Classic Pasta Salad

Course: Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine: American, Italian

Keyword: Best pasta salad, healthy pasta salad, Italian salad dressing, Vegetarian pasta salad

Prep Time: 25

Cook Time: 10

Chill time for Italian Dressing: 1

Total Time: 1 35

Servings: people

Calories: 220kcal

Author: Kris Longwell

This Classic Pasta Salad is so delicious and equally gorgeous in presentation. Be sure to use top-notch dressing! If not serving right away, simply add a little more dressing just before serving, and toss gently. This salad is best when served within a few hours (at the most) of preparing. And at room temperature.

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Ingredients

½ cup Italian Dressing or good-quaity store-bought
12 oz pasta tri-color rotini, or fusilli, bow tie, or elbow
½ cup artichoke hearts, in oil drained, or more, if desired
½ cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil drained and roughly chopped, use more, if desired
½ cup black olives sliced and drained, use more, if desired
¼ cup fresh basil roughly chopped
½ tsp Kosher salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Prepare the Italian dressing and chill for at least one hour.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of liberally salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Usually 9 to 12 minutes. Drain and rinse with cool water until no longer hot. Transfer to large bowl.
Add the artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, basil, salt, pepper and dressing.
Gently stir until the pasta is fully coated and all ingredients are evenly distributed. Taste and add more salt and/or dressing, if desired.
Serve at once, or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 4 hours. If not serving immediately, add several tablespoons of dressing just before serving, and stir.

Video

Notes

We strongly suggest using the homemade Italian dressing for this salad. It really puts it over the top. However, a quality bottled version will work, too.

Small to medium bite-sized pasta works well. Rotini or fusilli are our favorites. Tri-color is tasty and very beautiful.

This pasta salad is easily adapted to tastes. Other great additions are cubed mozzarella, Italian cured meats, and pepperoncini peppers.

The is best served fresh, but you can make up to a day in advance. Just add more of the dressing and toss before serving. We find that it's still perfect after sitting in the fridge for up to 4 hours before serving. Setting the salad out an hour before serving helps the flavor and texture, too.

Nutrition