How To Make Homemade Pasta Salad

Make The Homemade Italian Dressing

What sauce to put in pasta salad? This is a question that gets asked a lot about pasta salad recipes, and of course my answer is a Homemade Dressing! In a pinch I have tried bottled dressings and always regret it.

The Homemade White Balsamic Italian Dressing in this pasta salad recipe literally takes 3 minutes to toss together and shake up! TOTALLY worth it! No processed ingredients or additives here!

A note a on white balsamic vinegar.

I love white balsamic vinegar for both the taste and the color! It doesn’t turn the pasta salad an off-putting brown color like regular balsamic vinegar. However, if you don’t keep the white variety on hand, and don’t care if your pasta salad recipe turns out a little darker, then regular balsamic vinegar can totally be used with equally delicious results!

The Best Pasta Salad Recipe Tips

• Use a large pot for your noodles. You want to give them plenty of room to cook, separated, in the lightly salted water.
• Cook your noodles al dente. I repeat: do not overcook your pasta! Especially when the cooked pasta will spend extra time soaking in a dressing, you dont need to cook it too long.
• Rinse noodles in cold water before combining them with your pasta salad dressing.
• Use a high quality olive oil. When youre making such a simple dressing, the individual ingredients will shine!
• How to Store Pasta Salad If you are making it ahead, you can store in a covered bowl, in the refrigerator, for up to a week.
• Same goes for your pasta salad dressings! In fact, if it is just an oil and vinegar dressing then it will keep for up to two weeks!
• Refresh Pasta Salad If the pasta seems dry after marinating, add more pasta salad dressing and stir! You can also leave a little water when draining the pasta to keep it moist and use less dressing.
• Adding cheese? Grate it fresh. Youll never regret this extra step! Fresh grated Parmesan cheese or mozzarella cheese are the hallmarks of any great pasta dish in my eyes!

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How Do You Make Pasta Salad

Do you have two and a half seconds? Cool.

You will need:

Just some stuff.

Its very flexible. These are my favorite pasta salad mix-ins:

Good, spicy salami. Yummy cheeses. Tomatoes or some other friendly non-threatening vegetable. Greens of some sort even if its just fresh parsley. Olives and red onions and pepperoncini.

Also, we need pasta with good solid texture and shape to absorb all the sauce. I like rotini.

How Do You Fix Bland Pasta Salad

To ward off the bland pasta salad blues, try to season every step of the way. When youre boiling the pasta, be sure you salt the water generously. Now as you incorporate the dressing and extra ingredients, taste the dish frequently. Doing so gives you plenty of opportunities to adjust the seasoning.

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My Tips For Making Easy Italian Pasta Salad

• Be sure and salt the pasta water before adding the dry pasta
• Use an Italian dressing that you LOVE. I really like the Olive Garden Italian dressing so that is the one that I buy. There are so many options. Zesty Italian dressing, creamy Italian dressing, parmesan Italian dressing. Pick one you love or one that sounds yummy!
• It’s best to seed the cucumbers for this pasta salad. Peel the cucumber and then cut it in half vertically . Take a metal dinner spoon and scoop out the seeds and flesh. Then cut and dice the cucumber.
• Use grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes. Either one will work great.
• Eat this pasta salad right away or let it sit in the fridge for a few hours. It’s best not to make pasta salad the day before, because pasta salad tends to dry out as it sits in the fridge for a long time. When you are ready to serve, or are eating leftovers, give the salad a good stir and add a tablespoon or two of the dressing to moisten it all back up again.
• The recipe calls for 3/4 cup Italian dressing but feel free to use more or less depending on preference.

Two Types Of Dressing For Cold Pasta Salad Recipes

Pasta salad dressing typically is made with either an oil and vinegar dressing or with a creamier base like mayonnaise.

I tend to go with oil and vinegar because it is so easy to change up the flavor combinations with different oils and vinegar. It also stays fresh for longer, either in your fridge or at room temperature when serving. Bonus? It is also a lighter dressing with less calories.

If you prefer creamy Pasta Salad dressings though, you can always add mayo, sour cream or greek yogurt to the recipe, usually substituting it for the oil in the recipe.

If youre looking for more in-depth detail about the varieties of homemade pasta salad dressings, please head to this post where I discuss at length! It will really help you understand the basis for a scratch dressing and youll quickly be an expert.

