Pasta Salad with Homemade Italian Dressing
This easy, throw together Pasta Salad with Homemade Italian Dressing is loaded with crisp veggies, juicy tomatoes, chickpeas, cheddar cheese, and green olives. It's bright and fresh with a zesty Italian flavor!
Ingredients
Pasta Salad Ingredients:
- 1 pound fusilli or rotini shaped pasta see notes for other pasta options
- 1 cup cauliflower florets cut in bite size pieces
- 1 cup broccoli florets cut in bite size pieces
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 (6 oz) can whole green or black pitted olives, drained
- 1 cup cubed cheddar cheese
- 1 (15.5 oz) can chickpeas or garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
- grated parmesan
Homemade Italian Dressing Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup olive oil make sure it's good quality
- 4 tbsp red wine or white wine vinegar
- 2 small lemons juiced and zested
- 1 garlic clove, grated or minced
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp pepperoncini's, finely chopped
- 2 tsp honey or agave
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped fine
- 3 tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese not the kind in the can
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
- Start by cooking the pasta according to package directions. I like my pasta al dente. Make sure to rinse the pasta well in a colander with cold water once it is cooked.
- Meanwhile, prepare veggies, cheese, and other salad ingredients.
- Make dressing by adding all the dressing ingredients to either a mason jar or blender. If blending, leave out the parmesan and mix it in using a whisk.
Assemble Pasta Salad:
- Add noodles and other salad ingredients to a large bowl. Pour on all of the dressing. It will look like a lot but the pasta will absorb most of it. Toss with a large spoon until well coated and place in the refrigerator for at least 30-minutes before serving. Give it a good toss before diving in and sprinkle with extra parmesan if desired.
Notes
Tips:
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- Cook pasta al dente. If using a spiral pasta, especially, cook just until al dente. This will prevent the pasta from breaking apart when all the ingredients are tossed together.
- Other Pasta shapes that work great for pasta salad: Penne, Bowtie, Macaroni, and Orecchiette.
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- Rinse pasta in cold water after it's cooked. I would not recommend this for all pasta recipes, but for cold pasta salads, it's necessary. First it stops the cooking. Second it removes the excess starch you don't want or need when making a cold pasta salad.
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- Chop veggies into bite size pieces. I like to have the perfect bite of everything. A good rule of thumb is to chop all your veggies and pasta ingredients to the size of pasta you use.
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- Use a blender or mason jar to mix dressing. If you want a smoother consistency, use a blender to mix the ingredients until smooth. Mason jars work great because you can toss everything in and shake it up.
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- Use a large bowl to mix ingredients. This recipe makes a nice big bowl so make sure you use an extra large bowl to toss the ingredients together.
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- Use a microplane to grate the garlic clove. If you don't mind having bits of garlic in the dressing, mincing will be just fine. I like the garlic flavor without biting into pieces of fresh garlic. A microplane will grate the garlic super fine so it basically melts into the dressing.
- Make ahead. If you’re making this pasta salad more than 4 hours ahead of time, keep the dressing separate from the pasta ingredients. Toss everything together 30-minutes and up to 4 hours before serving. Give it another good toss before diving in!
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings: 8 | |
| Amount per serving | |
| Calories | 533 |
| % Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat 24g | 31% |
| Saturated Fat 7.2g | 36% |
| Cholesterol 25mg | 8% |
| Sodium 288mg | 13% |
| Total Carbohydrate 62.3g | 23% |
| Dietary Fiber 7.3g | 26% |
| Total Sugars 6.8g | |
| Protein 20.5g | |
| Vitamin D 2mcg | 10% |
| Calcium 265mg | 20% |
| Iron 4mg | 24% |
| Potassium 380mg | 8% |