Italian Pasta Salad
The Best Italian Pasta Salad Recipe: Made with fresh ingredients and bursting with flavor, this is the most perfect cold pasta salad!
Why We Love This Italian Pasta Salad Recipe
I know many families have an Italian-style salad recipe that gets pulled out for picnics and large events.
I’m partial to the ones that are heavily loaded with fresh veggies and pops of rich flavor from the salami, olives, and soft mozzarella. My personal adaptation is to add jarred “Grilled Piquillo Peppers” to offer a bit of tangy sweetness. If you can’t find them, jarred roasted red peppers provide a similar appeal.
Therefore, this is what I consider The Best Italian Pasta Salad Recipe. It’s bold, textually diverse, and holds up well for several days in the refrigerator.
I’ve never tasted another version I like better.
What Ingredients You Need
The homemade Italian vinaigrette is made with a generous amount of fresh garlic, giving the entire bowl a zesty punch.
- Red Wine Vinegar – A rich and full-flavored taste of acidic vinegar.
- Olive Oil – And what pairs well with vinegar? Beautiful olive oil.
- Garlic – Zesty and delicious.
- Honey – To add sweetness to the dressing.
- Dried Italian Seasoning – To season the salad.
- Salt – Helps balance and enhance all other flavors.
The pasta salad ingredients are packed with fresh vegetables and savory meats and cheeses!
- Fusilli Pasta – This is the corkscrew-shaped pasta, short or long
- Cherry Tomatoes – Sweeter and less acidic than regular tomatoes
- Hard Salami – Smokey and sumptuous, it’s the perfect addition to this salad
- Roasted Red Peppers – Or grilled piquillo peppers
- Red Onion – For flavor and crunch
- Italian Parsley – The flat-leaved parsley with robust flavor
- Mini Mozzarella Balls – Not only are these cheese balls so cute they are also so fresh and delicious
- Black Olives – This brings a salty and oily flavor to the salad
How To Make Italian Pasta Salad
Place a large pot of water over high heat and bring to a boil. Add a large spoonful of salt to the water. Then stir in the dried pasta. Cook according to package instructions, usually 6-8 minutes to al dente. Drain the pasta, and rinse with cold water in a colander. Shake off the excess water and place the pasta in a large salad bowl.
While the pasta is boiling, whisk all the ingredients of the vinaigrette in a small bowl. Set aside. Then chop all the salad ingredients.
Pour the tomatoes, sliced hard salami, chopped piquillo peppers, red onion, parsley, mozzarella ball, and olives over the pasta. Pour the vinaigrette over the top and toss well to coat. Taste, then season with salt and pepper as needed.
Serving Suggestions
This best Italian pasta salad is amazing to serve as a side dish during the summertime when you can serve it with all your favorite grilled proteins! I highly recommend taking this to your next cookout or gathering, since it is seriously great for feeding a crowd. Try serving it with some of my personal favorites:
- Zesty Italian Burgers
- Summer Garden Dogs
- Grilled Salmon
- Salmon Burgers
- Grilled Hanger Steak
- Italian Sausage and Peppers
Tips & Tricks
- Add additional veggies! The beauty of pasta salad is that you can add different veggies and it will still be so delicious. You can add things like bell pepper, spinach, and fresh herbs like parsley!
- Use your favorite pasta shapes! This easy pasta salad recipe is best with short shapes of pasta like fusilli, rotini pasta, penne, or farfalle!
- For ease, you can use your favorite Italian dressing! I like making mine homemade so I know exactly what’s in it, but it would still be yummy with store-bought salad dressing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should you let pasta cool down before adding it to pasta salad?
Yes, you want to add cooled pasta to pasta salad. Instead of taking the time to allow it to cool down, simply rinse the pasta in a colander with cold water!
Can I make this antipasto salad recipe ahead of time?
Absolutely! This recipe is a great make-ahead for parties, family events, or as an easy lunchbox item to enjoy all week. Actually, most pasta salads taste better after sitting for a day or two. Just make sure to cover it well and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Does this Italian pasta salad recipe need to be refrigerated?
Oh yes. With all the meats, cheeses, and fresh produce in the mix, you do need to keep it chilled until you are ready to serve it.
What goes with cold pasta salad?
This best pasta salad recipe goes with just about everything! Serve this salad with grilled proteins, picnic foods, and barbecue favorites.
Can I make gluten free pasta salad?
