Pasta salad is such a good side dish for a barbecue or pot luck that you can easily make ahead of time. For some ideas, check out our list of Pasta Salad recipes.
For more ideas, check out all of our recipes.
Pasta salad is such the perfect side dish for every summer party.
Of course, you can run to the grocery store and pick up a tub of macaroni salad that’s been sitting prepared for days. But no one wants that. And honestly, it’s so easy to make pasta salad at home. The best thing about pasta salad is you can make it ahead of time and store it in an airtight container in the fridge while you’re making the rest of the recipes for your backyard barbecue. It’s one less thing that has to be served warm, making your life just a little bit easier.
Pasta salad is a great side salad, but it’s not the only side salad option. For more ideas, check out our list of 15+ Easy Side Salad Recipes. That’s filled with potato salad recipes, green salads, and more.
Pasta Salad Recipes
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As we add more pasta salad recipes to Drugstore Divas, we’ll update this list. So, be sure to save it (pin it, bookmark it, however you save posts) and come back to this post from time to time to see what we’ve added.
Caprese Pasta Salad
One of the best combinations is mozzarella cheese and tomatoes. Add in a little basil and you’ve got caprese. Now, add some pasta and you have this Caprese Pasta Salad.
It’s one of our go to potluck recipes because it’s so incredibly easy. All you’re really doing is boiling pasta, slicing tomatoes and basil, and stirring.
Vegan Taco Pasta Salad
This Vegan Taco Pasta Salad, which is accidentally, not intentionally, vegan, has all the flavors of tacos (except the meat, of course) but in pasta salad form.
Cooked rotini pasta is combined with grape or cherry tomatoes, black olives, cilantro, green onions, and taco seasoning in a large bowl. Right before serving, Catalina dressing and tortilla chips are added to the mix for a great pasta salad.
Orzo Greek Salad
ALDI makes a packaged Greek pasta salad, which is sold seasonally. So, if it’s out of season, you’re out of luck. Unless you make our Orzo Greek Salad recipe.
In it, orzo is combined with orange and red bell peppers, grape tomatoes, Kalamata olives, arugula, extra-virgin olive oil, seasoning, and feta cheese to make a really tasty salad. You could serve it as a cold salad, but Pete prefers it as a warm salad.
Grilled Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad
I love Mexican Street Corn and will order it any time I see it on a menu. So of course, I have to recreate the flavors any time I can, like in this Grilled Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad.
Grilled corn on the cob is added to pasta and topped with jalapeno peppers, cilantro, cotija cheese, and some seasoning to make this incredible side dish.
Vegan Pasta Salad
Our Vegan Pasta Salad is another good pasta salad that just happens to be vegan.
Cooked pasta (any type of pasta will work, but we choose orzo) is combined with cooked eggplant, Roma tomatoes, and chickpeas. That’s all tossed together in a big bowl with fresh parsley, olives, and a generous amount of olive oil, lemon juice, and other seasoning.
Caprese Tortellini Salad
Tortellini definitely counts as pasta, so of course, this Caprese Tortellini Salad gets a spot on our list of pasta salad recipes.
We use spinach and cheese tortellini (although you can use whatever type you like best) as the base, then add sliced cherry tomatoes, and mozzarella balls to make a side salad that’s great either hot or cold.
Which of these Pasta Salad recipes will you try first? Let us know in the comments.