The Best Zesty Italian Pasta Salad Recipe (With Video)

This Classic Italian pasta salad recipe is perfect for family picnics, BBQ cookouts, cocktail parties, and more. Made with a variety of vegetables, tri-color Rotini noodles, and Italian Dressing.

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Are you a salad lover but don’t like Mayo? Well, this is the salad for you. A versatile and healthy salad healthy eaters will enjoy!! You’re gonna love this recipe and make it a regular at your summer cookouts!!

It’s springtime, and the weather’s finally warming up, so what better way to bring in the season than to make a classic salad recipe? We’ve all had Italian pasta salad before at family cookouts, birthday parties, and social events.

It’s a popular salad during the summer, and it’s very versatile because there are so many different vegetables you can use. Ima talk about the ingredients I like to use and give you some options on how to make it.

What makes this a good recipe?

There are so many things I love about this salad, so many that I don’t even know where to start. So, let me simplify the many things I love about myself with this list below.

• The color: I love the vibrant color of this Italian Pasta Salad. It reminds me of spring and really brightens and beautifies a table of food. So if you’re superficial like me and don’t just like good food but beautiful food, this is the salad for you. Lol!
• The dressing: Zesty Italian dressing is a fan favorite. I don’t know too many who have a problem with Italian dressing. I can’t say the same about mayo or other dressings we put in salads.
• Weight loss friendly: This is definitely a low-calorie salad, especially in comparison to tuna macaroni and salads with fatty condiments like mayo. So while you will get some carbs from the pasta, it’s a pretty healthy dish overall.
• Lightweight: You won’t get full eating this salad. Other salads, like some of the ones I mentioned above, can be too heavy on the stomach at times. This is lightweight and something you can eat shortly before bed.
• Can withstand hot weather: You can sit this salad on a picnic table in 100-degree weather and don’t have to worry about anything, which may be a concern with salads with mayo in them.
• Long shelf life: I always recommend finishing salad in 3 days, but because this salad doesn’t have mayonnaise in it, it will stay fresh longer and stand the test of time.
• A fan favorite: 1 of the reasons being, what I just mentioned above, it’s weight loss friendly, so even folk trying to lose weight will welcome it. And it’s filled with a bunch of vegetables and pasta; who doesn’t like veggies and pasta?

Cookware and utensils you’ll need:

• Large pot: Have a large pot to boil the pasta and blanch the broccoli.
• Strainer: A strainer is needed to blanch the broccoli.
• Colander: Make sure you have a colander to drain the pasta.
• Large Serving Bowl: We’ll be using this to serve the salad out of.
• Potato Peeler: Potato peelers make it easy to peel the cucumber skin.
• Knife: A knife is for chopping the vegetables
• Big Spoon: Use a big spoon to combine the salad and serve.
• Measuring Cups: Measuring cups are great for accurately measuring the amount of vegetables and dressing you’re using.
• Measuring Spoons: Use measuring spoons to measure seasoning accurately. 

Ingredients you’ll need:

• Pasta: Tri-colored Rotini/Fusilli noodles
• Add-in: Grated Parmesan cheese
• Vegetable add-ins: Red Onions, Cucumbers, Broccoli, Grape Tomatoes, and Black Olives.
• Seasonings: Italian seasonings, Black Pepper, and Parsley Flakes
• Dressing: Zesty Italian Dressing

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Common questions about the rotini/fusilli

• What are the best brands of pasta? Barilla, Mueller’s, and Ronzoni, De Cecco, and San Giorgio. Some people are big on brands, but I’ve used all these top brands, and they haven’t negatively affected the outcome.
• Do you have to use rotini/fusilli noodles? Absolutely not… I like to use the colored noodles for aesthetic purposes. You can use regular rotini noodles or your favorite pasta like macaroni, spaghetti, bow tie, or penne.
• Should you boil the pasta with oil? Once you add the noodles to a big mixing bowl, add in the dressing and ingredients, and start folding everything in, any pasta sticking together will definitely come apart. So, no oil wasn’t necessary.
• Why do you add salt to the pasta water? I add salt to the pasta water for flavor, which limits the starch. The salad tastes better when the pasta has flavor. It enhances the overall deliciousness of the salad.
• How do you know when the pasta is done? Whenever you’re boiling pasta, no matter which kind, you want to cook it until it’s al dente. Which means cooked til tender but firm. You don’t want it to be soggy, bloated, and limp!
• Should I rinse the pasta once it’s done? I do this just to stop the cooking process because with it still being very hot, if you leave the noodles in a colander and just let it sit, the heat will continue cooking it. 

