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This pesto pasta salad is fresh, easy, and disappears every time I bring it somewhere. The homemade pesto is what makes it, and it takes 15 minutes in a food processor. Once you see fresh pesto next to jarred, you will get it.
I make this for every summer cookout and it never comes home. People always assume the pesto is a lot of work but it is a food processor and 15 minutes. I tested it twice and the biggest thing I learned is that how you handle the basil and whether you grate the parmesan yourself are what give the pesto that bright green color and clean flavor. Neither one takes long and both are worth it.
I typically make the pesto a few days ahead and keep it in the fridge. The day I want to serve it, I boil the pasta and put everything together right before we eat. That is all the day-of work there is.
It is a go-to for summer cookouts, potlucks, and quick weeknight sides. If you love pesto, my Creamy Pesto Chicken Skillet is a weeknight favorite that uses a lot of the same flavors. And if you are building out your pasta salad lineup, my Easy Antipasto Pasta Salad is another one that disappears fast.
Key Ingredients
- Fresh basil. This is the whole recipe right here. Use a 4-ounce store-bought container, pull the stems, and pack it firmly into the measuring cup. Loose leaves leave you short on yield, and the stems make the sauce look muddy and dull.
- Freshly grated parmesan. Grate it yourself. Pre-grated has anti-caking additives that dull both the color and flavor of the finished pesto, and I can see the difference before it even hits the bowl.
- Fresh garlic cloves. Skip the pre-minced jar. Fresh cloves give the pesto a brighter, cleaner flavor, and in a sauce where garlic is this front and center, you can taste the difference. One tablespoon chopped (about 2-3 cloves) is all you need.
- Fresh mozzarella pearls. Pat them dry before you add them. Any moisture left on the pearls will dilute the pesto coating. If you can not find pearls, Ciliegine (cherry-sized fresh mozzarella) cut in half works.
- Lemon zest and lemon juice. Both go into the pesto. One teaspoon of zest adds fragrance without adding extra liquid, and 2 teaspoons of juice brighten the whole sauce. These two together keep the pesto flavor from going flat.
How to Make Pesto Pasta Salad
Step 1: Build the pesto base. To the bowl of a food processor, add the 2 cups packed fresh basil (stems removed), ¼ cup pine nuts, ½ cup freshly grated parmesan, 1 tablespoon chopped garlic, 1 teaspoon lemon zest, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Pulse for 20-30 seconds until well combined. You still want a little texture here, not a completely smooth paste.
Step 2: Add the olive oil. With the food processor running, slowly drizzle in ½ cup extra virgin olive oil until fully incorporated. Remove the lid and blade, then scrape down the sides to make sure everything is combined. This yields approximately 1 cup of pesto. Measure out ¾ cup for the pasta salad and set the rest aside.
Step 3: Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook ½ pound of Fusilli Bucati pasta for 9-11 minutes, just until al dente. Drain and rinse under cool water to stop the cooking. Hot pasta will wilt the spinach and start melting the mozzarella before the salad is even assembled, so do not skip the rinse.
Step 4: Coat the pasta. Add the drained pasta to a large bowl and pour in the ¾ cup of pesto. Stir until every piece of pasta is evenly coated with the sauce.
Step 5: Add the remaining ingredients. Add ¾ cup halved grape tomatoes, ½ cup patted-dry fresh mozzarella pearls, ½ cup packed baby spinach, and ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan. Stir gently to combine. If you have the reserved ¼ cup of pesto and want a more heavily dressed salad, stir it in now.
Step 6: Serve immediately. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with a sprig of fresh basil if you like. This salad is best right after assembling.
Storage
- Assemble and serve immediately. The spinach wilts once it is dressed and the pesto dulls as it sits.
- Leftovers keep in a covered container in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
- Make the pesto up to a week ahead and store it in an airtight container in the fridge. The day you want to serve this, boil the pasta and toss everything together.
FAQ
Yes, a good refrigerated jarred pesto works well here. Skip the shelf-stable stuff and go for something in the cold case. The flavor will be different from homemade, but the salad will still be good.
This is a cold pasta salad. The pasta is rinsed with cool water after cooking, and you serve it at room temperature right after assembling. Warming it would change the texture of the mozzarella and wilt the spinach even faster.
More Pasta Salad Recipes
Pesto Pasta Salad
Ingredients
Pesto
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves packed (I used a 4-ounce container-stems removed)
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon chopped garlic (2-3 cloves)
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon salt (plus additional for boiling the pasta)
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Pasta Salad
- ½ pound Fusilli Bucati Pasta (half a 16-ounce box)
- ¾ cup grape tomatoes halve
- ½ cup fresh mozzarella pearls (patted dry)
- ½ cup baby spinach packed
- ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- To the bowl of a food processor add the fresh basil, pine nuts, ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper. Pulse for 20-30 seconds or until well combined. You still want a little texture to the chopped basil and pine nuts.2 cups fresh basil leaves, ¼ cup pine nuts, ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, 1 tablespoon chopped garlic , 1 teaspoon lemon zest, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, ½ teaspoon salt , ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- With the food processor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil just until fully incorporated. Remove the lid and blade, then scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure all the ingredients are fully combined. Transfer to a lidded container and set aside. This will yield approximately 1 cup of pesto. Measure out ¾ cup for the pasta salad and reserve the remaining ¼ cup for optional use.½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the pasta for 9-11 minutes or just until al dente. Drain and rinse under cool water to stop the cooking.½ pound Fusilli Bucati Pasta
- To a large bowl add the pasta and ¾ cup of the reserved pesto. Stir to evenly coat all the pasta with the pesto.
- Add the grape tomatoes, fresh mozzarella pearls, baby spinach and ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese. Stir to combine all the ingredients. You can stir in the additional ¼ cup reserved pesto if desired at this time or save it for another use.¾ cup grape tomatoes, ½ cup fresh mozzarella pearls, ½ cup baby spinach, ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with a sprig of fresh basil leaves if desired before serving.
Jenn’s Notes
- This salad is at its best when it goes straight from the bowl to the table. Once the spinach meets the dressing it starts to wilt, and the pesto loses that bright green color the longer it sits — so assemble it right before you’re ready to serve.
- If you end up with leftovers, cover them and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
- Want to get ahead of things? The pesto can be made up to a week in advance and kept in an airtight container in the fridge. With that done, the only work left on serving day is boiling the pasta and tossing everything together.
- Pack the basil tightly and pull every stem. It sounds fussy, but it matters. Loosely packed basil leaves you short on both flavor and volume, and stems make the pesto look muddy and taste slightly bitter. Strip the stems before you measure, then really pack that cup.
- Grate the parmesan by hand. Pre-grated cheese contains anti-caking additives that dull both the flavor and the color of the finished pesto. Two minutes of grating at the box grater makes a difference you can actually see and taste.
- Use fresh garlic cloves. Jarred, pre-minced garlic works fine in plenty of recipes, but in a sauce where garlic is one of the main characters, fresh cloves give you a noticeably brighter, cleaner flavor. It’s worth the extra minute.
- Dry the mozzarella pearls thoroughly. Any moisture left on the pearls will dilute the pesto and water the whole salad down. Press them between a few layers of paper towels before they go into the bowl.
- Make the pesto ahead, assemble right before serving. The pesto keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, so you can knock that out early. When the day arrives, all that’s left is boiling the pasta and tossing everything together fresh.