Yes! However, most gluten-free pasta varieties break down within a few hours. So if you want to go gluten-free, you will need to serve it immediately after mixing.
Would omitting onion change the results of the recipe?
You can omit the onions. There are plenty of other pungent flavors represented.
More Pasta Salad Recipes:
- The Best Macaroni Salad Recipe
- Creamy Southwest Ranch Pasta Salad Recipe
- Zesty Greek Pasta Salad Recipe
- Greek Orzo Pasta Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
- Cold Tortellini Pasta Salad Recipe
- Italian Summer Pasta Salad with Orange and Basil
- Tuna Salad with Olives and Capers
- Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad Recipe
- Sun Dried Tomato Chicken Pasta Salad Recipe
- Cool Chicken Taco Salad Recipe
- Spinach Pasta Salad Recipe from Bare Feet in the Kitchen
Best Italian Pasta Salad Recipe
Ingredients
For the Vinaigrette:
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon Dried Italian Seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the Italian Pasta Salad:
- 1 pound fusilli pasta
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 cup chopped hard salami slices
- 3/4 cup chopped grilled piquillo peppers or jarred roasted red peppers
- 1/2 cup chopped red onion
- 1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
- 12 ounces mini mozzarella balls, drained and halved (22-24 balls)
- 3.8 ounces sliced black olives (1 can), drained
Instructions
- Place a large pot of water over high heat and bring to a boil. Add a large spoonful of salt to the water. Then stir in the dried pasta. Cook according to package instructions, usually 6-8 minutes to al dente. Drain the pasta, and rinse with cold water in a colander. Shake off the excess water and place the pasta in a large salad bowl.
- While the pasta is boiling, whisk all the ingredients of the vinaigrette in a small bowl. Set aside. Then chop all the salad ingredients.
- Pour the tomatoes, sliced hard salami, chopped piquillo peppers, red onion, parsley, mozzarella ball and olives over the pasta. Pour the vinaigrette over the top and toss well to coat. Taste, then season with salt and pepper as needed.
Tasty pasta salad! Loved it!
I have never tried pasta in salad. Your recipe intrigues me. But , I wonder if it will work. I feel pasta might leave a trail of starch on your tongue when you bite. Lemme know if I am wrong. Though, worth a try.
I found this recipe last summer. I loved it! I didn’t save it or print it :( Fast forward almost a year and wanted to make it again. I have been looking for this for 3 weeks now and am so glad I found it again!!!! I have saved it and printed it this time!!! Thanks
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The only thing that I changed was to have a couple of pieces of high quality salami sliced a quarter of an inch thick and cube it.
Over all other than that it was great.
The recipe of Italian Pasta Salad you share is great
How many people does the pasta recipe feed.
Hi Susan,
This recipe makes 12 1-cup servings.
wow, delicious and yummy pasta salad its was amazing thanks for sharing this.
AMAZING FLAVOR!!!
The recipe of Italian Pasta Salad you share is great. Delicious and nutritious. I will learn to make this dish.
Would omitting the onion (Some family members don’t like it)change the results much?
Hi Barbara,
You can omit the onions. There are plenty of other pungent flavors represented. :)
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Fantastic, the hard salami was a new twist. Usually I use either pepperoni. Your recipe toned down the taste of pepperoni so that the more subtle salami allowed all the other flavors to come out. Thanks for sharing. Obviously this will be our new extended family favorite.
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This receive is really good. I added cucumbers. Be careful with the parsley it’s powerful. I also added a few whole garlic, but I like garlic. It’s best when it’s made a day ahead of time. I think it’s good when I add graded Parmesan. Next time I will shred fresh Parmesan to add at the end. I did omit olives and I only add salami when I’m about to eat it.
Great pasta salad. Not only does it look fantastic, but it tastes great as well. I made a recipe and a half of the dressing as I didn’t feel the recipe had enough. I also added more Italian seasoning, but otherwise just the way it was is great.
One of the best pasta salads I’ve ever tasted or made. I omitted the olives and only added 8oz. of mini mozzarella balls, but the dish turned out great. Can’t wait to try out more of your recipes!
Made it yesterday and serving it with open face steak sandwiches and it is perfect. It is THE best pasta salad I’ve ever tasted. The homemade vinaigrette is delicious. Thank you for sharing. One note, quality black olives really makes a difference. I typically don’t care for black olives, but shopped for a more “expensive”/quality black olive and was pleased with the brand I chose (Lindsay Naturals Sliced Olives @ WalMart).