Have you been looking for the best Italian pasta salad for your summer picnic? Our recipe is veggie-packed, kid-approved, and made with a delicious homemade Italian dressing.
Need more summer salad inspiration for your backyard parties? Then you're going to love our pesto pasta salad and this ham and peas pasta.
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About
This recipe is popular to serve during the warm months of the year at backyard BBQ and covered dish events in the U.S. Chopped up vegetables, meats, and cheese are added to a base of cold noodles. This recipe is tossed together with a vinegar and oil-based Italian-style dressing and is served chilled.
Ingredients
The whole idea behind achieving the best Italian pasta salad, is to get the texture, color and flavor balanced just right. Your goal is to have the best tangy dressing, so don't skimp on the vinegar. Let's talk about the types of ingredients needed.
- Pasta: a shape that will hold the dressing well like rotini or fusilli is best
- Salty and bright flavors: capers, olives, pepperoncini, anchovies, pickled vegetables, fresh dill, fresh basil, lemon zest, or freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Fatty or Creamy: mozza balls or cubed, shaved Gouda, avocado, Provolone, Parmesan
- Crunchy or Fresh: arugula, bell peppers, spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion
- Hearty: chickpeas, toasted nuts, salami, or pepperoni
How to Make
Gather the ingredients for the homemade dressing for the best Italian pasta salad. Mince the garlic, remove the thyme leaves from the sprig, chiffonade the fresh basil, and grate the lemon zest on a microplane.
- Whisk the ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl, then slowly pour in the olive oil. Continue to whisk until the Italian dressing is well combined.
- Add the chopped red onion to the salad dressing. This will give the red onion time to deflame. Let it sit for at least 10 minutes.
3. To cook the pasta, boil the water and add 2 tablespoons of kosher salt. Stir until dissolved. Add the rotini and cook according to the package instructions.
4. Drain in a colander and immediately submerge the colander into an ice bath of 50% water and 50% ice cubes. Let it sit in the colander for 5 minutes to continue cooling, then drain completely.
5. Transfer the pasta to a large bowl and add all the ingredients except the cheese and parsley. (If you are making this the night before, add the tomatoes closer to serving time.) Pour ¾ cup to 1 cup of dressing onto the salad, reserving some for serving time, then toss and chill for 30 minutes to 2 hours.
6. Just before serving, add the parsley, the Parmesan, and Provolone and toss to combine. Taste and pour on ¼ cup Italian dressing, as the noodles will absorb a lot of the first coating of dressing.
7. Toss, taste, and adjust seasonings until it's to your liking. I sprinkled on a bit more salt, basil, oregano, sugar and black pepper. Garnish with fresh basil ribbons, grated Parmesan, and freshly chopped parsley.
8. Enjoy our best Italian pasta salad recipe by the spoonful at your next outdoor summer gathering. It's guaranteed to please.
Recipe FAQs
The most popular shape to use for Italian salad is rotini and it's a good one thanks to all the curves and pockets that hold the flavor.
We used garden rotini for the extra color. Garden rotini has three colors: green (spinach), cream, and orange (tomato and carrot) which makes this more colorful.
Some other kinds of pasta that have a solid texture and a great shape to absorb the dressing are fusilli, penne, shells, tortellini, and rotini.
Make sure you start with the right ratio of about ¾ cup of dressing for every 7-8 ounces of dried pasta. It's also a good idea to have extra dressing on hand, as the noodles will absorb it and more will be needed just before serving.
It's not necessary but yes, you can make it up to one day in advance though there are some suggestions for the best flavor the next day. Don't add the tomatoes or cheese until just before serving, as they can get soggy. Cover it well and refrigerate until ready to serve. Taste and adjust seasonings before serving. You'll need to add more dressing or red wine vinegar, as the noodles absorb the dressing as it sits.
It's not necessary however we prefer to submerge the cooked pasta in an ice water bath in our recipe to quickly stop the pasta from cooking. In this process, some of the excess starch is rinsed from the pasta which does keep it from sticking together less.
Serve
The best Italian pasta salad tastes great with typical American summer foods like:
- Grilled meat
- Fried chicken
- Hamburgers
- Pulled pork sandwiches
Store
Leftovers: This recipe is best if it is consumed within 24 hours of making it. If you want it to last up to 3 days, add the tomatoes and cheese just before serving so they stay firm.
