This Easy Pasta Salad is easy to make and easy to love! It’s packed with delicious Italian flavors and fresh summertime veggies that every guest at the table, picnic, BBQ or potluck will enjoy.
Does any dish scream “Summertime!” quite like a pasta salad? It’s one of the first things we reach for on a potluck table, and there are so many combinations out there that each home chef can really make the dish their own! This Easy Pasta Salad is our Italian take on the classic that everyone knows and loves. It’s filled with orecchiette pasta, tomatoes, cucumbers, chickpeas, olives, and a simple homemade dressing.
Ingredients in Our Easy Pasta Salad
What we used in our pasta salad
- Orecchiette pasta ( fun shape)
- Tricolor tomatoes
- Persian cucumber
- Chickpeas
- Kalamata olives
- Green sliced olives
- Dressing: olive oil, red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, oregano ( can also sub for italian seasoning) salt, pepper
Homemade Italian Pasta Salad Dressing
You can use a premade Italian dressing for pasta salad, but this homemade dressing is so much tastier! It’s as easy as combining the ingredients in a bowl and giving them a quick whisk. You could even put them in a Mason jar with a lid and shake it up to make things easier! The Mason jar also gives you a quick and easy refrigerator storage option for this dressing.
Tips on How to Make Pasta Salad
- Start with boiling your pasta. Heavily salt the water and boil the pasta until al dente, according to the instructions on the package.
- While the pasta is cooking make the salad dressing
- Once perfectly cooked, drain the pasta and add the dressing while the pasta is warm
- After that, it’s just adding all of your pasta salad ingredients into a large serving bowl!
- Give it all a gentle toss until everything is coated. Taste it to check the seasonings and flavors!
- Finally, the best part...enjoy. It’s delicious!
Pasta Salad Add-ins
You can make this easy pasta salad totally your own! Try adding your favorite Italian ingredients, such as...
- Mozzarella pearls
- Sun dried tomatoes
- Marinated artichokes
- Roasted red peppers
- Veggie sausage
- Toasted pine nuts
- Chopped parsley
- Chopped basil
Does Pasta Salad Store in the Refrigerator?
Yes! I even think this pasta salad tastes best after a day in the fridge as all the flavors continue to come together. It’s best eaten within 2-4 days of making, and make sure it’s covered tightly while it sits in the fridge! If you are planning to make this easy pasta salad ahead of time we would recommend adding the tomatoes and cucumbers before right serving.
More Pasta Salad Recipes
We love making a pasta salad to have on hand for lunch or to bring to a backyard dinner. Here are a couple pasta salad recipes we make and love…
- High Protein Caprese Pasta Salad
- Vegan Summery Pasta Salad
- Israeli Couscous Salad
- High Protein Spring Vegetable Pasta
Did you like our Pasta Salad Recipe?
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Easy Pasta Salad
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 12
- Total Time: 27 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
- Diet: Kosher
Description
This Easy Pasta Salad is easy to make and easy to love! It’s packed with delicious Italian flavors and fresh summertime veggies that every guest at the table will enjoy.
Ingredients
- 1 lb short dry pasta (we used Orecchiette)
- 1 pint tricolor grape or cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- 2 Persian cucumbers, sliced
- 1 cup frozen or canned corn kernels
- 1/2 cup pickled onions
- 1 - 15oz can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 2/3 cup sliced green olives
- 2/3 cup chopped Kalamata olives
For the Italian Dressing
- 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp dry oregano or Italian seasoning
- 1/4-1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to the al dente instructions on the package (Make sure to heavily salt the water)
- While the pasta is cooking, prepare the salad dressing by whisking all the ingredients together in a bowl, or shake them in a glass jar with a tight lid
- Drain the pasta and add the dressing while the pasta is warm
- Add the rest of the ingredients into a large serving bowl. Toss until everything is coated
- Taste it and adjust seasonings as needed
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 1/2 cups
- Calories: 314
- Sugar: 4.3
- Sodium: 329
- Fat: 11
- Saturated Fat: 1.6
- Unsaturated Fat: 8.6
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 45.6
- Fiber: 4.4
- Protein: 8.7
- Cholesterol: 0
Keywords: how to make pasta salad, vegan pasta salad, Italian pasta salad
Cindy says
Easy to make and tastes delicious. I added feta cheese.
★★★★★