The Parmesan cheese

If you don’t have grated parmesan cheese or don’t like it grated, you can use shredded parmesan cheese from the store or get a block and shred it yourself, which is the better option. Or, you can simply omit it from the recipe altogether.

The vegetables

• Red onions: I use red onions to add color to an already beautiful salad and for their mild flavor, which I do for all my salads. It’s especially important here because this salad is pretty tangy because of all the acidic vegetables.
• Cucumbers: These are a must in salads of this kind with a lot of vegetables. I won’t even make it without cucumbers. I love cucumbers and the crunch it brings to the salad. It’s also a good choice because it’s neutral in flavor. 
• Grape tomatoes: Grape tomatoes are sweet, not cherry tomato sweet, but they’re not very acidic, so I love what they do for this salad in terms of providing some balance because lord knows it doesn’t need to be any more acidic.
• Broccoli: Broccoli brings some crunch to the salad along with the cucumbers. The florets beautify the salad with its beautiful, rich green color. The florets look like pretty small bushes in the salad. Lol!
• Black olives: I love olives mostly because of their color. It’s the one ingredient that stands out the most. Why? Because it’s not often you come across food that’s semi-black in color, so that alone makes it a great add-in.

More on the olives

Ok, so these are fruits that are often mistaken for vegetables because they’re salty and not sweet. But I love olives, and believe it or not, they were the latest addition to this recipe.

I wasn’t always a fan of olives, but they grew on me with age. My family wasn’t a big fan of them either, but my Nana would always put a few in her Italian salad. My cousins were not fans of olives at all. Lmbbo!

I remember being at the family cookouts and seeing them picking them out their salad and throwing them in the grass. LMBO! I knew of green olives before black olives, and some of you may ask if using green olives is an option.

My answer would be ABSOLUTELY! There’s no major difference in taste; the black olives are just darker and will stand out in the salad, whereas the green ones won’t so much in a salad that already has a lot of green in it.

Fresh vs. Frozen Broccoli

I’ve gotten this question a lot. I’ve used both, believe it or not, and while it doesn’t drastically change the outcome of the salad, I definitely try to get fresh broccoli if I can. 

• Fresh broccoli: It’s fresh, so it just tastes better and has a more potent flavor, making this Italian Pasta Salad even more delightful. Another benefit is that it has more of a crunch because it hasn’t been sitting in ice, which can make it sorta limp, and because it’s fresh, it has lost as many nutrients.
• Blanching fresh broccoli: You definitely want to blanch them a little so they’re not too crunchy and brighten in color, perfect for this Italian Pasta Salad. Steaming or boiling them can have the opposite effect and give the broccoli a greyish color.
• Frozen broccoli: All is not bad with frozen broccoli, though. The outcome won’t be drastically different in this Italian Pasta Salad. It just won’t have the same freshness, potency, and crunch.

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The seasonings and spices

• Italian seasoning: Herbs in this salad take it up a notch, and Italian seasoning is nothing but a bunch of good herbs all combined into one seasoning. I only use a little a lot isn’t needed. 
• Black pepper: Black pepper makes everything taste a little better, but only very little is necessary to add a hint of spice. Using too much will ruin the salad, honestly, so just a sprinkle or two would do.
• Parsley flakes: We’re just using this for decoration purposes… the flakes spread throughout the salad, giving it a nice look and making it picturesque! Parsley has a way of making the salad more appetizing.

The Italian dressing

I like to use Zesty Italian dressing. I prefer creamy Italian dressing, but that’s for another salad recipe altogether. I’ll make a recipe for that another time. But make sure you use Zesty Italian dressing because it has more flavor than the original.

Add-ins & variations:

Ok, so this is a delicious but pretty basic Italian salad dressing recipe. I personally don’t like to overdo it with the add-ins to my Italian dressing pasta salad.

But if you want to DO THE MOST or fancify things, here are some meat, vegetable, and cheese options you can add to your salad that you might like that I didn’t add to mine.  

• Meat add-ins: For a more filling Italian Pasta Salad, try chopped pieces of ham or sliced pepperoni.
• Vegetable add-ins: If you want a little heat, you can add some banana peppers.
• Cheese: Mozzarella and feta are commonly used.

