The Best Balsamic Pasta Salad You’ll Want to Bring to Your Next Picnic

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This Just Might Be Your New Favorite Pasta Salad

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Summer is nearing an end (boo!) and with it goes all the tasty summer salads we’ve enjoyed for the past 3 months.  But why can’t we continue to enjoy some of our favorites year round?  My all-time, favorite summer salad can be made any time of the year, though including vine-ripened cherry tomatoes straight from your garden truly enhances this delicious pasta salad.

Nonetheless, when I’m craving a great cold pasta salad, this recipe comes to the rescue.  EVERY.SINGLE.TIME.  I’ll admit, I rarely make it outside of summer, which is probably why I’m ravenous each time I see it on our Memorial Day picnic table.  But I’m thinking this year, I might start a trend.   

My Mom and I have been making this salad for nearly 20 years, and we’ve tweaked it along the way to get the very best out of a rather short ingredient list.  It’s a super simple salad, tossed in a delicious balsamic vinaigrette, that can be made ahead and left on the counter pre-party.  It’ll be your worry-free contribution to every picnic you go to next year – trust me!

Here’s why I love this dish…

First, who doesn’t love a cool shaped pasta?  It’s a perfect picnic sized food and quite frankly, it’s the first thing I put on my plate wherever I go!  I can never have enough pasta salads.  Secondly, I love balsamic vinaigrettes.  It’s generally my go-to dressing whenever I order a salad out.  At home, I make my own with some type of wine vinegar and EVOO.  This salad has a very strong dressing to hold up to the pasta and last all day.  It may be a bit too strong for a typical lettuce salad, so thin it out before you use it on your dinner salad.  Third, I love every single item in this recipe.  I can eat cherry tomatoes by the handful, straight off of my vine.  They taste like candy!   Baby spinach is so tender and flavorful, yet it holds up all day very well.  Plus it’s an ideal super food, chock full of multiple vitamins and minerals.  And who doesn’t love black olives?  Did anyone else eat them off of their fingers (all 10!)  like I did as a child?

Here’s what I do…

The process is relatively simple – pick your favorite short pasta and boil until it’s al dente.  It’s crucial that your pasta has a bite to it.  Mushy pasta = yuck.  My favorite pasta shapes are campanelle and cavatappi.  But feel free to use whatever short pasta you have in your pantry.  Once boiled, drain the pasta and set aside to cool.

While the pasta is boiling, assemble your remaining salad components: sliced black olives (the plain ones from the can work just fine), baby spinach chopped to your liking, cherry tomatoes cut in half, and scallions sliced on the diagonal (both green and white parts!).  Then assemble the dressing: balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder.   Toss together, with a little parmesan cheese, and you have yourself a delicious pasta salad.   

I tend to reserve some of the dressing as the pasta salad can set up a bit if you make it much earlier in the day.  It might need to be refreshed right before serving.  I also tend to leave the salad on the counter, because I do not like the taste/texture of refrigerated tomatoes.  Just wait to add your cheese right before serving if you feel the way I do about mealy tomatoes.  Blah.  

My Favorite Pasta Salad

Lauren

This balsamic glazed pasta salad is sure to be a hit at your next picnic. I dare you not to go back for seconds!

Print Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Ingredients

  

Salad Ingredients:

• 1 pound Short Pasta – your choice my favs are campanelle or cavatappi
• 1 cup Cherry Tomatoes, halved
• 1 cup Chopped Baby Spinach fresh, not frozen
• 1/2 cup Black Olives, sliced
• 1/4 cup Scallion, sliced use both green and white parts

Dressing Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup Balsamic Vinegar
• 2/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 tsp Salt more or less to your preference
• 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
• 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1/4-1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese freshly grated

Instructions

 

• Boil pasta until al dente.  Drain, then set aside to cool slightly.
• Assemble all remaining salad ingredients in a large bowl.
• Add cooked pasta to chopped vegetables.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together all dressing ingredients, except the cheese.  Add to the pasta/veggie mixture, reserving some for later.
• Toss in the parm cheese right before serving. Add additional salt/pepper or dressing to your taste.
• Enjoy!

Notes

Feel free to mix your favorite veggies in and out of this recipe.

Any extra dressing can be saved for another use throughout the next few days.  Just remember to thin it out with a little olive oil before using it on tender lettuce.      

Keyword picnic, quick, salad, summer

I hope you enjoy this easy salad as much as I do.  But if not, just remember – as with all things in cooking, experiment a little and use this recipe as an opportunity to turn my fav into YOUR perfect summer salad.  

Happy Cooking!