We bake these croutons with lots of olive oil for a rich flavor and golden crispy color. You can always use store-bought croutons or omit them for a gluten free salad.
- Basil - A few fresh basil leaves bring a yummy herbaceous note to this simple salad!
- Fig & Balsamic Vinaigrette - This homemade balsamic dressing uses fig preserves (for a little sweetness) and an easy emulsion process (for the creamiest texture!) You can use any of your favorite dressings - but this one is PERFECT for prosciutto salad.
Chef's Note: Make This Salad Your Own with Optional Add-Ins
There are plenty of other ingredients that would compliment the balance of savory prosciutto, salty cheese and peppery arugula. We recommend using fresh ingredients in the peak of ripeness. Try adding in-season peaches, grilled corn, fresh figs, shaved red onion or marinated artichoke hearts.
Other proteins like grilled chicken or white beans can be added to make this salad into a light, healthy meal. Perfect for avoiding the oven on hot Summer nights!
Fig & Balsamic Vinaigrette
This delicious salad dressing is made with balsamic vinegar, fig preserves, Dijon mustard, garlic, a pinch of salt and cracked black pepper. The dressing ingredients are slowly blended with olive oil to create a rich, emulsified dressing that doesn't separate.
This dressing recipe makes a thick and creamy balsamic vinaigrette that has a great balance of sweet, savory and tangy flavors. It's great on most green salads but compliments this prosciutto salad especially well.
The recipe is included below but you can check out the full Fig and Balsamic Vinaigrette blog post for more details and serving suggestions!
This dressing can be made ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. Allow the dressing to come to room temperature before serving.
How To Make This Recipe
This easy recipe come together in just a few minutes. It's full of delicious flavors and a great salad for easy entertaining.
1. First, make the croutons. Cut or tear your sourdough bread into bite-size pieces. In a medium bowl, toss the bread in the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Then, arrange the croutons in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toast the bread in a hot oven for about ten minutes until golden brown and crispy. Set aside to cool while you assemble the salad.
2. In a large serving bowl, combine the arugula, cherry tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, toasted pine nuts and crispy croutons. (Personally, I like to reserve a bit of each ingredient to add on top of the greens and create a pretty presentation.) Season with a bit of salt and pepper.
3. When ready to serve, add a little bit of the fig and balsamic vinaigrette and toss to combine. We like to dress the salad lightly, to avoid wilting. You can always serve the salad with additional dressing that everyone can add to suit their own tastes.
4. Finally, arrange the slices of prosciutto over the salad. You can tear the prosciutto into smaller pieces, or leave them whole. Serve immediately with extra dressing, as desired.
What To Serve with Prosciutto Salad
This arugula and prosciutto salad is the perfect appetizer or side salad for Summery meals and lots of Italian dishes! Here are some other easy recipes that would pair well with this salad:
If you make this prosciutto salad recipe, please leave a star rating below!
Recipe
Arugula and Prosciutto Salad
Special Equipment
- 1 Immersion Blender Optional but recommended for vinaigrette
Ingredients
Arugula and Prosciutto Salad
- ½ mini boule sourdough bread (About 4 slices) torn or cut into cubes
- ¼ Cup olive oil
- fine kosher salt* to taste
- Freshly-ground black pepper to taste
- 5 ounces arugula
- 1 Cup cherry tomatoes halved
- ⅓ Cup pine nuts toasted
- 2 ounces Parmesan cheese shaved
- 1 handful basil torn
- 8 slices prosciutto About 4 ounces / 115 grams
- 1 recipe Fig and Balsamic Vinaigrette or your favorite salad dressing, to taste
Fig and Balsamic Vinaigrette
- ½ Cup balsamic vinegar preferably of Modena
- 2 ½ Tablespoons fig preserves
- 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 clove garlic finely minced if hand-whisking
- 1 teaspoon fine kosher salt*
- ½ teaspoon Freshly-ground black pepper
- ⅔ Cup olive oil or grape seed oil
Instructions
Arugula and Prosciutto Salad
- Sourdough Croutons: Arrange a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 450° Fahrenheit (230° celsius). In a medium bowl, toss sourdough bread in olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Set aside to cool.
- In a large serving bowl, combine arugula, cherry tomatoes, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, basil and cooled sourdough croutons. Add a small amount of Fig and Balsamic Vinaigrette (or your favorite salad dressing) and toss to combine.
- Top salad with prosciutto slices. (You can leave them whole, or tear into bite-size pieces.) Season with additional black pepper, as desired. Serve salad immediately with extra Fig and Balsamic Vinaigrette. Enjoy!
Fig and Balsamic Vinaigrette
- In a jar (or bowl) add balsamic vinegar, fig preserves, Dijon mustard, garlic, salt and black pepper. Combine with an immersion blender (or whisk).
- Add a few drops of olive oil while blending (or whisking). Continue to slowly stream oil into the mixture while constantly blending (or whisking vigorously). Continue until all oil is incorporated and the dressing is thick and emulsified. Adjust seasonings to taste.Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
*Unless otherwise noted, foodworthfeed recipes are developed using Diamond Crystal brand kosher salt. If using iodized or table salt, reduce quantities by about half.
Coolsuze
This dressing is genius! I fried the prosciutto and skipped the croutons. Amazing balance of flavors.
foodworthfeed
Yay! We are so glad you liked this recipe! The dressing is one of our favorites! Thank you for leaving us a comment and rating! 🙂
Gina
This was a great compliment to my main meal….love love the fig balsamic dressing. I used EVOO brushed on Whole wheat pita toasted, in place of the sour dough croutons. Next time might add some of your add on suggestions and make this a main meal lunch!
foodworthfeed
Thanks Gina! Your comment made my day. I’m glad you like this salad, your toasted pita variation sounds delicious! I hope you find other recipes you’ll like too. 🙂 Have a great day.