Variations
- Need this vegan? Omit the meat and cheese. Swap with another fatty and salty ingredient like avocado and capers.
- Need this gluten-free? Use gluten-free pasta or quinoa.
- Need greens? Add fresh arugula or spinach just before serving.
- Need other add-ins? Try sun-dried tomatoes, marinated artichokes, capers, green onion, and chopped zucchini.
- Want this as a main course? Add more salami, chickpeas, or pepperoni.
Expert Tips
- Quick pickle the red onion in the dressing to mellow its bite.
- Cut all the vegetables the same size. It makes it easier to eat, and it tastes better if you have more variety in each mouthful.
- Add 2 tablespoons of kosher salt when cooking.
- Cook al dente. Start testing it 4 to 5 minutes after adding it to the pot.
- Put the dressing on cold pasta. Warm noodles soaks up all the dressing and becomes dry and gummy.
- Toss, taste, and season before serving. Storing this salad in the fridge dulls our sense of taste. Plus, the pasta absorbs a lot of the dressing.
- Short on time? Use less add ins and your favorite store bought Italian dressing.
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Recipe
Best Italian Pasta Salad
Ingredients
For the Italian Dressing
- ⅔ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest, from 1 large lemon
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 6 basil leaves, chopped or ½ teaspoon dried
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon oregano
- 6 small fresh basil leaves
For the Salad
- ½ cup red onion, thinly sliced then chopped
- 7 ounces garden rotini
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 cup kalamata olives, sliced
- ¾ cup yellow pepper, chopped
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
- ½ cup English cucumber, sliced and quartered
- 4 ounces Provolone, cut in strips
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 6 ounces salami, cut in strips
- ½ cup baby carrots, coined
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- ¼ cup pepperoncini
For the Garnish
- 6 basil leaves, cut into ribbons then cut into smaller pieces
- 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated
Equipment
Instructions
Making the Italian Dressing
- Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. The recipe makes 1 ⅔ cups of Italian dressing.
- Soak the thinly sliced red onion in the dressing to take out the bite for at least 10 minutes.
Making the Salad
- Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Stir in 2 tablespoons of kosher salt until dissolved. Pour in the dried pasta and cook until al dente. Read the instructions on the box and start checking it after 5 minutes of cooking. Remember that pasta plumps up as it cooks.
- While it is cooking, get your ice bath ready. Find a large bowl and fill it ½ way with cold water and add 2 cups of ice. Once it is done cooking, drain in a colander. Rinse with cold water then shock it in an ice bath of 50% water and 50% ice cubes by submerging the colander. This will stop it from cooking and will cool it quicker. Let the pasta drain and cool for at least 5 minutes.
- Pour the cooled noodles into a large bowl and gently stir in the next 10 ingredients for the salad. Omit the tomatoes if making more than 2 hours in advance. Pour ¾ to 1 cup of the dressing on and toss until well combined. If you would like, remove all the soaking onions from the dressing by using a strainer. Put all the onions in the salad. Pour the remaining Italian dressing into a mason jar, cover and refrigerate until needed.
- Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes to 2 hours. It's best at 2 hours.
- Before serving, toss the salad. A lot of the dressing will have been absorbed by the noodles and some of it will have settled in the bottom of the bowl. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Shake the dressing, if in a mason jar or whisk it if it's in a bowl. Pour ¼ cup of Italian dressing on, sprinkle on salt, black pepper, sugar, basil and oregano. Toss. Taste. Any remaining dressing can be stored covered in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Add any garnishes like basil leaves and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and enjoy this Italian pasta salad recipe!
Notes
- To mellow its bite, quick pickle the red onion in the dressing.
- To make it easier to eat, cut all the vegetables the same size.
- If you put the dressing on warm pasta, it will soak it all up all and it will become dry and gummy.
- When this is stored in the fridge, the cold dulls our sense of taste and the pasta absorbs a lot of the dressing, so that is why it's important to toss, taste, and season before serving.
- Looking for short cuts? Use your favorite store bought Italian dressing and put in less add-ins.
- Add 2 tablespoons of kosher salt when cooking.
- Cook al dente. Start testing it 4 to 5 minutes after adding it to the pot.
Nutrition
Our best Italian pasta salad recipe was originally published on July 14, 2019.
Beth
I love Italian pasta salads, and this one is the best. The dressing really brings it up a level.
Emma
Thanks, Beth! I agree that the dressing is really fantastic. 🙂