Our Favorite Spring and Summer Pasta Salad Recipes
Photo by Bakd&Raw by Karolin Baitinger/Unsplash
When the weather gets warmer, hot food seems less and less appealing. Enter the pasta salad. It’s cool, it’s refreshing and it generally only takes a few minutes to make. Boil the pasta, chop some veggies and make a quick dressing, and you’ll be ready to throw your pasta salad together in under 30 minutes in many cases. Plus, it’s ultra-versatile: Almost anything you have in your fridge or pantry can be added to a pasta salad for more flavor or bulk.
That’s why I’ve gathered some of my all-time favorite pasta salad recipes to share with you. Follow them to a T, or just use them as a guide to inspire your own pasta creations. Either way, you’ll be eating delicious, filling salads all spring and summer long.
1. Easy Tortellini Salad from A Couple Cooks
Tortellini salad may just be the best kind of pasta salad, which is why this easy tortellini salad from A Couple Cooks should be on your must-make list. Apart from the pasta, the artichokes may just be the most important ingredient here—they add a light, almost floral flavor to the tang of tomatoes and the brightness of the basil.
2. Deviled Egg Macaroni Pasta Salad from Trial and Eater
Can’t decide whether you want to make pasta or egg salad? This delicious deviled egg macaroni pasta salad from Trial and Eater gives you the best of both worlds. Egg yolks play a role in the creamy sauce, and the chopped-up egg whites add some of that bouncy, eggy texture to the salad. Celery and red onion provide the crunch any good pasta salad needs, and the paprika is a colorful finishing touch.
3. Lemony Pasta Salad with Crisped Capers from Bon Appétit
Crispy capers take this lemony pasta salad from Bon Appétit from basic to bombshell. And if the salty, umami intensity of the capers isn’t enough, this recipe calls for smashed olives as well. The oily olives play exceptionally well with the brightness of the lemon.
4. Soba Salad with Seaweed, Cucumbers and Asparagus from Serious Eats
If you want to switch up your standard salad routine, you have to make this soba salad from Serious Eats. Just cook the noodles, blanch the asparagus and throw all the ingredients together. We love the ocean-y flavor of the wakame, and a sprinkling of sesame seeds adds some earthiness and crunch to the final dish.