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Mediterranean Pasta Salad is loaded with fresh ingredients and tossed in a delicious dressing. Make this pasta salad for your next BBQ.
Mediterranean Pasta Salad is loaded with simple ingredients and mixed with a vinaigrette dressing brings all the flavors together. This is the perfect cold pasta salad as a side dish but it can also be prepared as a main dish.
Pasta, vegetables and dressing all toss together in a large bowl. Then topped with feta cheese to make an easy pasta salad. Make this pasta salad for your next BBQ, picnic or for a date night in. You may like this Hawaiian Macaroni Salad or this Couscous Recipe.
What's in this post: Mediterranean Pasta Salad
What Does a Mediterranean Pasta Contain?
Mediterranean Pasta starts with cold cooked pasta, then fresh vegetables are added. Cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onions all chopped and then added to the pasta.
Black Olives and green olives are added to complete this pasta salad. The light vinaigrette is combined in a separate bowl and then tossed with the pasta salad ingredients.
We like to top with feta cheese to complete the salad to give extra flavor.
What Dressing is the Best for Pasta Salad?
Pasta salad is usually mixed with an Italian salad dressing or a light vinaigrette dressing.
A mayonnaise based dressing can also be added to pasta to make a creamier option.
Ingredients
- Rotini Pasta – Feel free to use any type of pasta
- English Cucumber and Cherry Tomatoes – Slice into bite size pieces
- Black Olives and Green Olives – Use pitted and slice olives
- Red Onion – Thinly sliced
- Feta Cheese – Mozzarella Cheese can also be substituted
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil – Use oil of your choice
- Red Wine Vinegar – If you are out, see The Best Red Wine Vinegar Substitutes
- Lemon – Juice a Fresh Lemon Juice Wedges
- Garlic Powder – If you are out, see The Best Garlic Powder Substitute
Scroll to the bottom for the full recipe and ingredients in the recipe card.
How to Make Mediterranean Pasta Salad
- Step 1 – Cook Pasta – Cook the pasta based on the package instructions to al dente in a large pot. Drain the pasta and rinse under cold water to cool the pasta.
Step 2 – Combine Dressing Ingredients – Whisk together all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
Step 3 – Add pasta and ingredients to bowl – Place the cooked pasta in a large mixing bowl. Gently stir in all the remaining ingredients except for the feta cheese.
Step 4 – Top with Pasta Salad – Drizzle the pasta salad dressing on top of the pasta salad. Gently toss the ingredients to coat with the dressing.
Step 5 – Chill Pasta Salad – Refrigerate for 1 hour. When serving, top with the feta cheese and enjoy!
Recipe Tips
- Mixing Ingredients – When combining the pasta and the other ingredients, make sure to use a large enough bowl. This allows the dressing to completely cover the pasta and vegetables.
- Pasta – Cook pasta al dente or according to package. Make sure it has cooled completely before mixing with the other ingredients. You can also cook pasta ahead of time to easily mix with the other ingredients.
- Make Ahead – Feel free to make this pasta dish ahead of time. This allows for the ingredients to marinate together to give it so much flavor.
- Chill Pasta – We recommend before serving to allow the pasta salad to chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
- Chop Vegetables – We like to prepare the vegetables ahead of time. Chop the vegetables in bite size pieces for easily serving.
Variations Ideas
- Tomatoes – We love using cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes in this recipe. But you can use sun dried tomatoes. Add in other types of veggies of your choice such as arugula or kale.
- Oregano – Feel free to use fresh oregano instead dried oregano to add to the salad dressing or any type of fresh herbs.
- Olives – Kalamata olives is also a great substitute for black and green olives.
- Pine Nuts – If you would like some extra crunch to this pasta salad add in some pine nuts or sliced almonds. We love the way this pasta salad taste with the added nuts.
- Pasta – Feel free to change different types of noodles. We love the rotini pasta but another option would be a farfalle noodles or penne pasta. You can even make with gluten-free pasta.
Serving Suggestions
This pasta salad is the perfect side to many dishes. We have served it with grilled meats or oven baked dishes. These are some of our favorites.
- Grilled Chicken – You can easily serve this pasta salad as a side dish with grilled chicken. We have even served as a main dish with grilled chicken mixed in.
- Seafood – Make a grilled salmon in foil, Grilled Shrimp Foil Packets or Blackened Tilapia Recipe to serve along side this pasta dish.
- BBQ’s – We love this pasta salad for all of our BBQ’s. It is light and refreshing and is perfect with Cheese Stuffed Burgers, Grilled Brats Recipe, or Grilled Hot Dogs.
How to Store Leftover Pasta Salad
Refrigerate the leftovers covered for up to 3 days in a jar or an storage container that has a tight-fitting lid.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can prepare this Dill Pickle Salad the night before. We actually prefer to make this ahead of time as the ingredients marinate together for a delicious pasta salad.
Pasta salad will last about 3 to 4 days if placed in the refrigerator. When not serving, make sure to keep the pasta in the fridge.
Yes, after cooking the pasta make sure to rinse the pasta. This allows the pasta to stop cooking and prevents the pasta from sticking.
More Amazing Pasta Salads
Easy Salad
Greek Pasta Salad
Easy Side Dishes
Italian Pasta Salad
Easy Salad
Caprese Pasta Salad
Easy Salad
Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad
We love to hear from you. If you make this Mediterranean Pasta Salad Recipe, please leave us a comment or a star review.
Mediterranean Pasta Salad
Ingredients
For the Pasta Salad:
- 1 Pound Rotini Pasta
- 1 English Cucumber diced
- 1 cup Cherry Tomatoes halved
- 1/2 cup Pitted Black Olives sliced
- 1/2 cup Pitted Green Olives sliced
- 1/4 Red Onion thinly sliced
- 4 ounces Feta Cheese
For the Dressing:
- 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/4 cup Red Wine Vinegar
- 1/2 Lemon juiced
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
- 1 teaspoon Dried Basil
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper
Instructions
- Cook the pasta based on the package instructions to al dente. Drain the pasta and rinse under cold water to cool the pasta.
- Whisk together all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
- Place the cooked pasta in a large mixing bowl. Gently stir in all the remaining ingredients except for the feta cheese.
- Drizzle the dressing on top of the pasta salad. Gently toss the ingredients to coat with the dressing.
- Refrigerate for 1 hour.
- When serving, top with the feta cheese and enjoy!
