The Best Easy Italian Pasta Salad Recipe
That’s quite a claim, I know. I’ve been making this pasta salad for over 35 years and I think it deserves the name. What makes a delicious Italian pasta salad? Quality pasta, fresh vegetables, flavorful dressing and some parmesan cheese. This salad is easy to make with the best pasta salad dressing you’ve ever eaten. And the best news? This will be the easiest pasta salad you’ve ever made!
Pinch of Salt Lake Cookbook – Origin of this recipe!
A long time ago, before cell phones, the internet, and silica ice, I used a cookbook all the time. It was “A Pinch of Salt Lake”. This cookbook was my close friend when we moved to Portland, Oregon from Salt Lake in the mid 1980’s.
Grant was in law school. Corrine (2 years old) and I spent a lot of time in our small apartment after I got home from work. I have tried most of the recipes in this book and loved most of them. In a way, it became my cooking bible. I think I’ve made more recipes from this book than any other in my collection, which last numbered 300 cookbooks! This recipe is adapted to the Marinated pasta salad Recipe in the Pinch of Salt Lake Cookbook.
What makes the best pasta salad?
How many times have you eaten a pasta salad only to be disappointed by the lack of flavor? Sooo many pasta salads look good, but I want more seasoning for the pasta itself. This recipe will solve the boring pasta salad problem once and for all! The secret? Before preparing the salad, sprinkle the cooked pasta and veggies with dry Italian dressing, and then use a wet dressing too! I learned this trick years ago, and this has been my favorite pasta salad recipe ever since.
Sprinkle dry Good season Italian dressing over the vegetables and noodles really let the flavor stick to all the ingredients. My Best Easy Italian Pasta Salad Recipe recipe also includes instructions for making a homemade version of Good Seasons dry mix. You can change the vegetables to suit your taste. I like the olives not only because I’m an olive lover but also because of the colour. This recipe makes a great starter base for any combination of pasta and/or veggies, depending on the season and your preferences!
Options for vegetables in this recipe:
You can add any veggies you prefer with this easy basic recipe! This recipe calls for a Bermuda onion, yellow peppers, carrots, zucchini, broccoli, mushrooms, artichokes, and olives, but can easily be adapted to include any of the following:
- chopped tomatoes
- cherry tomatoes
- Cucumber, seeded or not
- red, orange or green peppers
- cauliflower
- Fresh green beans
- fresh or frozen peas
- green onions
- spinach leaves
How to Make the Best Easy Italian Pasta Salad Recipe:
- Cook noodles and drain.
- Add chopped vegetables to cooled, drained pasta.
- Sprinkle the veggies and pasta with both dry dressing and bottled dressing too.
- Add grated cheese just before serving.
Other pasta salad recipes to try:
The Best Easy Italian Pasta Salad Recipe
The best easy Italian pasta salad recipe is the tastiest pasta salad! The secret ingredient is a dry Italian dressing mix that’s sprinkled over pasta and veggies!
ingredients
-
1
lb
pasta
any shape -
1/3
Cup
Bermuda (red) onion
chopped -
1
yellow peppers
cored and sliced -
2
carrots
thinly sliced -
2
small zucchini
thinly sliced -
2-3
cups
Broccoli Floret -
1/2
lb
Mushrooms
cut -
1
large tin of pitted olives, black or green -
1
12-14 oz can
Artichoke hearts, well drained and quartered
can be used marinated or packed in water -
1
0.07 oz
Packet of dry Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix OR recipe attached for homemade dry mix -
1
16 ounces.
Bernstein’s Cheese and Garlic Italian Dressing* See recipe notes
or any other good quality Italian bottle dressing. I also used Ken’s Simply Vinaigrette. -
1
Cup
freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
Prepare Dry Italian Seasoning:
-
1
tablespoon
garlic powder -
1
tablespoon
onion powder -
3
tablespoon
Dry Italian Seasoning -
1
teaspoon
dehydrated onion flakes
Optional -
2
teaspoon
granulated sugar -
1/2
teaspoon
celery seed -
1
teaspoon
ground pepper -
2
tablespoon
sea-salt
instructions
-
Cook noodles according to package directions. Rinse with cold water, drain and set aside.
-
Wash and chop the vegetables and place in a large bowl. Add cooked, cooled pasta and sprinkle with dry seasoning mix (packaged or homemade). If using a homemade dry mix, use 3-4 tablespoons.
-
Add a generous amount of freshly ground pepper. Pour bottled dressing over everything, toss and refrigerate.
-
Just before serving, grate fresh Parmesan or Romano over the salad.
recipe notes
- I use about 1/2 of the well-shaken bottle of dressing to start. Let it sit for at least 2 hours (preferably). Then add more bottle dressing as needed and toss before serving. The longer the dressing sits on the pasta before serving, the more it will be absorbed into the pasta. This is great for flavor but needs to be adjusted so the pasta salad doesn’t taste dry before serving!
- If waiting more than 3 hours to serve, add the mushrooms and grated cheese just before serving.
- For tender, bright green broccoli, place the washed broccoli on a microwave-safe plate. You can chop the broccoli before or after cooking. Put 2-3 tablespoons of water on the plate. Cover with kitchen paper and cook the broccoli for about 2 minutes, or just until the broccoli turns light green. Remove carefully from the microwave. Drain the hot water from the plate and give the broccoli a quick rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain well (I like to give a good shake or two) and add to the salad. The same can be done with cauliflower.