Pasta Salad Recipe

All of the ingredients for pasta salad have been thoroughly tossed in a large bowl.

5 from 2 votes

This is the our family's favorite Pasta Salad because it has it all! It has a perfect balance of sweet, savory, and tart flavors in each and every bite.

Prep Time15

Cook Time12

Cool down:30

Total Time57

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 717kcal

Author: Lyuba Brooke

Ingredients

Pasta Salad:

1 lb rotini pasta
8-10 oz cherry tomatoes
1 red bell pepper
1/2 red onion
4 oz shaved Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup banana peppers liquid drained
1 lb bacon

Dressing:

3/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp Italian seasoning
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes more or less to taste
2 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp coarse sea salt more or less to taste
1/2 tsp black pepper

Instructions

Bacon:

Preheat oven to 400°, line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil, and place a wire rack inside the baking sheet. You may need to lightly grease the wire rack to prevent bacon from sticking.
Lay raw bacon strips on the wire rack and bake for 13-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of bacon. (Thick cut bacon may take up to 25 minutes.)
Take bacon out of the oven and set aside to cool enough to crumble.

Pasta Salad:

Cook pasta in salted water according to the package instructions, drain, and cool completely before mixing in the other ingredients.
While pasta is cooking and cooling, slice onion and bell pepper and cut cherry tomatoes in half.
For the dressing: combine all the dressing ingredients in a salad dressing shaker or a mason jar with a lid and shake well.
Combine cooled pasta, onions, bell pepper, tomatoes, crumbled bacon, banana peppers, and shaved Parmesan cheese in a large mixing bowl and mix to combine.
Note: if you want to serve pasta salad at room temperature, you can definitely do that. Simply combine everything with the dressing, mix well and serve.
If you want to serve the salad cold, mix in half the dressing with pasta salad mixture and the refrigerate if for about 2 hours. When ready to serve, mix pasta salad with remaining dressing and serve.

Video

Notes

Make Ahead: You can definitely prepare the pasta salad ahead of time but no more than 1 day ahead. If made too far in advance, the vegetables will wilt. To make pasta salad ahead of time, prepare everything according to the recipe but only mix in half of the dressing. Make sure to cover the pasta salad air-tight and refrigerate it until you’re ready to serve. Refrigerate the remaining dressing as well. Mix in other half of the pasta salad dressing right before serving.
Storing Tips: To store leftovers, transfer it into an air-tight food storage container with a lid and keep it refrigerated. Pasta salad will last for 3-4 days in the refrigerator. 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.

Nutrition