I love the pasta salad. It’s one of those meals (or side dishes) you can customize in a million different ways, it’s so easy to make, and it makes great leftovers.
What if you don’t love?! So I thought I’d share three of my favorite simple pasta salad recipes.
The three pasta salad dressings that I use most often are homemade balsamic, Italian, and a selection of ice cream. All of these go well with about 8-10 ounces of cooked pasta plus whatever other ingredients you’re putting in.
I usually use one of two oil-based dressings, but if I’m making a pasta salad with more vegetables/crissiness, I usually go for the creamy one (like This creamy winter pasta salad).
You can further customize these three sauces if you’d like to add some chopped fresh herbs or heat them up with some red or cayenne pepper seeds.
And if you’re mostly still reading because you want to know where I bought that rainbow noodle, Here is it.
The basic recipe for a pasta salad is cooked pasta, one of these dressings, some chopped veggies (cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, broccoli, etc.), some cheese, and a little bit of cheese. some chopped fresh herbs.
Sometimes I’ll add pepperoni if I’m feeling wild. Ha. Interesting! so so. Emma
If you liked this, check it out Green Goddess Salad Dressing and Poppy seed coat!
3 simple ways to mix pasta salad
Creamy, balsamic and Italian sauce recipes
Cream makeup:
- Cup mayo
- Cup greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- teaspoon garlic powder
- salt + pepper
Balsamic Dressing:
- Cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- first tablespoons Honey
- first tablespoons mustard dijon
- salt + pepper
Italian dress:
- Cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- Lemon juice
- teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Cream sauce will yield 1 cup. Two oil-based dressings will take up about 3/4 cup. For all three sauces, the amount should be about 8-10 ounces of cooked pasta plus any mixed ingredients of your choice. However, some like more or less sauce on their pasta salad, so here are just my suggestions for serving (the way I like it!).
