In keeping with Real Food Traveler’s whole goal of combining travel with the authentic food and drink of the destination, we’ve become fans of a certain salad. When we travel, we like to ask “What’s the one thing we absolutely have to eat or drink while we’re here?” In Scottsdale, Arizona, the answer is “The Original Chopped Salad!” Yes, a salad. It’s so popular, it has its own social media presence with countless images taken of the dish that’s mixed tableside (move over, Caesar!). After having the Original Chopped Salad at Beginner’s Luck, a charmer of a restaurant in Old Town Scottsdale, the restaurant was kind enough to provide us with the real deal recipe to share with our readers. 

Save this recipe for Scottsdale’s Original Chopped Salad to Pinterest so you can make it whenever you want. Graphic by RealFoodTraveler.com.

Hungry for more? Here’s the famous Swan House Frozen Fruit Salad.

About Beginner’s Luck: The James Beard Foundation Awards Semi-Finalists for 2025 are open all-day and boast an “ingredient-driven” menu. They are part of the In Good Spirits restaurant group whose shared goal is to “make people happy.” We like that! The other restaurants in the group include Citizen Public House (where we had our first Chopped Salad), The Gladly and Minnow.

Original Chopped Salad

Recipe courtesy of Co-founder and Chef Bernie Kantak and Beginner’s Luck in Scottsdale, Arizona

Makes 1 salad serving (but is generous enough for leftovers)

Ingredients for: The Salad Base, aka “Those Pretty Rows of Flavor”
1/4 cup smoked salmon
1/2 cup cooked Israeli couscous
1/2 cup chopped arugula
1/2 cup freeze dried corn (Editor’s note: We’ve found it in health food stores and online on Amazon.)
1/2 cup trail mix (1-ounce black currants, 1-ounce pepitas, 1/2-ounce aged Asiago cheese ground)
1/4 cup Roma tomatoes diced and mixed with:
– 1 TBS balsamic vinegar
– 2 TBS olive oil
Pinch salt & pepper

Salad directions: 
In a wide bowl, large enough to mix in, lay each of the ingredients out, in rows. Top with dressing before mixing (recipe below).

Hungry for more? Blackened Fish Taco recipe.

Ingredients for: Buttermilk Herb Dressing, aka “The Magic on Top”
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup buttermilk (Editor’s note: We keep the dried powder on hand which you just mix with water – so handy. Get it on Amazon here.)
1 TBS Pecorino Romano
Juice of 1 lemon
Handful of basil leaves
1 tsp minced garlic

Dressing directions:
Combine thoroughly in a blender.
You will have extra so refrigerate the remaining portion and use again for something yummy!

To learn more about Scottsdale, Arizona, visit their helpful Experience Scottsdale website. And to learn more about Beginner’s Luck restaurant, visit their website.

-By Courtney Drake-McDonough, Publisher & Managing Editor, Real Food Traveler 

Hungry for more? Make the classic Nicoise Salad.