These Make-Ahead Italian Collard Green Wraps are a healthier spin on a classic Italian sub sandwich. They’re ideal for meal prepping as a quick, on-the-go lunch, or a healthy snack.
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If you love the flavors of a classic Italian sub…but hate feeling sluggish after having one for lunch and nearly falling asleep at your desk, this recipe is for you! We took the tasty cold cut trifecta of salami, capicola, and prosciutto, added provolone cheese and a quick Italian vinaigrette — then wrapped them in nutritious collard greens that are way healthier than a standard hoagie.
These addictive sammies take just 5 minutes to whip up, but give you lunch for most of the work week.
Looking for more easy lunch ideas? Try some of our other healthy and tasty lunch wrap ideas, like Mediterranean Hummus Wraps, Keto Lunch Wraps with Salami and Italian Dressing, or Smoked Salmon Lunch Wraps.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Just 5 minutes of meal prep = several days of lunches.
- Collard green wraps are a healthier alternative to the usual white hoagie
- Easy to customize — and a great way to use up whatever meats, cheese, and veggies are in your fridge!
Italian Wrap Recipe Ingredients
The line-up of classic Italian cold cuts make an appearance here, as do a few other easy-to-find ingredients. Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and swaps) below.
- Collard Green Leaves – you’ll need 4 large collard green leaves for these wraps. You’ll likely get 8-10 leaves in a bunch from the grocery store, so just pick the 4 largest ones for this recipe and then use the rest for this Corned Beef Breakfast Hash (this means you’ll have breakfast + lunch ready for the week!).
- Salami, Capicola, and Prosciutto – the Italian cold cut gang is all here! You’ll need 16 slices of salami, 8 slices of capicola, and 4 slices of prosciutto. If you can’t find one of these, don’t worry – just use what you can find.
- Provolone Cheese – 8 slices of cheese will do here. Feel free to omit this if you’re dairy-free.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil – ¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil makes up the bulk of our Italian vinaigrette, and…
- Red Wine Vinegar – …2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, and…
- Italian Seasoning – …1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning finish it off
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Recipe Variations and Modifications
- A collard green is a blank slate! – Though the list above is all that you need to make a seriously DELICIOUS lunch wrap, feel free to add in anything that you would typically love in an Italian sub sandwich. Bell peppers (roasted red peppers OR fresh and crunchy), thinly sliced red onions, pepperoncini peppers, alfalfa sprouts, blanched asparagus spears, or any raw veggie that you love would all be great additions here. If you want to swap the Italian dressing out, feel free to add a spread of hummus instead.
How to Make Collard Green Wraps
The prep that these collard green wraps require is minimal, and they result in several days worth of lunch! Here’s how you’ll put these wraps together.
Step 1: Make the Italian Vinaigrette. In a small bowl, whisk together the extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, and Italian seasoning to make the vinaigrette.
Step 2: Assemble. Lay your prepared (stem-shaved) collard greens on a flat surface (think: large plate, cutting board, or directly on a clean counter), then layer on to each wrap 4 pieces of salami, 2 pieces of capicola, 1 piece of prosciutto, and 2 slices of provolone cheese, then spoon your desired amount of vinaigrette onto each wrap.
Step 3: Roll + Cut. Roll the wrap so that the stem spans the length of the whole roll, then cut the wrap into thirds.
Recipe Tip
De-stem – before rolling up your wrap, to make collard leaf for the wrap, we highly recommend removing some of the stem.
To do this, lay the leaf on a cutting board so that the rounded part of the stem faces up. Starting at the top of the leaf (moving toward the bottom of the leaf), run a paring or chef’s knife parallel to the cutting board through the stem, cutting it almost in half lengthwise. This will help make the stem as thin as the actual leaf itself, making it MUCH more appetizing and easier to eat.
How to Serve
Slice and serve these wraps right away, or leave them whole and save them for lunch later in your week.
How to Store
Store these sandwiches tightly wrapped in plastic wrap or aluminum foil for up to 4 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
While you could use other kinds of lettuce or Swiss chard as a healthier alternative to white bread, we prefer collard greens. Not only are they bigger and sturdier than other greens, they’re also more flexible — which makes them easier to work with than other options.
You can blanch collard greens before using them as sandwich wraps by giving them about 30 seconds in boiling water, then letting them cool. While this does give them a more vibrant green color, we don’t think it’s necessary, so we use them raw to save this extra step.
More Favorite Healthy Lunch Recipes
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Make-Ahead Italian Collard Wraps
Ingredients
- 4 large collard green leaves, rinsed, stems shaved
- 16 slices salami
- 8 slices capicola
- 4 slices prosciutto
- 8 slices provolone cheese, omit for Whole 30
For the Italian Vinaigrette:
- 4 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the Italian Vinaigrette.
- Lay collard greens on a flat surface, then layer on to each wrap 4 pieces salami, 2 pieces capicola, 1 piece prosciutto, and 2 slices provolone cheese, then spoon desired amount of vinaigrette onto each wrap.
- Roll the wrap so that the stem spans the length of the whole roll, then cut into thirds.
- Chill until ready to serve and then enjoy!
Nutrition
I made these and they were delicious! I really liked the contrast of the collard greens with the other ingredients, and it wasn’t tough once I shaved the stem. I rolled it the wrong way, so next time I’ll try the other direction… So different than anything else I eat, thank you!
We’re so glad you enjoyed them, Marika! Thank you for sharing this with us!
This is so delicious! So easy to prepare and make ahead!
So glad you love these, Teresa!
Are the collard green leaves really tough? Wondering how they taste, uncooked, with the meat/cheese.
They’re not at all! The meat and cheese totally overpower the taste of the collard greens!
So delicious! Super easy and sturdy. Yum! These will be a regular in my summer rotation.
Sorry If this is elsewhere in your site, but what olive oil do you like? Bonus if it’s easy to find at Costco, TJs, etc and not super expensive!
You do have to order it online, but we love Kasandrino’s! Cassy buys the 3 liter bottle to save money an pours it into an individual oil pourer for every day use. It is extremely high quality and well-sourced!