This fresh, easy pasta salad recipe comes together in under 30 minutes! Tossed in a tangy vinaigrette & filled with veggies, it's a sure cookout hit.
Today’s recipe is a picnic-perfect pasta salad! Every cookout needs a great pasta salad, and this is the one that I’ll be making all summer long. It comes together in no time, it’s full of fresh ingredients, and it packs a flavorful punch.
I took extra care to make sure that all of this week’s recipes are not just easy, but also easy to make in advance… because I totally get that you don’t want to be futzing with your salad when you could be spending time outside with your friends.
Note: if you do decide to make this in advance, toss on some whole basil leaves before serving to make your salad instantly prettier.
Pasta Salad Ingredients
I’ve made many pasta salads before (see here and here), but I realized that I didn’t have a really good classic pasta salad with a vinaigrette dressing on the site. This recipe is easy and fresh – along with the pasta, I toss in juicy cherry tomatoes, tangy feta cheese, a generous handful of arugula, chickpeas for protein, pine nuts & little cucumbers for crunch, and lots of fresh parsley and basil.
The dressing is easy to make: it’s a zesty mix of olive oil, lemon, garlic, Dijon, herbs & seasonings – I like to use herbes de Provence but Italian seasoning would be equally good in its place.
How to Make Pasta Salad
Making this recipe is a breeze! Just follow these simple steps:
- Cook your pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water. Drain it, toss it with some olive oil, and set it aside to cool.
- Chop your cherry tomatoes and cucumbers, mince the parsley, and crumble the feta.
- Whisk together the dressing ingredients.
- And toss everything together in a big bowl! Season to taste and dig in.
My Best Pasta Salad Tips
- Cook your pasta a little longer than normal. It should be just a tad past al dente (but not mushy) so that the pasta stays soft when it cools. I find that the higher time range listed on box instructions is usually just about right for pasta salad.
- Let your pasta cool completely before tossing it with the other ingredients. If it’s still warm, the hot pasta will start to cook and wilt the veggies. No one’s a fan of warm cucumber, so make sure you’re tossing cold pasta into this dish.
- Save some herbs for garnish! This pasta salad recipe is a great one to make ahead, but if you do, save some of the herbs and pine nuts for garnish. The pine nuts will keep their crunchy texture and the herbs will be extra fresh, pretty, and flavorful.
- Taste and adjust. Like most salad recipes, this one is super flexible, so be sure to taste and adjust it to your liking before serving. Add more lemon if you prefer a tangier salad, toss in more greens if you’re all about the veggies, and always, always salt to taste.
Easy Pasta Salad Recipe Variations
This pasta salad is fantastic as-is, but feel free to change it up to match your tastes or the ingredients in your pantry. Here are a few suggestions:
- Make it vegan! Use olives or sun dried tomatoes in place of the feta.
- Make it gluten-free! Use gluten-free pasta or quinoa in place of traditional noodles.
- Go Greek. To make this recipe more of a Greek pasta salad, add kalamata or black olives and a half cup of thinly sliced red onion.
- Try a caprese combo. Use halved mini mozzarella balls in place of the feta.
- Try another herb. Fresh oregano would be lovely in place of the mint in this salad, and thyme would also be a great addition.
- Swap out the arugula for spinach, or leave it out altogether if you prefer a higher pasta: veggie ratio.
- Or roast your chickpeas for extra crunch.
If you love this pasta salad recipe…
Try this broccoli salad, this watermelon salad, this couscous salad, or this summer slaw next!
Easy Pasta Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups uncooked fusilli pasta
- 2 heaping cups halved cherry tomatoes
- 1 ½ cups cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups arugula
- 1 cup Persian cucumbers, sliced into thin half moons
- 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1 cup basil leaves, torn
- ½ cup minced parsley
- ½ cup chopped mint
- ¼ cup toasted pine nuts
Dressing
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, more for drizzling
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence, or dried Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Prepare the pasta according to the package directions, or until slightly past al dente.
- Meanwhile, make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, garlic, herbes de Provence, red pepper flakes, and salt. (Note: the dressing will have a strong flavor, it’ll mellow once it coats all of the pasta salad ingredients).
