This fresh and easy Summer Pasta Salad has all the best summer salad ingredients, in a light but comforting pasta dish and it comes together in under 30 minutes. The perfect addition to a BBQ and also great for weekly meal prep. High in protein, packed with veggies and bursting with flavor.
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We LOVE a pasta salad. There is just so many ways that you can make it, so you never have to get bored.
This summer pasta salad recipe might just be my favorite though. It makes the most of fresh summer produce and it is so easy to adapt.
This is a mixture of pasta, loads of fresh summer salad ingredients like tomatoes, cucumber, olives and lettuce, some beans for protein and then all brought together with a fresh and light lemon dressing. Oh, and mozzarella!
If you turn up to a BBQ or picnic with this, you are going to be the most loved guest! Looking for more pasta salad recipes? Why not try our protein packed High Protein Pesto Pasta Salad, convenient Meal Prep Pasta Salad Jars, delicious Salmon Pasta Salad or our easy Chicken Pasta Salad?
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Ingredients and Substitutions
A full ingredients list, along with US Customary and Metric measurements, can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Pasta - This is the bulk of the summer pasta salad, and anything goes. Just use a pasta shape rather than spaghetti.
- Salad - We used cherry tomatoes (and sun-dried tomatoes), cucumber, olives, red onion, basil, and arugula (rocket lettuce).
- Beans - A budget way to bulk out this summer pasta salad and also give it a protein boost. These are cannellini beans, but butter beans work too.
- Cheese - Not essential, but everything is better with cheese - right? Use something that isn't going to get lost in this summer salad, like chunks of mozzarella.
- Dressing - We made a lemon vinaigrette, to keep it light and fresh. But free to swap it to your favorite salad dressing.
How To Make a Summer Pasta Salad
Choose a Pasta Base
You want to go with a pasta shape, rather than spaghetti, as everything is meant to be nice and chunky in this summer pasta salad.
You can use spirals, penne, farfalle, rigatoni, fusilli or even macaroni if you want something smaller. You can make this higher in protein by using a protein pasta.
Add Salad Ingredients
The great thing about a summer salad is that you can so many incredible ripe and fresh ingredients that you can add for maximum flavor. As well as what we have already added, other salad ingredients that work well in a summer pasta salad are:
- Corn
- Spinach
- Broccoli
- Scallions (Green onions/Spring onions)
- Bell peppers
- Artichokes
- Celery
- Carrots
- Radishes
- Avocado
- Roasted zucchini (Courgette)
- Roasted eggplant (Aubergine)
- Green beans
Add Protein
We added cannellini beans to give this summer pasta salad recipe a protein boost, but any beans like butter beans or chickpeas will work too. You could even add black beans for something a little different.
If you wanted to add meat, then some chopped cooked chicken breast would be nice to keep it nice and light, or you could add diced deli meats like ham or salami.
Add Cheese
This isn't essential, but it adds a real creaminess to a pasta salad for summer. We used mozzarella, but feta cheese is another favorite for us. You can also add burrata, parmesan cheese, cooked halloumi or stilton.
Choose Your Dressing
A Lemon Vinaigrette keeps this nice and light, however you can swap it for your favorite salad dressing. A creamy dressing like our Healthy Ranch Dressing or Tahini Dressing work well.
If you want something with a real punch of flavor, then use our Pesto Salad Dressing or Honey Mustard Dressing.
Add Extras
There are a few other things you can add to real take this easy summer pasta to the next level.
We love adding some pickled jalapeños or sweet picante peppers. You can also add some nuts on top before serving. Pine nuts and flaked almonds work well.
How To Store a Summer Pasta Salad
This is great for meal prep, as it stores so well. Make a big batch, and make more than you need to stash in your fridge for easy weekday lunches. I always make this in advance if I am serving it at a BBQ or garden party. It's one less thing to do on the day.
Stored in an airtight container, this will keeps for up to 5 days. You just need to make sure to give it a really good mix before serving it up. You might want to add a little extra dressing before serving to loosen it all up.
We don't recommend freezing this.
Tips For Making The BEST Summer Pasta Salad
- Make sure that you cook the pasta a little longer than you normally would for a hot pasta dish. You want to cook it a little past al dente, so it is nice and soft but not over cooked and mushy.
- Let the pasta cool completely before mixing it with all the other ingredients.
- Let everything sit for a while before serving, as it allows all the ingredients to really soak up the dressing.
- If making this ahead of time to serve to guests, make sure to save some basil leaves to add on top just before serving as this will make it look fresher.
- To make a vegan version of this, simply leave out the cheese or use a vegan alternative.
- Feel free to swap the fresh basil or fresh mint or chives.
- You can easily double or triple this recipe if you are serving it to a crowd.
More Pasta Recipes
If you've tried this Summer pasta salad recipe, let us know how you got on in the comments below.
Tag us in your creations on Instagram @hungryhealthyhappy - Use the hashtag #hungryhealthyhappy too.
Recipe
Easy Summer Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 250 g (8.75 oz) of Pasta
- 140 g (1 cups) of Cherry tomatoes - halved
- 50 g (0.5 cups) of Sun-dried tomatoes - diced
- 60 g (0.5 cups) of Olives - halved
- 125 g (4.5 oz) of Light Mozzarella - torn
- 0.5 Red onion - diced
- 0.25 Cucumber - diced
- 235 g (1.33 cups) of Cannellini beans - canned; drained weight
- 10 g (0.5 cups) of Fresh basil - chopped
- 20 g (1 cups) of Rocket (arugula)
- 2 tablespoons of Olive oil - extra virgin
- 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon of Red wine vinegar
- 1 pinch of Fine sea salt
- 1 pinch of Ground black pepper
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions, normally 10-12 minutes. Once cooked, drain and rinse with cold water to cool it down.
- Put the cooled pasta into a large mixing bowl with all the other ingredients.
- Mix well and serve.
Recipe Tips
- Make sure that you cook the pasta a little longer than you normally would for a hot pasta dish. You want to cook it a little past al dente, so it is nice and soft but not over cooked and mushy.
- Let the pasta cool completely before mixing it with all the other ingredients.
- Let everything sit for a while before serving, as it allows all the ingredients to really soak up the dressing.
- If making this ahead of time to serve to guests, make sure to save some basil leaves to add on top just before serving as this will make it look fresher.
- To make a vegan version of this, simply leave out the cheese or use a vegan alternative.
- Feel free to swap the fresh basil or fresh mint or chives.
- You can easily double or triple this recipe if you are serving it to a crowd.
Nutritional Information
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The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.
As all appliances vary, cooking times are a guide. Please note that by changing the serving size, the cooking time may also need to be altered.
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