Community Pick
The Best Pasta Salad
"Great Pasta salad for summer. Very easy and inexpensive."
photo by Jonathan Melendez
- Ready In:
- 51mins
- Ingredients:
- 8
- Serves:
-
6-8
ingredients
- 8 ounces rotini pasta (Barilla is best)
- 1 large tomatoes, chopped
- 1 medium green pepper, chopped
- 1 medium red pepper, chopped
- 1 small onion, chopped (optional)
- 1 (2 1/4 ounce) can black olives, drained and sliced
- 1 (8 ounce) bottle Kraft sun-dried tomato salad dressing
- 1⁄4 cup parmesan cheese
directions
- Cook pasta according to directions, about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- While pasta is cooking, chop tomato, peppers and onion into very small pieces. Add olives and mix.
- Drain Rotini; rinse with cold water for about 3 minutes.
- Mix pasta with tomato, peppers, onion and olives.
- Refrigerate for about 1/2 an hour.
- Add salad dressing; mix well.
- Add Parmesan cheese; mix well.
- Serve immediately.
- If you have left overs, you will have to "re-wet" salad by adding a little more salad dressing the next day, especially if you substitute the dressing with a fat-free dressing.
Questions & Replies
-
I like to use the Kraft Greek dressing for these kinds of pasta salads, just gives it a slightly different taste. Walmart usually has it around here. -
Hi, I have been using something like this recipe. But I use Zesty Italian Dressing And Salad Supreme. How much different does this taste? -
Has anyone used a gluten free pasta? Just wondering if it holds up and about the taste. -
How do you print recipes from this website? -
I put in my email so how do I get recipes to send to myself!
see 2 more questions
Reviews
-
This was a great salad! I couldn't find any decent tomatoes, so I stuck w/the red and green bell peppers, and a red onion...also added chunks of cucumber, and whole olives since I wasn't sure if everyone liked olives (easier to pick out than sliced). I couldn't find the sun dried tomato dressing, so I used a reduced calorie Italian dressing. Thanks! -
I temper my onions. To do this just cut size you want put into small bowl add warm/hot water then drain good and use. I also add cubed feta cheese,cubed salami, pepperoni and pepperoncinis cut small. Fabulous -
This was a good "base" recipe. I see pasta salad as an opportunity to improvise using your own leftovers and ingredients on hand. In addition to this recipes's ingredients I also added: artichoke hearts, sliced zucchini, sun dried tomatoes, and red onion instead of white. You could also use pepperoni, kalamata olives, cooked eggplant, steamed broccoli, feta cheese, etc. I had a huge Costco bottle of Tuscan Style Italian dressing which I used. It came out great! I think you'd have to work pretty hard to ruin a pasta salad like this (maybe if you overcooked the pasta!). Thanks for posting!
-
I take this salad everywhere I go for potlucks, especially in the summer months. It's always a huge hit! Our favorite combo is cucumbers, peppers, red onion, olives, feta cheese, and pepperoni with a greek dressing...but it is fabulous as written too. -
I added 8 OZ of pepperoni cut in quarters!!
see 115 more reviews
Tweaks
-
I use Zesty Italian by Kraft, just gives it a bit more oomph! Also I use a few different types of Pasta, just to keep it different than everyone else's. And more than 8 oz of Pasta, and more BLACK OLIVES, at least a large can. And let it rest overnight before serving (DON'T SERVE IMMEDIATELY), makes a BIG difference in the flavor. Missing: -Garlic -Red Onion -Celery Enjoy!!! -
One thing I have learned to do with my salads similar to this is to use whole grape tomatoes. I'm a fix once serve twice sort of cook. I found out that if I use grape tomatoes whole in my summer salads that they stand up well for a second day or even a third. Also after I asked my husband what vegetables he liked and he answered, "Corn and potatoes." I add more veggies wherever I can. I love crunch so I also have some sliced celery and English cucumbers in most of my pasta or chop salads. The English cucumbers are firmer so they withstand the sitting for a couple of days. English cukes also don't have as thick of skins so I leave them on and just cut down quarters and chop. Sometimes I substitute chopped up mozzarella sticks for parmesan. I love the idea of this dressing since I usually just make up a vinaigrette. I like the idea of the added sweet tomato flavor.
-
I added cut up cheddar cheese in cubes,plum tomatoes, and good season’s zesty Italian dressing. I like my dressing bitey so add and extra tablespoon of vinegar.
-
I wanted to bring something quick and easy to our 4th of July cookout and I came across this recipe. This recipe was excellent. I used Wishbone House Italian (because I didn't have sun-dried tomato) dressing, added a cucumber, used cherry tomatoes instead of a whole tomato, and added a little italian seasoning and it was GREAT. -
this pasta salad is so good! yummy
see 4 more tweaks
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Loves2Teach
clarksville, tn
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