Greek Tortellini Salad
We love this twist on a pasta salad, using tortellini is so much more fun (and tasty)! I bring this salad all the time to picnics, potlucks, and summer backyard BBQ’s.
Have you tried using tortellini in pasta salads? The little cheese packed pasta pockets hold so much extra cheesy flavor that adds such a tasty element to the salad as a whole. And, you can play around with flavors and use other flavors of tortellini if you’d like!
This tortellini salad is all about showcasing bold Greek flavors from veggies, cheese, and the homemade Greek dressing. The beauty of this flavor is the combination of sour, savory, and tangy notes paired with tender bites of pasta and fresh, crisp vegetables. It truly is a perfect summer dish that will compliment grilled Greek chicken at barbecues as much as cold sandwiches at picnics. It’s also a lovely light lunch on a warm day.
You can make this salad the day before and let all those beautiful ingredients marinate together to infuse pasta with so much flavor, every bite will pop! I’ve found that making this pasta salad the day before I plan on serving it simplifies the already easy process even more.
Lyuba’s Tips For Making Greek Tortellini Salad
- Tortellini – You can find tortellini in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. It’s fast and easy to cook, but make sure to cool it down to room temperature before adding other ingredients. For this tortellini salad, choose four cheese tortellini when possible.
- Making the dressing – This dressing is as easy and combining all of the ingredients together in a dressing shaker and shaking well. You can easily make the dressing ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator!
- Dressing the salad – Make sure to dress the salad right before serving. Tortellini is pasta so it will soak up the dressing if it’s dressed too early.
- This tortellini salad is great cold or room temperature! Personally, I prefer it at room temperature because some ingredients in the dressing and tortellini filling do solidity. It is a personal preference though!
Make Ahead Suggestions
- I actually highly encourage making this salad ahead of time! Making Greek tortellini salad ahead of time will actually give all ingredients time to marinate together and infuse pasta with delicious flavors.
- Prepare tortellini salad according to the recipe and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. You can make it up to 1 day ahead of time for the freshest results. Make sure to stir it well before refrigerator and before serving to that the dressing is spread evenly throughout.
- Just remember, that pasta tends to soak up some of the liquids as it sits. So you may need to add a little more Greek dressing before serving.
- Leftover tortellini salad can be stored in a closed container, in the refrigerator, for 3-4 days.
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Greek Tortellini Salad Recipe
Ingredients
Tortellini Salad:
- 20 oz four cheese tortellini
- 8 oz cherry tomatoes
- 1 large cucumber washed and peeled
- 1 small red onion
- 1 red bell pepper
- 6 oz banana peppers drained
- 6 oz pitted black olives drained
- 5 oz crumbled Feta cheese
Greek Dressing:
- 1/2 cup canola or vegetables oil
- 2 lemons juice only
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 2-3 garlic cloves pressed
- 2 tbsp fresh minced dill weed
- 2 tbsp fresh minced parsley
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Cook tortellini according to the package instructions, drain, and set aside to cool to room temperature.
- Slice cucumber, onions, and bell pepper. Cut cherry tomatoes in half and olives can be cut in half too. Add all the cut vegetables, Feta cheese, and banana peppers to a large mixing bowl with the cooled tortellini. Gently mix it all together.
- To make the dressing, combine oil, lemon juice, vinegar, pressed garlic, herbs, salt, and pepper together in a jar with a lid. Close the lid tight and shake it very well.
- Pour dressing all over the the salad and mix well. If some of the tortellini is stuck together, it should come apart once mixed with the dressing, You can gently pull it apart once it’s mixed as well.
- Store in a closed container, in the refrigerator, until ready to serve.
Notes
- Make Ahead Suggestions: I actually highly encourage making this salad ahead of time! Making Greek tortellini salad ahead of time will actually give all ingredients time to marinate together and infuse pasta with delicious flavors. Prepare tortellini salad according to the recipe and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. You can make it up to 1 day ahead of time for the freshest results. Make sure to stir it well before refrigerator and before serving to that the dressing is spread evenly throughout.
- Storing: Leftover tortellini salad can be stored in a closed container, in the refrigerator, for 3-4 days.
- Serving Suggestions: Steaks are great, whether it’s a grilled steak or pan fried steak.
You can also serve it with grilled chicken like Chicken Souvlaki or Jerk Chicken.
Try it with fish like simple grilled salmon or citrus butter grilled salmon.
Nutrition
More Summer BBQ Recipes We Love
Categories:
Backyard BBQ Recipes, Mediterranean Recipes, Most Popular Recipes, Pasta Recipes, Salad Recipes, Side Dishes,All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
I don’t like feta cheese. What else can I use.. it sounds delicious and I’d love to make it.
Hi RoseMary, I would use a mild cheese maybe cheddar of the block cut into pieces or a fresh mozzarella would be good.
This was delicious! I used Kalamata olives, because I had a jar of them. This was a perfect meal for a warm summer day. Thank you for another tasty dish!
So glad you liked the recipe, Amy!
How much garlic to use in dressing? it’s mentioned pressed garlic in the directions but not in the ingredient list. Help?
Other recipes call for two cloves of garlic.
Look so yummy and tasty. I will try doing tomorrow. Thanks for your nice recipe…
It’s a great recipe for a delicious Mediterranean salad. The only hard part is that the recipe is made for 8 and there are only two of us. The tortellini come in a 20 oz package which sort of forced the larger volume. That being said, I’m smiling. Thanks for the recipe.
I am so pleased you liked it, Kent!
For the Greek Tortellini Salad, can you use olive oil instead of canola and vegetable oil ?
Hi Cissy,
Yes, you can use olive oil instead. I hope you enjoy it!
The Greek Tortellini Salad, can you use olive oil instead of canola or vegetable salad ?
I am very happy to have found this information that I have been looking for.
Thanks for sharing it was so good!
If substituting dried herbs how much of each? Thanking you in advance. This looks delicious by the way!