Rainbow Pasta Salad
Rainbow Pasta Salad
If you’re looking for a fresh and bright pasta salad, this vibrant Rainbow Pasta Salad is easy and delicious! A perfect side dish for summer dinners.
Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Bothwell Cheese. I have been compensated for my time and recipe creation. This recipe, all pictures and words are my own. I love cheese.
Pasta Salads are the best!
I think one of my most favourite summer foods are pasta salads. They pair perfectly with burgers, steak, roast chicken, or ribs for dinner, or on their own for a light lunch. And they are the perfect addition to summer picnics and potlucks! I also love that pasta salads are easy to make and can be made a day ahead which is such a great time saver and saves on meal prep stress.
A colourful pasta salad!
This Rainbow Pasta Salad is named as such because it’s loaded up with colourful chopped crisp veggies! There’s just something so appealing and mouthwatering about a salad full of vibrant ingredients. Another great thing about this salad is how versatile it is…add your favourites.
The secret of this salad is…
…that you need to use colourful fresh veggies. Think red, green, yellow, orange, purple, white, and black. Then chop the veggies into small pieces, as this is what makes this pasta salad look unique, bright and delicious.
Rainbow Pasta Salad Recipe Tips
- NOODLES: Use any shape of noodle that you like. This recipe calls for elbow noodles but you can use fusilli, bowtie, or any small pasta.
- CHEESE: You can use any type of cheese. I used small cubes of a spicy black pepper Monterey Jack cheese. But you can also use marble cheese, fresh mozzarella, cheddar, and provolone.
- OLIVES: This recipe calls for whole black pitted olives but if you don’t care for them, feel free to leave them out.
- VEGGIES: To make this a ‘rainbow’ pasta salad, use colourful veggies. Feel free to use the ones I’ve listed below in the recipe card, or change them out for your favourites. Just make sure to chop them up small, this is what makes this pasta salad look unique.
- HERBS: This recipe calls for dried herbs, but of course you can use fresh herbs, you’ll just need to double the amount listed in the recipe card for fresh.
- NEEDS RESTING TIME: This salad needs at least 2 hours resting time to allow all of the flavours to come together. It’s even better if you can let it sit for several hours.
- MAKE AHEAD: You can make this salad the night before you wish to serve it. I think it’s even better after it has sat for a while. Just make sure to give it a good stir before serving.
- LEFTOVERS: This salad is great the next day! Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Just give the salad a good stir before each time you serve it.
Rainbow Pasta Salad
Ingredients
Noodles:
- 1 – 8 oz package of elbow noodles
Salad Dressing:
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup white vinegar
- 2 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp parsley flakes
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1/4 cup chopped green onion
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp ground pepper
Salad Additions:
- 1/3 red bell pepper minced
- 1/3 orange bell pepper minced
- 1/3 yellow bell pepper minced
- 2 tbsp minced red onion
- 2 tbsp chopped green onion
- 1 can pitted whole black olives
- 1 cup cubed cheese
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to the package directions. When the noodles are cooked, drain, then rinse with cold water, making sure to drain well again. Place into a large serving bowl and set aside.
- Combine the oil, vinegar, basil, oregano, parsley, garlic, green onion, parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper.
- Toss the cooled cooked pasta in the dressing.
- Then toss in the minced peppers, red and green onion, and black olives.
- Chill for at least 2 hours. You can also make this salad a day ahead.
- Make sure to stir the salad well before serving it, as the dressing tends to go to the bottom of the bowl.
- Right before serving, toss in the cubes of cheese.
- Enjoy!
Notes
More Pasta Salad Recipes
So many pasta salads, so little time.
I hope you enjoy this easy recipe! Have a delicious day!
