Easy Italian Pasta Salad is the number one dish that I make for a potluck or church events. I keep nearly everything I need on hand to make it so I can make it on a whim or to give away.
Recently my husband brought home a large bag of cherry tomatoes from work. As I racked my brain as to how I should use them I realized I could just whip up a big bowl of the pasta salad and I only needed a cucumber so I sent hubby to the store to pick one up.
I grabbed a box of multi colored rotini and a small can of sliced olives that I got cheaper through Ibotta . I grabbed 8 individually wrapped string cheese snacks, a bottle of Italian Dressing and went to work. You want to cook the noodles just Al dente, to avoid mushy noodles. Also you’ll need to cool the noodles down (rinse with cold water, refrigerator or freezer for a few minutes). Then you add the rest of your ingredients. Stir in the Italian dressing, refrigerate for a few hours..and viola…you have a simple, delicious pasta salad!
This recipe is very flexible thus feel free to add what your family prefers and omit other ingredients if needed. That’s what is nice about it being a simple recipe. You want this low maintenance and something that makes everyone happy to see!
Easy Italian Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 Box (12-16 oz) Tri Color Rotini
- 2 Cups Cherry Tomatoes
- 1 Bottle (12-16 oz) Italian Dressing non creamy
- 8 individually wrapped packages of String Cheese removed from plastic and cubed
- 1 Can (2.25 oz) Sliced Olives drained
- 1-2 Medium Cucumbers Peeled and sliced
Instructions
- Boil the noodles al dente, which instructions will be labeled on the box, approximately 9 minutes. Drain, place in a large bowl and place in the freezer or fridge to cool them back off temporarily. You can rinse them with cool water as well.
- While the noodles are cooking, clean your tomatoes and cucumber. Unpeel the string cheese and cube into small bite size chunks. Peel and chop the cucumber into bite size slices. Cherry Tomatoes generally do not need to be chopped.
- Once the cooked noodles have cooled down for a few minutes, pull them back out of the fridge or freezer and pour a small amount of the Italian Dressing over the noodles and stir. Add the tomatoes, cucumbers, drained olive slices, and chopped string cheese and mix, add more of the Italian Dressing until you feel it’s well saturated.
- Put the salad back in the refrigerator, covered, and let it sit for at least 2-4 hours before serving. I typically reserve a bit of Italian dressing to add right before serving as the first coating soaks up a bit in the fridge.
More Recipes to Love
Creamy Chicken n Sweet Potatoes
Easy Slow Cooker Italian Pork Loin
Italian Pork Chops and Potatoes