- Drain the pasta, toss it with a little olive oil (so that it doesn’t stick together) and let it cool to room temp. Transfer to a large bowl with the tomatoes, chickpeas, arugula, cucumbers, feta cheese, basil, parsley, mint, and pine nuts. Pour the dressing and toss to coat. Season to taste with more lemon, salt, pepper, and/or a drizzle of olive oil, if desired, and serve.
How long will the pasta salad stay good for in the fridge?
Hi Nicole, 3 days or so, but it is best on the first day.
What is the nutrition and calories per serving of this amazing and fresh salad?
Hi Dar, I’m sorry, I don’t count calories so I don’t post nutrition facts.
Delicious and healthy pasta salad. I made it to share with my grandparents and my grandma loves it! Love the fresh flavors and the dressing combination. Works well together 🙂
I’m so glad you all loved it!
Currently eating this as I type. It is absolutely delicious. I forgot Dijon at the store, but still taste great!
I’m so glad you loved it!
This looks great!! Any tips on making it the night before we plan on eating it?
Should we dress it just before eating?
Many thanks in advance
Hi Kat, you can make the whole thing, I’d just wait to sprinkle the fresh herbs until you’re ready to eat. I’d dress it as you make it, otherwise the pasta will dry out.
I made the chick pea salad. Absolutely scrumptious and thank you for sharing.
Hi Kathy, I’m so glad you loved it!
Do you roast the chick peas?
I don’t in this salad.
This was delicious. So much flavor!! Where is your large white bowl from? So cute!
Hi Emma, I’m glad you loved it. The bowl is by Sophie Conran (from Amazon), but I can’t seem to find that exact one right now.
First time see and read, love the recipes and illustrations. Will be trying the recipes.. Awesome
This is my new favorite pasta salad. It is incredibly delicious and so quick to put together. It was definitely a hit at a recent potluck. Thanks for this and all of your other great recipes!
Its such a wonderful salad recipe. Thank you for it.
Hi there! I had fun looking around your website/blog. Your recipe for Summer Salad caught my eye. I had just purchased a big bag of pine nuts, so I toasted them for starters. We have a nice herb garden downstairs behind our condo, so it was easy to get the fresh parsley, basil and thyme for topping. I also had just bought a container of herbes de Provence and didn’t really know what to do with it. You provided the answer. Thanks for sharing your recipe. I’ll be back!
Hi Nancy, I’m so glad the recipe utilized all of those ingredients so well!!
This salad was absolutely delicious and so easy to make! I don’t usually take the time to make comments on items/food, but this is an absolute must to make. So refreshing and it fills you up!
I really enjoyed making this meal. It tasted really good and didn’t take so much time to make… definitely one of my go to recipes now. Thank you:)
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
This recipe is so versatile which makes it fun to recreate over and over again. Thanks for the recipe!
you’re welcome!
Loved this salad! So fresh! Loved all the herbs.
Hi Lisa, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Wow, you are so right – this salad is both amazing + so easy! Made this for a big party we were hosting this weekend and everyone raved about it. Thanks as always!
Hi Lindsay – I’m so glad to hear everyone loved it!
Lindsey thank you so much for this recipe. I love it! Didn’t have fresh basil so I put a couple teaspoons of basil in a tube in the dressing.
I’m surprised at how easy this. Great little thing to snack on my break during company time.
Hi there! I haven’t made pasta salad before, so tomorrow’s the day. I’ll be off to the store for the cherry tomatoes and the cucumber. I always have pine nuts in the freezer and =had all the other ingredients on hand, even the Herbs de Provence! We have an herb garden down behind the condo so I’ll grab a bit of parsley & basil. Yuuum, my mouth’s watering already! Thanks for sharing. I’ll be back.
Hi Nancy, I hope you love the pasta salad!
I like pasta. Its look healthy. Thanks for sharing.
I tried your recipe, it turned to be amazing. My family loved it. Thanks! Keep sharing more 🙂
Sending loads of love!
Laura
https://www.ceraonline.org/
Hi Laura, I’m so glad you and your family loved it!
Now that I’m addicted to the broccoli salad ( damn… did I get brownie points for making that!) This one will be next. Love the dressing idea already.
Hi Elaine, I’m so glad you loved the broccoli salad!