Zesty Italian Pasta Salad
Chilled Italian pasta salad is the perfect summer lunch or side dish to keep prepped in the fridge when the temperatures rise. Loaded with flavor but done in 20 minutes or less.
Finding a bowl of prepared pasta salad in the fridge is like striking gold in the summertime.
When it's too hot to cook late in the evening, being able to scoop up bowls of chilled pasta salad with tons of crispy fresh vegetables and savory meat and cheese is the perfect way to unwind at the end of the day.
Pair it with your favorite grilled main dishes for a fresh and easy side dish or package it up to bring to a potluck party!
I love to make this popular recipe ahead of time for my kids and I to enjoy as easy summer lunches during the week, too.
Check out all my mix and match variations below to keep things tasty for the rest of the summer!
Why This is the Best Recipe
- Make-Ahead Friendly: You can prep this quick recipe days in advance for easy summer lunches to bring to work or enjoy at home. It's the perfect party recipe that lets you get one of the dishes done ahead and it is easy to bring to a potluck.
- Budget-Friendly: Using in-season fresh vegetables and prepared dressing keeps the cost down.
- Refreshing and Cold: The pasta salad tastes best served chilled from the fridge making it perfect for cold weather.
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Ingredients
Here are my favorite quick prep ingredients:
- Short Pasta Shapes: I used rotini noodles because I think they're fun to fork but you could use farfalle, penne, or ditalini if you prefer.
- Italian Dressing: Using a bottle of prepared dressing makes this quick and easy. I used Olive Garden brand but the Zesty Kraft Italian dressing is another family favorite. Use whatever you love!
- Fresh Cherry Tomatoes: I chose a pint of multi-color tomatoes so the salad would be extra pretty, any tiny tomato you want will work.
- Bell Peppers: I used red and orange but yellow would work, too. Green is a little too harsh for this recipe.
- English Cucumber: The perfect seedless cucumber option.
- Red Onion
- Fresh Mozzarella Balls: I love the teeny tiny bite-sized ones but you could also chop a fresh log of mozzarella if you can't find them.
- Fresh Parsley: Dried parsley would work in an emergency but fresh parsley adds a lot of flavor to the dish and is hard to substitute. It's worth the splurge.
OPTIONAL:
This recipe is a perfect vegetarian-friendly dish to serve if you make it as is.
However, I love to add some chopped turkey pepperoni for even more flavor. I buy little pouches of it in the deli section of our grocery store.
How to Prep the Vegetables
While the pasta is cooking, you'll have plenty of time to prep the veggies.
I prefer to small-dice each vegetable so that they are easy to fork with the pasta shape I'm using.
I quartered the cherry tomatoes, small diced the bell peppers, and cut the cucumber into long, thin strips for easy dicing.
The red onion is easy to mince but if you struggle with heartburn like I do, you can soak the diced onion in ice water for 5 minutes, drain it, and add to the recipe to help reduce some of the "bite" of the onion.
Pasta Cooking Tips
The biggest mistake home cooks make when prepping a pasta salad is overcooking the noodles so they become mushy.
Once you add the Italian dressing and fresh veggies, the pasta will continue to absorb all the moisture and soften up as it chills in the fridge.
It is essential that you boil the pasta for the lowest amount of time listed on the package so that it remains very firm and has room to absorb more liquid and soften.
I never rinse my pasta because the starch helps thicken my pasta sauces but when making a chilled pasta salad, I always rinse the strained pasta with cold water for a minute to stop the cooking process and cool the noodles before stirring them into the fresh veggies.
How to Assemble
Pour the pasta over the prepped veggies and add the Italian dressing and fresh parsley.
Gently toss everything together until the pasta is evenly coated in dressing.
Then add the fresh mozzarella balls and chopped pepperoni (if using.) Stir gently to combine and chill.
Make Ahead Tips
Italian pasta salad tastes best when it has been prepped in advance and chilled in the fridge for at least 4 hours so the flavors can mingle.
You can keep it in a covered container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Simply toss the salad to redistribute the dressing before serving.
Serving Suggestions
The crispy, crunchy cold veggies in this pasta salad make it the perfect summery side dish to serve with grilled chicken, steaks, or fish.
When I add the chopped pepperoni, it works as a lighter main dish for lunches or a light dinner.
If you plan to take it to a potluck party in warm weather, skip the pepperoni and mozzarella cheese and you won't even have anything to worry about spoiling in the heat!
Variations
While I adore the fresh mozzarella and pepperoni combo, you can easily make simple tweaks for new variations on this dish:
- Fresh Broccoli and Parmesan: Swap the bell peppers for fresh broccoli florets chopped small and shredded parmesan cheese. This was my mom's favorite combo when I was growing up.
- Artichoke Hearts and Feta: Add a jar of marinated artichoke hearts and crumbled feta cheese for a Greek pasta salad.
- Sweet Corn, Crumbled Bacon, and Goat Cheese: Carve fresh sweet corn off the cob or thaw frozen corn and stir in crumbled peppered bacon instead of the pepperoni. Crumbled goat cheese brings an excellent tang to the dish.
More Pasta Salad Recipes
📖 Recipe
Zesty Italian Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 (16 oz) box of rotini pasta or other short noodle like penne, farfalle, or ditalini
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes quartered
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1 orange bell pepper diced
- 2/3 English cucumber diced
- 1/2 red onion diced
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley from a small handful
- 2 cups prepared Italian dressing we used Olive Garden brand
- 1 (8 oz) package of fresh mozzarella balls
- 1/3 cup turkey pepperoni quartered, optional
Instructions
- Add a generous pinch of kosher salt to a large pot of water and bring it to a boil. Cook the pasta according to the lowest time listed on the package. Drain the pasta and rinse in cold water. Set aside.
- Meanwhile prepare all the vegetables and add them to a large mixing bowl.
- Add the drained pasta to the bowl of veggies. Add the chopped parsley and pour the salad dressing over the top. Gently toss the salad together with two large spoons until the pasta and veggies are well combined and everything is coated in dressing.
- Drain the fresh mozzarella and add the chopped pepperoni (if using.) Gently stir them in. Season with salt and pepper as desired.
- Chill the pasta salad for at least 4 hours before serving for the flavors to marinate. The dish will keep well covered in the fridge for up to 4 days.
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