How to make Italian pasta salad

1. Boil the pasta
2.  Blanch the broccoli.
3. Meanwhile, chop up the vegetables
4. Once noodles are done, sit in a colander, rinse, and sit until chilled.
5. Once chilled, add to a big salad bowl.
6. Add in all the chopped vegetables and seasonings, then fold well.
7. Add in the dressing and fold well again.
8. Sprinkle and stir in the grated Parmesan.
9. Wrap with plastic wrap and sit in the refrigerator to chill. 

The Best Zesty Italian Pasta Salad Recipe Video

Making it ahead of time

This Italian Pasta Salad maintains its quality for quite some time, so you can prepare it 4 days in advance for an event.

So feel free to prepare this on a Sunday evening for a Thursday party with friends if you can’t be around for whatever reason to make it the day of. Just make sure you tightly seal it with plastic wrap and keep it in a cool refrigerator. 

Serving suggestions:

• Fried chicken: Crispy fried chicken goes great with almost anything, especially with this Italian Pasta Salad. But when a little bit of that Italian dressing gets on that crispy skin?? Lawd have mercy, especially with creamy Italian dressing.
• Grilled meats: The zesty flavor of this salad with the grilled taste of ribs, chicken, or burgers is a combo made in heaven. This is exactly why this salad is perfect for cookouts; grilled meat is all they make at cookouts.
• Steak: This salad will taste lovely with steak. I never had them together before, but I’m suddenly in the mood for both now and know it would go perfectly together. Especially pan-seared steak smothered in garlic butter sauce.

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Storage

To preserve and keep the salad as fresh for as long as possible, keep it tightly covered with a lid in a Tupperware bowl in the refrigerator or cover it with plastic wrap or aluminum foil!

Frequently asked questions

• How long does Italian pasta salad last? Unlike salads that have mayo in them, this salad has a longer shelf life and will be good and maintain its goodness for up to 5+ days as long as it’s stored properly.

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Other salad recipes you might like:

• The BEST Macaroni Salad Recipe Ever
• THE BEST Tuna Macaroni Salad Recipe EVER
• Creamy Spaghetti Seafood Salad To Die For
• Easy Classic Chicken Salad Recipe

This recipe is perfect for this time of year, folks. Like I said, people love to make it for parties and family cookouts. So check it out and tell me how you like it. Share the recipe if you like it, and make sure to leave a comment below.

Don’t forget to subscribe to receive notifications every time I post a new recipe and follow me on social media for updates on everything Philly Jay Cooking: Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Enjoy, later!
PBJ~

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The Best Zesty Italian Pasta Salad Recipe (With Video)

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 1 review

• Author: PhillyboyJay
• Prep Time: 25 Mins
• Cook Time: 5 Mins
• Total Time: 30 Mins
• Yield: 8
• Category: Salad
• Cuisine: Italian

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Description

This Classic Italian pasta salad recipe is perfect for family picnics, BBQ cookouts, cocktail parties, and more. Made with a variety of vegetables, tri-color Rotini noodles, and Italian Dressing.

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Ingredients

• 16 oz Tri-Color Rotini Pasta
• 4 Qts Water & 1 Tbs Salt
• 16 oz Zesty Italian Dressing
• 1 Large Cucumber, Chopped
• 1 Cup Fresh Broccoli Florets, Chopped
• 1/2 Cup Red Onions, Chopped
• 1/2 Cup Grape Tomatoes, Sliced
• 1/4 or 1/2 Cup Sliced Black Olives
• 1/2  Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 2 Tsps Parsley Flakes
• 1/2 Tsp Italian Seasoning
• 1/4 Tsp Black Pepper

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

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Instructions

1. Fill a large pot with cool water and salt, then place over high heat (9).
2. After 10 minutes, or once the water comes to a boil, add the pasta and boil for 10 minutes then strain the water.
   Rinse the pasta with cold water and set pasta aside in a mixing bowl to chill.
3. Meanwhile, peel the cucumbers and onions, then chop them into small pieces. Make sure to cut around the seeds in the cucumbers.
4. Slice the Broccoli stalk as high as possible, then break off individual pieces of broccoli and slice into small florets.
5. Slice the grape tomatoes into pieces of 3.
6. Add the seasonings and cheese to the dressing then stir well.
7. Add the chopped vegetables to the dressing then stir in well again.
8. Add the pasta then fold well.
9. Cover with plastic wrap then place in the refrigerator to chill.

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Nutrition

• Serving Size: 8