Sometimes easy pasta salad recipes are just what you need. They’re great as side dishes and salad courses, and the heartier ones even make excellent one-dish meals. They’re also great for cookouts and barbecues.
All of these quick and easy pasta salads are simple to make. Some can be served warm, and all of them can be served as cold pasta salad.
With many of these salads, you make the dressing. It takes barely any work to make homemade salad dressings, and it’s always so rewarding.
Also take a look at our green salad recipes!
Best Pasta Salad Recipes
This is a pasta salad that actually made with cold spaghetti noodles. It comes from the central Italian region of Marche.
The ingredients are as simple as possible. Pre-cooked shrimp, arugula and cherry tomatoes tossed with spaghetti in an oil and vinegar dressing.
It's as perfect for a picnic as it is for a potluck.
This is a delicious, pesto, pasta salad that's gluten-free. The recipe for the pesto is included.
You get fresh flavors from the basil, toasty flavors from the pistachios, and a the mildness of the herbed mozzarella.
It's a very good gourmet salad that's easy to make.
Greek pasta salad works as a side dish for any occasion. You make this one with cooked pasta, fresh veggies, kalamata olives, feta cheese, and a homemade Greek salad dressing.
This orzo pasta salad is light, refreshing and quick to make in the Instant Pot. It's full of zesty flavors and healthy ingredients.
And it's harder than you might think. It's got chickpeas for added plant-based protein.
This is a traditional Italian salad called Crudaiola Barese or pasta alla crudaiola. It can serve as a one-dish meal.
It's packed with fresh flavors like tomato and basil. Simple and delicious!
This is a southwest pasta salad recipe that features chicken. It's a one-dish dinner salad that's loaded with flavor.
With black beans, corn, peppers, tomatoes and cheese (along with chicken, pasta and more) in an avocado dressing.
This one is bright and colorful, with seafood and several veggies, black olives, and a parmesan Italian dressing.
It has so much flavor. You can make a big batch and enjoy it again and again over the course of a week or so.
This is a classic Italian pasta salad. It's gluten-free, vegan, plant-based and also dairy-free. It has tricolored pasta, fresh veggies, and a homemade Italian dressing.
It's a quick salad that's easy to make for any occasion.
It only takes 20 minutes to make this vegan pasta salad from start to finish. It's full of simple ingredients that are healthy and colorful.
And it features a recipe for an avocado cilantro dressing which is out of this world.
Sweet, tangy, colorful, and fresh - this Strawberry Avocado Pasta Salad with poppy seeds can be made in under 20 minutes. It's great as a side dish, salad course or main dish.
This pasta salad uses Litehouse Homestyle Ranch, which is the only bottled ranch dressing I buy. It's the best.
It's so easy to make, with a great store-bought dressing, veggies, and any cold pasta you have on hand.
This is a Greek pasta salad, full of fresh, crunchy veggies. It comes with a recipe for homemade Greek vinaigrette.
It has all the classic Greek salad ingredients, including tomatoes, cucumbers, Kalamata, olives, red onion and green pepper.
This is an easy salad to make for a potluck, picnic, BBQ, or just an every day meal. It uses McCormick Salad Supreme seasoning along with rotini, several veggies and mozzarella cheese.
Recipe includes lots of nutritional information and some substitution suggestions.
This pasta recipe feature is pepperoni and cubes of cheese. You can serve it warm or chill it and serve it cold later.
This is a healthy, hearty salad designed for people on a low FODMAP diet. But don't ignore it if you're not on that diet.
It's got delicious chicken and potatoes, cucumber and greens, and some delicious seasonings.