Italian Tortellini Pasta Salad

After years and YEARS of making this tortellini salads, it is STILL our family favorite. It’s almost like taking an Italian Sub and turning it into a pasta salad. But not just any pasta salad, a four cheese tortellini pasta salad.

Making a pasta salad with cheese tortellini instead adds an incredible layer of flavor and texture. It takes you pasta salad game to a whole new level! Just make sure to use cheese tortellini flavor like “four cheese” or “three cheese” and not something like a spinach and mushroom. You don’t want competing flavors in your pasta salad.

Homemade Italian dressing is also a key because you can CHOOSE your ingredients, it adds the best flavor to the salad overall, and you most likely already have the ingredients in the pantry!

Variations and Substitutions

Tortellini – It’s best to get tortellini from 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. 

Meats -I highly recommend that you get better quality meats from the deli section of your grocery store and ask to slice it fresh. You can also control the slice thickness that way. (Substitution: if you can’t find capicola, you can use any of your favorite ham.)

Choose your peppers – you can actually use banana peppers or pepperoncini peppers. Banana peppers are a little milder and pepperoncini are a little spicier.

Make Ahead Instructions

There are two ways to make this Italian tortellini salad ahead of time. You can cook tortellini the day before and then make the rest or the salad when ready. Or, take it a step further and prepare everything except for mixing in the dressing ahead of time. 

• Prepare Just Tortellini: If making tortellini ahead of time, cook and cool tortellini. Mix cooled tortellini with a little bit of Italian dressing or olive oil so it doesn’t stick together too much. Store cooked tortellini in a food storage container with a lid, in the refrigerator, until ready to use. 
• Prepare most of the pasta salad: You can also prepare the salad completely without the dressing and tomatoes. I find it’s best when tomatoes are cut and added to the salad right before serving. If dressing is added the night before to any pasta salad, pasta tends to soak in all the liquid and the salad will be dry.
• Prepare the dressing: combine everything for the dressing and shake it well. Store in an air-tight container or right in a dressing shaker, in the refrigerator.

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Italian Tortellini Pasta Salad Recipe

Homemade dressing is a key to a delicious tortellini salad. I combine an easy homemade Italian dressing with four cheese tortellini, salami, capicola ham, pepperoni, fresh mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, banana peppers, and fresh herbs.

4.88 from 8 votes

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Course: pasta, Side Dish

Cuisine: American, Italian

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 13 minutes minutes

Total Time: 33 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 (Makes about 9 cups)

Calories: 839kcal

Author: Lyuba Brooke

Ingredients

Tortellini Salad:

• ▢ 20 oz three cheese tortellini
• ▢ 10 oz cherry tomatoes cut in half
• ▢ 2/3 cup banana peppers chopped
• ▢ 1/4 lb capicola ham chopped
• ▢ 1/4 lb pepperoni chopped
• ▢ 1/3 lb hard salami chipped
• ▢ 8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese chopped
• ▢ 2 Tbsp minced Italian parsley
• ▢ 6-8 basil leaves minced
• ▢ Salt

Dressing:

• ▢ 1/2 cup virgin olive oil
• ▢ 2 Tbsp white balsamic vinegar white wine vinegar can be substituted
• ▢ 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• ▢ 3 garlic cloves pressed
• ▢ 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes Use more or less according to personal taste
• ▢ 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
• ▢ Salt

Instructions

• Cook tortellini according to the package, drain well and transfer into a large mixing bowl. Drizzle with a little bit of olive oil so it won’t stick together and let it cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.
• Chop meats, tomatoes, banana peppers and cheese. Add it to the cooled tortellini in the bowl.
• Mince herbs and add it to the mixing bowl as well. Add some salt and mix well.
• In a jar with a lid, combine ingredients for the dressing. Close the jar and shake well.
• Pour dressing into the bowl with tortellini mixture and mix until fully incorporated.
• Cover and refrigerate salad before serving.

Video

Notes

• Serving: This 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.
• Storing: To store leftover tortellini salad, transfer it into a food storage container with a lid and keep it refrigerated. Tortellini salad will last for 3-5 days refrigerated. You may need to add a little more dressing after it’s been in the fridge for a while because pasta tends to soak up all the dressing liquids.

Make Ahead: 

• Prepare Just Tortellini: If making tortellini ahead of time, cook and cool tortellini. Mix cooled tortellini with a little bit of Italian dressing or olive oil so it doesn’t stick together too much. Store cooked tortellini in a food storage container with a lid, in the refrigerator, until ready to use. 
• Prepare most of the pasta salad: You can also prepare the salad completely without the dressing and tomatoes. So prepare pasta, meats, cheese, banana peppers, and herbs and mix it all together. Transfer everything into a food storage container with a lid. Store the salad mixture in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Add dressing and cut tomatoes when ready to serve. 

Nutrition

Calories: 839kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 38g | Fat: 56g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Cholesterol: 122mg | Sodium: 1959mg | Potassium: 344mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 700IU | Vitamin C: 25.3mg | Calcium: 357mg | Iron: 4.3mg

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Storing Recommendation

To store leftover tortellini salad, transfer it into a food storage container with a lid and keep it refrigerated. Tortellini salad will last for 3-5 days refrigerated. You may need to add a little more dressing after it’s been in the fridge for a while because pasta tends to soak up all the dressing liquids. 

Some More Tortellini And Pasta Salad Recipes To Try

• Cheddar Bacon Ranch Tortellini Salad
• Greek Tortellini Salad
• Antipasto Pasta Salad
• Creamy Tortellini with Peas Asparagus and Bacon
• Our Family Favorite Pasta Salad

Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles on May 27th, 2015.