Italian pasta salad is packing a punch of flavor with a homemade Italian dressing. This pasta salad is bursting with goodness – salami, pepperoni, mozzarella, tomatoes, spinach, and pepperoncini!
I have been a long time lover of the cold pasta or vegetable salad.
I think my husband was a little shocked and dismayed the first time he came to a family dinner at my parent’s house. Everyone brings sides and the majority of those sides are cold salads.
My broccoli salad with bacon has been a favorite forever. So is my mama’s classic macaroni salad.
He is not much for these types of salads. They usually have onion and he’s not a fan of that. He’s also weird about cold pasta and potatoes, so you can imagine his struggle.
For my Italian pasta salad recipe, keep scrolling down to the recipe card.
Luckily for him, I love this type of side dish and am happy to eat his portion for him. 😉
This pasta salad with Italian dressing is basically a big ol’ bowl full of heaven. There is SO much good stuff packed into one pasta salad. I bet you won’t want to share!
How to make pasta salad:
First, you have to boil up some pasta. Don’t overcook it, because pasta salad needs a more firm pasta.
You’ll want to let your pasta cool before adding in all the goodies, so drain and rinse under cold water. <— If you have strong feelings about rinsing pasta, go ahead and stick it in the fridge rather than rinsing under cold water, but know that it’s going to stick together a bit when you go to mix it up.
Next, you’ll dice up all the goodies going inside.
For this Italian pasta salad recipe, we’re using a big mix of things – fresh mozzarella, pepperoni, salami, cherry tomatoes, fresh baby spinach, red onion, and pepperoncini. You can adjust these ingredients to fit your tastes with no problem.
Skip the pepperoni for extra salami. Swap the pepperoncini for mild banana peppers. Use grated mozzarella instead of fresh mozzarella. It’s hard to mess this one up, though in my opinion, the recipe is perfect as written. 😉
Stir all that goodness into the pasta and move on to the dressing.
Pasta salad dressing:
If you love Italian dressing (I do!!), you’re going to love my homemade version! It’s perfect for coating the pasta salad.
You’re going to need some olive oil, fresh lemon juice, minced garlic, salt, sugar, oregano, basil, and rosemary.
The sugar does not make this sweet – it’s just a bit to balance out the acidity. I don’t know about you, but in my opinion, sweet Italian dressing is from the devil. I feel the same way about sweet pickles. 😉
Everything just gets whisked together really well. Easy as pie.
Pour the dressing right over your pasta salad, stir to coat, and taste for seasoning. I usually add a bit more salt, but taste it and see what you think.
There you have it – pasta salad with Italian dressing! Easy, right?
I told you this one was simple!
It’s a hearty and filling recipe too. So many things packed into one little side dish. You have to make this for your next get together, friends! You won’t regret it.
Italian Pasta Salad
Ingredients
For the pasta salad
- 1 pound tri-colored rotini
- 8 ounces mozzarella balls
- 8 ounces salami
- 8 ounces pepperoni
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup spinach
- 1/2 cup sliced red onion
- 1/2 cup pepperoncini
For the dressing
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon basil
- 1 teaspoon rosemary
- 1 clove garlic minced
Instructions
- To make the pasta salad, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the rotini and cook until al dente. Drain and rinse under cold water until pasta is cool.
- While the pasta is cooking, cut the mozzarella balls in half. Cut the salami and pepperoni into small pieces. Halve the cherry tomatoes and roughly chop the spinach. Dice the peperoncini into small pieces.
- Add the pasta to a large mixing bowl with the prepared mozzarella, salami, pepperoni, tomatoes, spinach, onion, and pepperoncini.
- To make the dressing, whisk together all of the ingredients until well combined.
- Pour the dressing over the pasta salad and stir well to coat.
- Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes prior to serving.
- Taste and add additional seasoning as desired.
Andi says
So, serious question, could I chop up string cheese instead of using mozzarella balls or shredded mozzarella? I don’t care for cheese in pasta salads, so I want it to be pick-out-able, but tiny mozzarella balls are so expensive!