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Expert Tips And Tricks For The Perfect Pasta Salad Every Time

• Season the pasta water well. The water should be salty to impart flavor on the pasta plus keep it from sticking together.
• Pasta shape matters! Making summer pasta salad with spaghetti just doesnt have the same feel. If you dont have rotini, choose another short pasta shape like macaroni, farfalle, or orecchiette.
• Dont overcook the pasta! Set a timer so you cook it to al dente. Then since its a cold dish, rinse it with cold water right away so that it stops cooking and doesnt get mushy.
• Make it colorful. If you cant find certain vegetables, replace them with other colorful options. Zucchini, yellow squash, and tomatoes can also work if you cant find any fresh bell peppers.

Recipe Combos We Love:

Try these healthy pasta salad recipes that follow our tips for creating a flavor-packed pasta salad. To 4 cups cooked pasta, add

Vegetables: 2 cups thinly sliced fennel bulb, 1 cup diced bell pepper and 1 cup quartered canned artichoke heartsProtein: 1 cup canned cannellini beans , rinsedFlavor Booster: 1/2 cup cubed salami, 5 tablespoons shredded Provolone and 3 tablespoons chopped pepperoncinis Dressing A or B: Use fresh marjoram.

Vegetables: 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes and 2 cups chopped broccoli Protein: 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsedFlavor Booster: 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheeseDressing A or B: Use fresh oregano.

Vegetables: 3 cups baby arugula and 1 cup diced zucchiniProtein: 2 5-ounce cans chunk light tuna, packed in water, drainedFlavor Booster: 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese and 1/4 cup chopped soft sun-dried tomatoesDressing A or B: Use fresh basil.

Vegetables: 2 cups sliced button mushrooms, 1 3/4 cups frozen peas and 1/4 cup finely chopped sweet onionProtein: 1 cup diced ham and 2 chopped hard-boiled eggsFlavor Booster: 1/2 cup diced Cheddar cheeseDressing A or B: Use fresh dill.

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How To Make Pasta Salad:

Make dressing: combine olive oil, red wine vinegar, parsley, onion, lemon juice, basil, oregano, salt, sugar, pepper.

Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain water and rinse pasta in cold water. Allow to cool, then pour half of the salad dressing and toss to combine.

Add remaining ingredients: mozzarella cheese pearls, salami, black olives, red onion, cherry tomatoes, fresh parsley, parmesan, pepperoncini , and additional dressing, to taste. Refrigerate for 1 hour or longer, before serving.

How To Make Pasta Salad From Scratch

Its easier than you might think to learn how to make Pasta Salad completely from scratch, even the dressing the best part about this recipe is that you can make it as healthy or as sinful as you wanteither way it is going to be a tasty concoction that will be your go-to recipe.

Isnt it funny how your tastes in food change as you get older? I know that mine definitely have. As a child I actually HATED Pasta Salad and avoided it at all cost, but as an adult I LOVE it!

So much so, that lately I have been making it at least twice a month. Id make it once a week, but thats a little over-kill and its kind of expensive to make

Pasta Salad from scratch really is easier than youd think to make! Its certainly better for you than buying pre-made, because you can control every ingredient and make it as healthy, or unhealthy, as you want.

Ive been fiddling around with ingredients and I finally decided on what is now my go to recipe for Pasta Salad. I have tried to simplify it so that, hopefully, others can make it from scratch too. Well, here it is broken down into steps to make it easier.

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Why Youll Love This Pasta Salad Recipe

• Prep is quick, chop the veggies while the pasta cooks and stir it all together.
• Use anything you have in the fridge, leftover meats or roasted veggies, rotisserie chicken anything goes!
• This simple pasta salad recipe goes from season to season using whatever is fresh and local.
• Dressing can be any bottled dressing or a homemade favorite.
• Make-ahead up to 4 hours and keeps well for lunches all week.

Customize Your Pasta Salad

Play around with our classic pasta salad formula by mixing and matching pasta shapes with dressings, mix-ins and flavor-boost ingredients. When choosing added ingredients, go for a variety of colors, flavors and textures. If you added bacon and tomatoes, consider using green or yellow bell peppers instead of red. Think about adding several flavor elements, too, such as sweet, sour, salty, bitter and savory.

Keep in mind that many pickled foods, some cheeses and meats can contribute salty flavors to your pasta salad. Its always a good idea to taste as you go to keep the salt content at the perfect level.

