Easy Italian Pasta Salad

Get ready for all those picnics and barbecues now that summer is on its way. This Italian Pasta Salad Recipe is perfect for all those backyard get togethers.

Cold Italian Pasta Salad

Are you looking for a delicious, Italian-style meal or side dish that you can whip together in no time?

This quick and easy Italian pasta salad is a great option! It's very much like antipasto salad without all of the fuss and a much simpler version, taking less than 30 minutes to throw together.

Perfect for a summer potluck, a BBQ, or a healthy weeknight dinner, this pasta salad is sure to become a crowd favorite.

This article will provide an easy-to-follow recipe, tips for substituting certain ingredients to make it even easier, and suggestions for variations and swaps.

With the right ingredients and a little know-how, you can create a delicious and memorable Italian pasta salad in a fraction of the time it would take to make traditional antipasto salad.

Recipes Using Kraft Dressing

I've made many of the recipes at the Kraft website over the years. One of my favorites is a pasta recipe very similar to the one that I have made today.

Over the years I lost the original recipe  so now I just use instincts and whatever vegetables I have on hand while I am making it. 

Cold Summer Pasta Salads

Summer time is one of my favorite times of the year for throwing together a cold pasta salad. There are so many delicious pasta salad recipes that are perfect to serve at this time of the year.

Pasta salads can be made in so many different ways with so many different combinations of pasta, vegetables, dressing and seasonings.

Pasta salads come in very handy when entertaining a crowd or just feeding the family.

Zest up your dinner with this easy Kraft Zesty Italian Pasta Salad.

Recipe Ingredients

For this cold Italian pasta salad you will need a box of tri-colored pasta, cherry tomatoes, fresh broccoli florets, diced sweet bell peppers, zesty Italian Dressing, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste. 

• perfect pasta for this salad: tri-color rigatoni works very well for this recipe made with an oil based salad dressing. The rigatoni pasta shape allows the Italian dressing to cling to the spiral shape of the pasta noodle. You could also use bow tie pasta.
• pasta salad dressing: I used Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing for this easy pasta salad because it is packed full of flavor and easy to find. You could use homemade Italian dressing also.
• fresh tomatoes: red cherry tomatoes, yellow or heirloom cherry tomatoes can be used. You could even cut large garden tomato into wedges and add to the pasta. Or if you have dried cherry tomatoes you can used them also.
• raw broccoli: cut the fresh broccoli into bite size florets
• sweet bell peppers: use a combination of green, red or yellow sweet peppers
• fresh Parmesan cheese: grated or shredded to add to the pasta salad and more for topping the serving bowl. Fresh Parmesan is best but in a pinch you could use the canned powdered Parmesan cheese. You will need to adjust the amount. Start with half as much powdered and then make adjustments.
• salt: pasta salads need more salt then most recipes. Start with a teaspoon and adjust as needed for taste.
• ground black pepper to taste

Recipe Prep

Prep work: If you want to quickly make this pasta salad recipe in under 30 minutes prepare the vegetables before getting started.

1. Wash and drain all of the vegetables with cold water.
2. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half, trim and cut the broccoli into bite size pieces, dice the sweet bell peppers.
3. Use a vegetable chopper to quickly dice the peppers.

Recipe Directions

• Step 1: Cook the tri-colored pasta el dente following the instructions on the packaging. Drain very well in a colander before mixing the salad.

• Step 2: Add the broccoli, tomatoes and diced sweet bell peppers to the bowl.

• Step 3: Add the shredded Parmesan cheese, salt and ground black pepper to the mixing bowl.

• Step 4: Using two large wooden spoons toss the spiral pasta and vegetables together.

• Step 5: Pour the Zesty Italian Dressing over the pasta salad ingredients in the bowl.

• Step 6: Use a large spoon to toss the dressing with the pasta salad ingredients.

Toss until the dressing has coated all of the pasta and the vegetables are evenly distributed through out the spiral pasta.

• Step 7: Refrigerate for at a minimum of 2 hours before serving. I like to refrigerate this type of cold salad overnight to allow the pasta to absorb the flavors of the dressing.

• Step 8: Before serving remove the salad from the refrigerator and stir well to mix in any Italian dressing that may have settled on the bottom of the bowl.

• Optional: Transfer the salad to a serving bowl if needed and sprinkle the top with Parmesan.

Cold Italian Pasta Salad add ins

While this quick and easy pasta salad has no meat you can easily take it to another level by adding some Italian salad add ins. It is very similar to antipasto salad but so much easier to make.

Some optional ingredients you can add are below if you like a hearty pasta salad or need to feed a crowd.

• add sliced pepperoni or cubed salami if you want a heartier Italian pasta salad.
• add mini mozzarella balls.
• add sliced black olives.

Recipe FAQs

Expert Recipe Tips

• Cook the pasta el dente. As the finished recipe chills the pasta will absorb some of the dressing. If the pasta is over cooked it could turn very mushy and ruin your salad.
• Use the freshest vegetables. Fresh vegetables are crisp and add a nice bite to pasta salads.
• Real Parmesan verses powdered Parmesan: If using powdered decrease the amount to ¼ cup and adjust if needed.

More Pasta Salad Recipes

• Broccoli Tomato Pasta Salad
• Asparagus Tomato Pasta Salad
• Sour Cream Cheddar Pasta Salad
• Pea Pasta Salad
• Pasta Medley Salad

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You might also like these other cold pasta salad recipes.

• Broccoli and Tomato Pasta Salad
• Grilled Corn Casserole recipe
• 5 Bean Salad Recipe