Nothing says summer like a cold pasta salad! This is my husband’s and my favorite pasta salad recipe. He started making this when we lived in southern California—more than six years ago. We haven’t cooked this in a couple years, but it deserves a comeback, especially with summer approaching! Summery pasta salads are perfect for barbecues, birthday parties, potlucks, and cook-offs—basically, all things summer! If you’re a pasta lover, then you’ll love my Vegetarian Lasagna, Fettucine Alfredo, Shrimp Scampi, Creamy Spaghetti Carbonara recipes!
There is something about the cheese being cut into cubes that really resonates with me in this dish. Or, maybe cheese just resonates with me! The fresh taste of the cucumbers give this salad the perfect fresh summery flavor while the Italian dressing gives it some zest and added flavor.
You can make this in about 20 minutes, and another 20 minutes is needed to allow for cooling. If you ask me, 20 minutes is quick for a delicious and savory pasta salad! My easy vegetarian side dish contains tri-colored rotini pasta, cheddar cheese, mozzarella, cucumber, onion, Italian dressing, black pepper, and as optional ingredients, olives, cherry tomatoes, grated carrots, and so forth.
Is there a Vegan Version?
Absolutely! Just sub vegan cheese for the cheddar and mozzarella and you’re good to go! You can also omit the cheese altogether if you wish.
How to make the best Italian Pasta Salad
STEP 1: Cook the pasta according to the directions. You want it to be fully cooked, past al dente, for this droolworthy dish. After you’ve drained the rotini, add it to a large bowl.
Let it cool off for about 20 minutes as you don’t want the cheese to instantly melt as soon as it is mixed in with the pasta. To expedite the cooling process, cover the bowl with plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate it for about 10 minutes, or until cool.
STEP 2: While the pasta cools, capitalize on the time by getting ahead and peeling and chopping the cucumber, dicing the onion, and dicing the cheddar and mozzarella cheeses. That way, when the pasta has cooled, all the remaining ingredients will be ready to be added and stirred to combine.
STEP 3: As soon as the pasta has cooled, add the cheddar, mozzarella, cucumber, onion, Italian dressing, black pepper, and any optional ingredients to the bowl of pasta and mix until well incorporated. If it’s missing spice, add more pepper. If it needs more dressing, add more. You can easily customize this recipe to fit your taste and if you want more cheese, add more. If you want more dressing, pour more in. If you want more cucumber or onion, toss more in.
STEP 4: Cover the bowl or store in a bowl with a lid, in the refrigerator, for at least one hour, until chilled.
STEP 5: If you make this dreamy pasta salad recipe, don’t forget to leave a rating and comment!
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Ingredients and Cooking Tips
- Tri-colored rotini pasta. Tri-colored rotini pasta is the main component of this recipe, the pasta salad is delicious when combined with the rest of the ingredients.
- Cheddar cheese. Diced into cubes, the cheddar cheese chunks taste best. Combined with pasta and cucumbers, the cheddar taste really goes a long way.
- Mozzarella cheese. Combined with cheddar, the softer mozzarella is delicious in this dish.
- Cucumber. Cucumber gives this salad a fresh and crispy crunch that is definitely warranted.
- Onion. Just a little goes far in this dish. All you need is enough to taste it in every bite, while the flavor remains subtle.
- Italian dressing. This is the best part of the recipe, in my opinion. It binds all the other ingredients together in a savory sauce. Drizzle extra Italian dressing on each portion as the pasta quickly absorbs the dressing. Another option is to drizzle the top of each portion with olive oil.
- Freshly cracked black pepper. Just enough to give it some flair without overdoing it. If you want to overdo the pepper, feel free to, but if you’re feeding kids, you may want to hold back.
Final Thoughts
Finally, if you make this Italian Pasta Salad, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! I love to hear from everyone who makes this recipe and always try my best to respond to all comments.
If you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag #elisemccollister on Instagram! It makes me so happy to see your recipe photos!
Italian Pasta Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
- 16 oz. tri-colored rotini pasta cooked
- 1 c cheddar cheese diced into ½-inch cubes
- 1 c mozzarella diced into ½-inch cubes
- 1 cucumber peeled and seeded, diced into ½-inch cubes
- ¼ c onion diced
- ½ c Italian dressing
- 4-5 twists black pepper freshly cracked
- olives, halved cherry tomatoes, grated carrots, and so forth optional
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Drain it and pour it into a large bowl. Let it cool or expedite the cooling process by covering the bowl of hot pasta with plastic wrap and chilling in the refrigerator for 20 minutes, or until cooled. I let mine cool off by letting it sit out on the counter for about 30 minutes. You don’t want to add the cheese when the pasta is hot because it may melt the cheese.
- Add the cheddar, mozzarella, cucumber, onion, Italian dressing, black pepper, and any optional ingredients to the bowl of pasta and mix until well incorporated. If it’s missing spice, add more pepper. If it needs more dressing, add more. Feel free to add more or less cucumber, onion, etc., to customize the taste.
- If you make this recipe, don't forget to leave a rating and comment!
Notes
Nutrition (per serving)
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