Pasta Salad Recipe with Italian Dressing
I grew up on the east coast, and our summers were frequently HOT and HUMID! Even with air conditioning, cooking a meal inside was not fun. One of my mom’s favorite meals to make in the summer was pasta salad. Outside of boiling water for the pasta noodles, it required no use of the stove or oven. As the dish is served cold, she would frequently prepare the noodles in the morning before the heat of the day.
Great for Kids!
This pasta salad was one of my favorite dishes as a kid and remains one of my favorites to this day. It is a dish my boys will frequently request, and it is full of yummy goodness. No joke, my four-year-old has been known to asking for fourth and fifth helpings of this dish! And yes, he eats all the veggies! There are tons of vegetables including, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, and cucumbers! This a great pasta salad for kids!
For the busy moms out there, you can prepare this dish ahead of time; wait to put the dressing, olive oil, and vinegar on until the day you are planning to serve. Due to this, I will prep in advance and plan to serve this meal on a night I know work is going to be nuts and I will not have time to cook or on weekends we plan to go camping.
Easy to Make!
Pasta salad is straightforward to make and can quickly be scaled to prepare for a family or pasta salad for a crowd.
Ingredients for Pasta Salad
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Tomatoes
- Cucumber
- Pepperoni (omit if you want to make vegetarian pasta salad)
- Medium Pasta Shells
- Italian Dressing Seasoning
- Olive Oil
- Red Wine Vinegar
I suggest cooking the pasta in advance as they dish should be served cold. If you do not prepare in advance rinse noodles in cold water.
If you like this recipe check out some of our other great summer recipes like Cuban Grilled Chicken or Chimichurri Steak.
Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1/2 head cauliflower
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 1 cucumber
- 6 oz pepperoni package
- 2 packets Good Seasoning Italian dressing
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 16 oz medium pasta shells
Instructions
- Cook the pasta shells and rinse in cold water until cool.
- Cut all of the vegetables and pepperoni into bite-sized pieces. Put in a bowl.
- Add Italian dressing, olive oil and vinegar to the bowl. Mix together and serve!