Pasta Salad Dressing Ideas

• Go store-bought: Ranch, creamy Caesar or Italian vinaigrette work great.
• Make a homemade vinaigrette by using 1 part red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, rice vinegar or lemon juice to 3 parts olive oil
• Create a creamy, savory dressing by mixing equal parts sour cream and mayonnaise
• This two-ingredient dressing is a cinch. Thin 2 cups of mayonnaise with 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• Use plain or fruit-flavored yogurt mixed with sour cream or mayo

Pasta Salad Mix-in Ideas

Easy Flavor Boosting Ingredients

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How To Make Creamy Pasta Salad

If you forget to toss the broccoli in the boiling water at the end of the pastas cooking time, you can also steam it in the microwave. Place the broccoli in a glass bowl along with a tablespoon of water. Microwave for 60-90 seconds, until the broccoli is bright green and barely softened.

A Simple Pasta Salad Formula You Can Memorize

Heres an easy way to make sure that your pasta salad feels robust rather than skimpy on the mix-ins: For every 8 ounces of dried pasta, plan on about 1 pound of mix-ins, with at least half of that being cheese, meat, or other savory mix-ins. Remember that the pasta will plump as it cooks, and you want pasta salad to have a generous combination of pasta and vegetables in each bite. Dress this amount of pasta and add-ins with about 3/4 cup of dressing.

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Steak And Potato Bowls

Meanwhile, shake up the dressing. Again, traditionally we use a jar of Kraft Zesty Italian for the dressing, but since its not gluten free I use my Best Ever Italian Vinaigrette instead.

Next whip up the spice blend which is what really makes this pasta salad pop! If you dont need to eat gluten free, use McCormick Salad Supreme Seasoning. If you DO need to eat gluten free, click here for a gluten free copycat seasoning recipe >

Las step is to add 6oz chopped pepperoni, 1 chopped cucumber thats been peeled then seeded, 3 Roma tomatoes that have been seeded and chopped, and a 2.25oz can sliced black olives that has been drained to a large bowl.

Add the cooled pasta, plus seasoning blend to taste plus 3/4 of the dressing then toss to combine. Refrigerate until cool then toss with the remaining dressing right before serving. As I mentioned, cooked gluten free pasta doesnt hold up well overnight, but a few hours in the refrigerator to meld the flavors is just fine.

I hope you LOVE this easy, zippy, zesty BEST Pasta Salad ever!! Enjoy!

Key Steps To Pasta Salad

• Were going to avoid adding raw red onions straight in this salad, mainly because their bite can steal the show in a bad way. A simple way to combat this is to mix up the dressing first and add the diced red onions to the dressing before you do anything else. The red onions will add flavor to the dressing, but they will also mellow out and become sort of like a quick-pickle while soaking into the vinaigrette.
• All add-ins should be roughly the same size. Cucumbers, tomatoes, and even mozzarella should be chopped in some way before making their way into the salad, because the goal is to make this salad as easy to eat as it is to make.
• Shock the pasta. Unlike potato salad, which loves to be dressed warm, pasta will soak up all the dressing and become dry and gummy if you toss it with the dressing while warm. But also you dont want to wait around while the pasta cools and potentially sticks to itself. The simple solution? After draining, dunk the strainer of pasta in an ice bath and get it cold fast!
• Mix and chill before serving. Pasta salad get better as it rests, so for the best pasta salad, all you have to do is mix and chill the salad for at least 30 minutes. Its why pasta salad is even better the next day.

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Zesty Italian Pasta Salad

Prep TimeTotal Time

Bright, bold, and flavorful Italian pasta salad is perfect for throwing together for large parties! Loaded with fresh veggies, tender pasta, and bright homemade Italian vinaigrette!

• 16 ounces dry tri-colored rotini pasta
• 1 can garbanzo beans, drained + rinsed
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 1 cup sliced black olives
• 1 cup diced green bell peppers
• ½ cup sliced red onions
• ½ cup Pepperoncini peppers, thinly sliced
• 8-ounces pearl mozzarella
• ¼ cup EACH: grated parmesan cheese AND chopped parsley

What To Put In Pasta Salad

Like I mentioned, this salad has bell peppers, tomatoes, black olives, basil, and Parmesan cheese, but feel free to mix things up. That is the beauty of a pasta salad, it is easy to mix things up.

Use what you have on hand. We are all about cleaning out the fridge in the summer and using what we have in our garden or what we pick up at the farmers market.

Some ingredients that would also work well in this salad include:

• cucumbers
• cheese cubes
• salami
• white beans
• parsley

The options are endless! You really can throw in just about anything. Use your favorite ingredients and dont be afraid to play around.

Make sure the pasta salad is well coated with dressing so the noodles dont stick together and you want the pasta salad to have plenty of flavor.

We will be serving this easy pasta salad at all of our summer parties and bbqs. Plus, it is a great salad to have in the fridge for easy lunches and dinners. We hope you like this recipe as much as we do!

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