If you want to know what I’ve eaten for 4 of my last 5 meals, it’s THIS SUMMER ESSENTIAL. We are kind of having a moment here. comment icon 302 more comments Let’s have a moment together, shall we?
In This Post: Everything You Need For Easy Pasta Salad
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In my mind, a nice classic pasta salad serves one of two scenarios:
Attending a picnic, potluck, or other end-of-summer-everyone-bring-something type party when you need to bring a side dish; Addressing the leftover meat, cheese, and vegetables in my fridge and making them into a meal that I pretty much want to eat 24/7.
This delicious little number will do both for ya.
Pasta Salad Ingredients
Do you have two and a half seconds? Cool. You will need these ingredients:
Your favorite pasta noodle shape Cherry tomatoes (or some other non-threatening veg) Mozz cheese balls Salami (pick a good spicy one) Black olives or kalamata lives Pepperoncini (optional…sort of) Red onion and parsley
For the pasta, pick a pasta shape with good solid texture and shape to absorb all the sauce. I like rotini (or fusilli), penne, or farfalle.
About Pasta Salad Dressing
This is important. We need a tangy Italian dressing (no mayo here!). Here are our ingredients.
olive oil white vinegar salt and pepp dried oregano and basil little bit of sugar fresh herbs (like parsley, more basil, or chives)
Homemade, in a blender or food processor, so it takes approximately 60 seconds. You made that dressing, you pasta salad boss, you. ♡
How To Make Pasta Salad (4 Steps!)
Okay, it’s summer, so you know we’re not spending all day in the kitchen. We’re bringing this beauty to share with friends, family, neighbors, post office workers, daycare providers, pretty much whoever can get their hands on a fork stat. Let’s make pasta salad!
Storing Pasta Salad and Making Ahead Of Time
The beauty of pasta salad is that the flavors get even better the longer it all sits and lingers together!
For storing: After I make this pasta salad, whether making it ahead or storing leftovers, I just pop it in the fridge and it will keep for 2-3 days. For making ahead: I love to make pasta salad 12-24 hours ahead of time. This gives it time to absorb the dressing but not get mushy!
May I offer one last tidbit of advice? You do not need to wait to be invited to a picnic or potluck to get some pasta salad magic in your life. This is a weeknight’s dream meal. Stop at the store on the way home and pick up some good salami and cheese, some olives, and a few fresh herbs. Cook up some pasta, toss it all together, and voila. Cold pasta salad + a glass of rose for dinner, and colder pasta salad as leftovers for lunch all week. I will be over in a flash.
Three More Italian Summer Salads
Try Our Other Pasta Salad Recipes
Lemon Herb Pasta Salad with Marinated Chickpeas (fresh, bright, easy!) Zippy Orzo Summer Salad (made easy with rotisserie chicken) Lemongrass Vermicelli Salad (that dressing though) Spicy Peanut Soba Noodle Salad (lots o’ fresh veggies and noodles – just how we like it)
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our collection of easy pasta recipes. Check it out! 4.5 from 114 reviews Please note that the amount written is for COARSE sea salt. If you are using fine table salt, start with 2 teaspoons and add more to taste. The dressing itself will be very salty. Like, too salty for a normal salad. But in this recipe, that’s what we want! That dressing is going to get tossed with an entire pound of plain pasta, as well as a whole lot of fresh unseasoned vegetables, and it will taste delicious once it’s all tossed up. If you don’t want as salty a dressing, feel free to reduce it to 1 tablespoon. You can also save time on onion prep with this guide on how to cut an onion.