Karly says
I think I would use a block of mozzarella and chop that into small cubes rather than chop up string cheese. The texture of string cheese is a bit different. 🙂
Mac says
If I wanted to make this the night before, would you suggest mixing everything except the dressing, refrigerating over night, and then mixing 30 minutes prior to serving? Or would this hold up well enough to just make it the night before?
Karly says
I would add half of the dressing to the pasta salad when mixing and reserve the other half for just before serving. Adding a little will help keep the pasta from sticking and adding the rest before serving will keep all of the dressing from soaking into the pasta. 🙂
Sarah says
Just looking at these pictures is making me hungry! Will for sure be making soon!
Karly says
I hope you love it!
Stephanie says
Quick question – for the dressing – fresh oregano, basil and rosemary?
Karly says
I use dried, but you could add in fresh if you have it.
Ruth Woods says
My husband made this salad, it was soon good, it made so much we were able to have it for several meals. Thank you so much for sharing.
Karly says
Glad to hear that!
Feliz says
Would pesto sauce be an unreasonable substitution for dressing? Especially if the pasta salad will be a meal prep dish?
Karly says
I haven’t tried it myself, but it sounds good to me!
Cheryl says
This is my favorite pasta salad. I do add more veggies (cucumbers, red peper) in addition I use feta cheese so ce I always have it on hand. The dressing is fabulous! I used less meat
Rebecca Ros says
I made the salad yesterday and followed the recipe fairly closely (for me!) It was very tasty. It was a challenge to find the ingredients in the size listed. I used fresh herbs since I had them. Note that 1 T. Fresh equals 1 t. Dry. I thought the salt was a bit much, even though I tend to over salt. I did substitute 1 T. Molasses for the sugar, as I’ve read it helps the vinaigrette stay emulsified. I don’t believe it impacted the flavor. I look forward to using the basic recipe with other meat and vegetable combinations.
Janine says
Wow this is an excellent salad. I really love it, tastes very Italian with all the add in’s. The balance of pasta to other ingredients is perfect, the dressing delicious and I love the bite of flavour with the meat and pepperoncini. You could add other things like red pepper etc but honestly why mess with perfection
Karly says
So glad you enjoyed this recipe, Janine! 🙂
Amy Ehlerding says
Just made this for my husband and he LOVED it??. I added only black olives to the recipe. Will DEFINITELY be making this again. Thanks for sharing.
Karly says
Glad it was a hit!
Karl Woods says
The recipe for the Italian Pasta Salad says that it serves 10. What is the serving size.
Thanks!
Karly says
I didn’t measure out the serving size. Just divide by 10 if you’re concerned about the nutrition values – otherwise, a serving can be as big as you like. 😉
Pamela says
How many days can this be kept? In making a lot for school lunches as well as side with dinner.
Karly says
I think it’d last fine for 5 days or so.
Cooki says
I noticed thick chunks pieces of salami? in the picture So how big are these pieces. It certainly isn’t slices that you cut up like the pepperoni that you buy in a package of 50 or so. Does look oh so good. A nice dish to bring to a pot-luck brunch for Mother’s Day.
Karly says
I cut them a bit smaller than the mozzarella balls.
Judy says
Hi Cooki! I haven’t made this recipe yet but when I put salami in pasta salad I usually go to the Deli and ask for a 1 or 2 inch slice/chunk of salami, also sometimes referred to a as a hockey puck of salami. Then dice it up.
Karen says
1 Tablespoon of salt in the dressing???
Karly says
Oh goodness, that should read 1 teaspoon! Thanks for catching that!
Mary Lou Romero says
Why does my pasta have a strang tast
Debbie Long says
Could you use 24 ounces of the pasta?
Karly says
If you increase the pasta, you’ll also want to increase the other ingredients accordingly.
Kelly says
I made this yesterday and it was a total hit!!!! Soooo delicious and everyone said they thought it was part of the catered food!! I will definitely be making this a lot this summer!!