Name: Quick Italian Pasta Salad Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 1 box spaghetti noodles (cooked); 1 cup of chopped honey ham lunch meat; 1 cup of Italian dressing; 1/2 cup of cherry tomatoes (cut in half); 1/2 onion (chopped); 1 can whole black olives; 8 oz small fresh mozzarella balls (ciliegine)

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This quick Italian pasta salad makes a great meal for lunch or dinner. You can make this pasta salad with ham ahead of time and serve at a picnic or family gathering.

There are zillions of pasta salad recipes at your disposal. It’s kind of like meatloaf, everyone makes it different. This particular recipe, which you can throw together in no time at all, is a classic… fit for any type of gathering or a simple family dinner. Many pasta salad lovers prefer to prepare their favourite recipe a day ahead of time and let the flavours “marry” in the refrigerator. Of course, it’s totally up to you!

Italian Pasta Salad Dressing

Let’s talk pasta salad Italian dressing for a minute. If you’ve never tried zesty Italian salad dressing in your pasta, I highly recommend it. It gives everything a little extra zip of flavour that I’m sure your taste buds will appreciate.

Savoury Italian Pasta Salad Recipe — Italian Pasta Salad

Quick Pasta Salad Tips

1. If chopping onions makes you cry, try this. Cut a peeled the onion in half and run each piece under cold water for approximately 30 seconds. I can almost guarantee no more tears!

2. Pasta salad ingredient options are almost endless. Possibilities include green olives, raw broccoli, pepperoni, banana peppers, your favourite cheese… honestly; the list goes on and on.

3. If you do add extra ingredients, you’ll probably need to add more Italian dressing to ensure the entire salad is completely coated in yummy goodness. There’s nothing worse than dry pasta!

4. Italian pasta salad with spaghetti: Always make sure to rinse your spaghetti thoroughly in cold water before you start making the salad. Avoiding this step means you’ll end up with gummy, starchy noodles and you certainly don’t want that. While we’re on the subject, the simplest way to tell whether or not your pasta is cooked properly is to eat a couple of pieces and go from there.

5. Obviously, if you don’t want to take a trip to the store for cherry tomatoes, any ripe tomatoes will do the trick. Dice them as small or as large as you wish. Easy-peasy!

What goes with a pasta salad

If you are looking for side dishes to serve with your pasta salad, you can try:

Italian Pasta Salad Recipe

Ingredients for Italian Pasta Salad

1 box of spaghetti noodles, cooked
1 cup of chopped honey ham lunch meat
1 cup of Italian dressing
1/2 cup of cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 onion, chopped
1 can of whole black olives
8 ounces small fresh mozzarella balls (ciliegine)

How to Make Pasta Salad

Following the directions on the back of the spaghetti box, cook pasta, drain and cool
In a large bowl, combine pasta, chopped ham, cherry tomatoes, onion, black olives and Italian dressing
Serve cold and enjoy

I hope you enjoyed this quick Italian pasta salad recipe as much as I did! If you make it, please share your photos with us on Facebook or Twitter! Also, check out all of our other recipes!