Trisha Yearwood’s Pizza Salad Is ‘the Best Salad You’ve Ever Had in Your Life,’ According to the Food Network Star

Pizza and salad go together like peanut butter and jelly or milk and cookies. Trisha Yearwood’s pizza salad is a twist on the classic combination. Ditch the typical pizza recipe and change things up with the Grammy winner’s recipe.

The Food Network star makes croutons with storebought pizza dough

Featured on the “Bowled Over for Pizza” episode of Food Network’s Trisha’s Southern Kitchen, Yearwood’s pizza salad starts with croutons. But not just any croutons. The cooking show host makes them extra special by creating croutons out of pizza dough. What’s more, she fills them with pesto. 

Here’s how Yearwood does it. She rolls out storebought pizza dough until it’s in the shape of a 12-inch square. Then she uses a pizza cutter to make 16 smaller squares. 

Inside each one she puts a dollop of pesto and Parmesan cheese. Once each square is filled she grabs the corners of the dough and twists them to form a ball. 

Next, she transfers them to a baking sheet and brushes each ball of dough with olive oil. Then they go in the oven for just under 20 minutes, or until they’re golden brown.

Thinking these pesto-stuffed croutons seem a little bit like garlic knots? Yearwood thinks so too. “It’s kind of like a garlic knot,” she said while preparing the croutons on Trisha’s Southern Kitchen. “You could actually just, you know, dip these in garlic and butter and call it a day.” 

Yearwood serves pizza salad with a simple dressing 

With all the stuff in the salad — Yearwood puts in eight additions not including lettuce — the dressing is simple. Yearwood’s pizza salad is served with a basic red wine vinegar dressing. 

She whisks together dried oregano, salt, pepper, garlic, olive oil, and red wine vinegar until smooth. That’s all there is to it. The Trisha’s Table author combines everything and sets it aside while assembling the rest of the salad. 

Make the dressing at the same time as the salad and croutons or prepare it in advance. Just remember the entire dish takes an hour to make from start to finish. 

How to make Trisha Yearwood’s Pizza Salad with Pesto Stuffed Croutons

Now for how to make Yearwood’s pizza salad. When the croutons come out of the oven they’re left to cool. Meanwhile, it’s time to prepare all of the ingredients for the salad. 

As previously mentioned, Yearwood’s pizza salad has a lot going on so it might be a good chunk of time will be spent chopping and slicing. Once that’s done it’s all about tossing everything together in a large bowl. 

Yearwood starts with chopped romaine lettuce. Then she adds everything that’s been sliced or chopped including cucumbers, red onion, salami, jarred roasted red peppers, provolone cheese, pepperoncini, and cherry tomatoes. Also in there goes some pitted Italian olives. 

After a quick toss, Yearwood’s pizza salad comes together with the addition of the pesto-stuffed croutons and a drizzle of vinaigrette.