This simple cold pasta salad comes together in less than 20 minutes for a fresh, delicious, and easy meal! Topped with spinach, tomatoes, mozzarella pearls, olives, and a tangy lemon vinaigrette, it's perfect for meal prep or a side dish for your summer barbecue!
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Why You'll Love This Easy Pasta Salad!
This summer pasta salad will be your new go-to easy lunch! It's also delicious as a side for grilled chicken or salmon!
- It comes together in just 20 minutes.
- Is delicious either warm or cold!
- Perfect for meal prep lunches or an easy side dish!
You might also like this orzo white bean salad or this chicken pesto pasta salad!
Ingredient Notes
You just need a few ingredients for this easy cold pasta salad!
Short Pasta - Any sort pasta such as fusilli, rigatoni, cavatappi, rotini, etc. will work for cold pasta salad. Use a high-quality die cut pasta like Delallo or De Cecco for the yummiest results. I personally love this fun mixed pasta I found at Trader Joe's!
Mozzarella Balls - I love using ciliengine or mozzarella pearls, but if you can't find either you can just use a large mozzarella ball and cut it into chunks. If you don't want to use mozzarella, shaved parmesan cheese is also delicious.
Cherry or Grape Tomatoes - If I can find them, I like to use heirloom cherry tomatoes because they have the best flavor in my opinion. But any cherry or grape tomato will do! You could also do sundried tomatoes instead.
Cucumber - Sliced cucumbers add a delicious crunch to this summer pasta salad! I like to use mini cucumbers for small slices.
Green Onions - Sliced green onions add just the right amount of bite to the pasta salad. You could also use ¼ of a red onion instead.
Red Bell Pepper - Any color bell pepper is a great addition to pasta salad.
Black Olives - I love the salty flavor that olives add to the pasta salad.
Fresh Spinach - I like adding some thinly sliced fresh spinach to the pasta salad but you can leave it out if you prefer.
Olive Oil - You want to use good, high quality extra virgin olive oil in your vinaigrette for the best flavor!
Sherry Vinegar - Sometimes sherry vinegar is hard to find at your local grocery store, so my favorite sub is white balsamic or champagne vinegar. You can also just substitute with more lemon juice!
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
optional add-ins
- Substitute arugula for the spinach
- Substitute sundried tomatoes for the cherry tomatoes
- Top with sliced grilled chicken
- Add in thinly sliced pepperoni or sopressata
Simple Vinaigrette
You’ll just need a few basic ingredients for the vinaigrette including extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemon juice, honey, Dijon, garlic, and thyme.
Just throw all the ingredients in a mason jar and give it a good shake! Let sit for at least 30 minutes to let the flavors meld together.
Your favorite Italian or Greek dressing would also be a delicious choice for this cold summer pasta salad!
How to Make Cold Pasta Salad
My number one tip for perfect cold pasta salad is to cook the pasta al dente and then rinse it!! For pasta salad the last thing you want is sticky, overcooked pasta. I always cook my pasta 1-2 minutes less than what the package directions call for. Then after draining the pasta, rinse for just a minute or so with cold water.
Cook the pasta according to package directions. Reduce the cooking time by 1-2 minutes for perfect al dente pasta. Drain and then rinse for 1 minute with cold water (this helps the pasta not stick together). Set aside to cool slightly.
Cut up all the veggies into bite-sized pieces and thinly slice the spinach and green onions.
Add the cooled pasta, sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, bell pepper, green onions, spinach, mozzarella balls, and black olives to a large bowl.
Then drizzle on your desired amount of dressing and toss gently until combined.
Serve the cold pasta salad immediately and enjoy!
Recipe FAQ's
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days! The pasta salad might get dried out after a few days so you can rehydrate it with a little olive oil or extra dressing.
Normally I don't recommend rinsing pasta! However, pasta salad is the only exception! Rinsing the pasta immediately after cooking removes the excess starch so that it doesn't stick together.
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
More Recipes You Might Like!
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Recipe Card
Simple Cold Pasta Salad
Ingredients
Dressing
- ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar, substitute lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Pasta Salad
- 16 ounces short pasta
- 1 ½ cups fresh spinach, thinly sliced
- 1 ½ cups cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- 1 cup cucumber , diced
- 1 cup red bell pepper, diced
- ¾ cup black olives, sliced
- 4 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 cup fresh mozzarella balls, sliced in half
Instructions
Dressing
- Add all of the dressing ingredients to a mason jar and seal tightly. Shake vigorously to combine. Taste and add more salt as needed. Let sit for at least 30 minutes to let the flavors meld together.
Pasta Salad
- Cook the pasta according to package directions. Reduce the cooking time by 1-2 minutes for perfect al dente pasta. Drain and then rinse for 1 minute with cold water (this helps the pasta not stick together). Set aside to cool slightly.
- Cut up all the veggies into bite-sized pieces and thinly slice the spinach and green onions.
- Add the cooled pasta, sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, bell pepper, green onions, spinach, mozzarella balls, and black olives to a large bowl.
- Then drizzle on your desired amount of dressing and toss gently until combined.
- Serve cold and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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