I simply adore cold pasta salad recipes. You can adjust them as you prefer or to whatever you have in your fridge. True story, this one recipe came to life in this one way. It is a simple spin on a delicious classic Italian pasta salad recipe; you can easily replicate it at home.
Here is an easy formula to follow PASTA + SOME MEAT (optional) + VEGGIES + DRESSING. I like to add spiral pasta, rotini. Tri-color rotini is an even better option, as it will make salad vivid and more colorful. The more colored the meal, the tastier it is. As for the meat you can use grilled or boiled chicken, ham, or salami or not use it at all. Vegetables can be added fresh or sautéed. For the dressing, you have a hell of a variety of options: from simple olive oil to fancy Italian sauces.
Learn all the tips and tricks on How to cook rotini pasta
Here is my own spin on the classic Italian pasta salad recipe.
Ingredients for Easy Pasta Salad Recipe:
- 180 g rotini;
- 120 g cherry tomatoes;
- half of a red onion
- red bell pepper;
- 90 g cheese;
- 140 g ham;
- 2 tbsps. olive oil;
- 20 g fresh herbs;
- Salt, pepper to your taste.
How to make a perfect cold pasta salad:
- Cook pasta by following all the direction on the package: bring necessary amount of water to a boil, and then add salt. When you add rotini pasta, wait for water to reboil. Reduce heat to medium and let spiral pasta to boil. Cook it until al dente state (as a rule, 3-5 minutes less than told in the instructions). Drain rotini, rinse nicely in cold water and let them drain again
- Slice ham into desired shape.
- In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients: cooked pasta and sliced ham, tomatoes, bell pepper, sliced red onion. First, cut cherry tomatoes into quarters; halve bell pepper, get rid of the seeds and slice bell pepper halves.
- Now, add grated cheese (use coarse grater, as small strands of cheese will nicely blend into salad).
- Final step will be to add salad dressing, salt and pepper. For my taste, olive oil is perfect but you can use any dressing you prefer. For me, refrigerating is optional. Some like to give it 1-2 hours in the fridge for “flavors to come together”, not my option.
- Before serving, sprinkle some chopped fresh herbs.
Enjoy your meal!
This pasta salad is really nourishing. You can consider it a proper meal! Hope you liked my recipe and you will share it with your friends! All your thoughts leave in the comment section below. Love receiving feedback from you. If you have any questions, I will be glad to help you.
Rotini Pasta Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 180 g rotini
- 120 g cherry tomatoes
- half of a red onion
- 1 red bell pepper
- 90 g cheese
- 140 g ham
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 20 g fresh herbs
- salt, pepper to your taste
Instructions
- Cook pasta by following all the direction on the package: bring necessary amount of water to a boil, and then add salt. When you add rotini pasta, wait for water to reboil. Reduce heat to medium and let spiral pasta to boil. Cook it until al dente state (as a rule, 3-5 minutes less than told in the instructions). Drain rotini, rinse nicely in cold water and let them drain again.
- Slice ham into desired shape.
- In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients: cooked pasta and sliced ham, tomatoes, bell pepper, sliced red onion. First, cut cherry tomatoes into quarters; halve bell pepper, get rid of the seeds and slice bell pepper halves.
- Now, add grated cheese (use coarse grater, as small strands of cheese will nicely blend into salad).
- Final step will be to add salad dressing, salt and pepper. For my taste, olive oil is perfect but you can use any dressing you prefer. For me, refrigerating is optional. Some like to give it 1-2 hours in the fridge for “flavors to come together”, not my option.
- Before serving, sprinkle some chopped fresh herbs.
