Our favorite easy Italian Pasta Salad recipe is delicious, filling, and perfect for a make-ahead lunch, picnic, or potluck.
The best Italian Pasta Salad we've been making for years.
The best Italian Pasta Salad we've been making for years.If you need a side dish everyone will love (all ages, all levels of picky-ness) THIS Italian pasta salad is IT. And it's not your typical Italian Pasta Salad because we add the tastiest homemade dressing and pile on all the goodies including mozzarella cheese pearls, salami, black olives, cherry tomatoes, red onion, and fresh herbs.
I often make it for kids school lunches, and it's my go-to for camping, boating and beach days. I make a big container and bring it along in our cooler, with some plastic cups and forks to scoop and serve.
How to make Pasta Salad:
Make Dressing and Cook Pasta: Combine olive oil, red wine vinegar, parsley, onion, lemon juice, basil, oregano, salt, sugar, and pepper to make dressing. Cook Pasta according to package instructions drain and cool before tossing in dressing.
Add mozzarella, salami, olives, onion, tomatoes, parsley, parmesan, pepperoncini and additional dressing, to taste. Cover and keep in the refrigerator for 1 hour or longer before serving this zesty Italian pasta recipe.
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Recipe
Italian Pasta Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound rotini pasta , uncooked
- 8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese pearls (or chopped into pieces if you can't find pearls)
- 8 ounces salami , pepperoni, or beef summer sausage
- 6 ounces black olives pitted, sliced
- 1/2 red onion , diced
- 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes (224g), halved
- 2 Tablespoons fresh chopped parsley chopped
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (50g)
- pepperoncinis , sliced (optional)
Italian Salad Dressing (or substitute 1 ½ cups bottled zesty Italian dressing):
- 3/4 cup olive oil (150g)
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar (58g)
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
- 2 teaspoons dried minced onion
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon Dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Make the salad dressing by combining all ingredients. Store the dressing in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Shake before using.¾ cup olive oil, ¼ cup red wine vinegar, 2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes, 2 teaspoons dried minced onion, 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, 1 teaspoon dried basil, 1 teaspoon Dried oregano, 1 teaspoon garlic salt, 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain water and rinse pasta with cold water. Allow it to cool for at least 10 minutes.1 pound rotini pasta
- Combine: Add pasta to a large bowl and pour half of the salad dressing over it. Toss to combine. Add remaining ingredients and dressing and toss everything to combine.8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, 8 ounces salami, 6 ounces black olives, ½ red onion, 1 ½ cups cherry tomatoes, 2 Tablespoons fresh chopped parsley, ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, pepperoncinis
- Refrigerate: Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or longer, before serving. Store in the fridge for up to 4-5 days.
Notes
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- Add Meat/Protein: Add cooked chopped ham or chicken.
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- Add Veggies like chopped cucumber, bell pepper, shredded carrot, or cooked sautéed veggies, like zucchini, asparagus, broccoli.
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- Meatless Italian Pasta Salad: omit the meat out and add extra veg.
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- Swap the Noodles: Use farfalle, penne, or any favorite bite-size pasta.
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- Gluten Free: Use your favorite gluten free bite size pasta noodles. We have had great luck with the Barilla rotini pasta.
Nutrition
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*I first shared this recipe in May 2016. Updated August 2018, June 2021 and May 2023.
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Absolutely delicious, my guest gave never ending complements
I really liked this recipe as it was easily adaptable to my liking. I did find it to be a bit bland, but I think I I just prefer stronger flavors or it could be that I just adjusted it too much by adding more tomatoes, meat, and cheese. I added red pepper, salt, more pepper, Italian seasoning, a lot more fresh parsley, and more fresh parm. I also cut the tomatoes and mozzarella pearls smaller because they were a bit large still. I used salami and pepperoni also. My family loved it and raved about it.
Made this for our church sewing group. Everyone seemed to love it! Several asked for the recipe. I thought the flavor was fabulous! It was a win win! Thank you!
Made this yesterday and it was SO GOOD! The dressing is good enough to eat on its own with crusty bread and my mouth is watering typing this. I used salami and added red bell pepper but next time I’ll use green or yellow for the color. It was perfect and I’ll definitely make this again!
The dressing is divine. I didn’t have garlic salt so I substituted with 3/4tsp salt and 1/4tsp garlic powder. You can truly throw in any veggie you want, but I suggest something crunchy.
The red wine vinegar overpowers everything. I even cut the amount in half. Try another recipe.
I made this pasta salad two days before a family cookout at my house yesterday. Everyone loved it! It was yummy and we’re enjoying the leftovers today! Will make again!
Hi Lauren! I plan on making this delicious looking pasta salad for a party next Saturday but I will have to double the recipe! If there are any leftovers, can I freeze some of this? Thanks!
Karen
This is delicious and easy to make. And of course very adaptable. I’ll be taking it to a potluck luncheon tomorrow but I’m holding back a few scoops for our dinner at home tonight. Shhh. Don’t tell
This turned out great. I used fresh basil because I gave some growing. Steamed some broccoli, carrots and English peas and added too. Huge hit tonight at the lawn concert/wine group. The raspberry/peach sangria went great with it!
Adding this to our meal plan this week because we have extra salami that needs to be used! There’s no button to save it though, to add it to my collections!
It’s a great one!! I’m seeing the button from my account- can you double-check that you are signed in? Let me know if you still don’t see it and I’ll get our IT people to look into it. You can also add the recipe straight from your recipe box by clicking “Add item” and typing in the name of the recipe.