Pasta Salad is a long loved recipe in our home. Taught to us by my incredibly talented father-in-law, it has stuck with us ever since. It is so so easy and the perfect dinner to whip up on a busy weeknight! This Easy Pasta Salad is also absolutely perfect for meal prep lunches!
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You can use so many different combinations of vegetables. Have fun with it, use whatever vegetables that you love! This recipe is a great "fridge clearer" to use up all that extra produce in your fridge before it goes bad.
some other veggies you could include
- Broccoli Florets
- Fresh Peas
- Zucchini
- Celery
- Oven Roasted Cauliflower
- Black/Green Olives
- Shredded Carrots
We have also used cubed spicy Italian sausages in place of ham and it was wonderful!
about the basil pesto...
If you have been around for a while, you will know about my obsession with a very specific Basil Pesto. It is the Kirkland Basil Pesto and it is the BEST. It has the best basil flavor, it's not too oily, and it packs some serious garlic (which I love!)
If you love pesto as much as we do, you have to check out our Basil Pesto and Chicken Baked Pasta!
*This is NOT sponsored, I just truly LOVE this product.
Mixing caesar dressing with basil pesto?
TRUST ME on this one. The first time I suggested mixing the two on our regular pasta salad, Eddie shot the weirdest look at me from across the room. He looked majorly concerned and very confused. Then I did it... and boy am I ever glad that I did. This is literally the only way we eat pasta salad now. This is the best dressing secret that no one knows about! So no matter how weird you think it is, you have to try it!
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📖 Recipe
Easy Pasta Salad
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Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
- 500 g Tubular Pasta uncooked
- 3 cups Ham cut into ½” cubes
- 2 cups Marble Cheese cut into ½” cubes
- 1 large Red Pepper diced
- 1 large Yellow Pepper diced
- 3 Roma Tomatoes diced
- 1 large Cucumber diced
- 1 cup Red Onion diced
- 6 Tablespoons Basil Pesto
- 6 Tablespoons Caesar Dressing
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add a pinch of salt (optional). Cook the pasta to package directions until fully cooked. Strain, and run under cold water until the pasta noodles are completely cooled. This stops the cooking of the noodles so they do not become over cooked and soggy while cooling.
- In a very large mixing bowl, combine pasta, ham, cheese, red pepper, yellow pepper, tomatoes, cucumber, and red onion. Toss to combine.
- Add dressing before serving. Use approximately 1 Tablespoon of basil pesto and 1 Tablespoon of caeser dressing per serving.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator and it will vary based on the ingredients that you use.
Allison
Will be making this on holidays. Great ideas keep them coming..