A cheese Tortellini Pasta Salad belongs at every summer barbecue, picnic, and potluck! It’s an easy-to-make cold side featuring pillowy cheese-filled pasta, fresh vegetables, mozzarella pearls, and tons of flavor. Doused in a delicious Italian dressing, this stress-free dish delivers bold flavors in every bite!
Tortellini Pasta Salad Recipe
Our easy Tortellini Pasta Salad recipe takes the components of a traditional Italian pasta salad and pairs it with tender pillows of tortellini; add in the convenience of cooked frozen tortellini and bottled dressing, this simple side or light meal can be made in minutes.
My favorite thing about Italian pasta salad recipes is that they have no rules. Create your own customized combinations of crunch, color, and flavor and fill your tortellini pasta salads with your family’s favorite foods (it’s also a great way to clean out your fridge).
INgredients Notes
- Frozen tri-color cheese tortellini: You can use plain cheese tortellini if you cannot find the tri-color kind or use fresh refrigerated tortellini instead of frozen.
- Salami: You can substitute the salami with grilled chicken, pepperoni, crumbled bacon, or summer sausage if you prefer an alternate protein.
- Cherry tomatoes, Cucumber, Black olives
- Mozzarella cheese pearls: feel free to use diced fresh mozzarella cheese instead.
- Sliced red onion: Feel free to use sweet yellow onion if you prefer.
- Green bell pepper and Red bell pepper: Yellow bell pepper and orange bell pepper can also be used.
- Fresh sweet basil leaves
- Kosher salt and Fresh cracked black pepper
- Parmesan cheese: I prefer to use freshly grated parmesan cheese, but store-bought shredded parmesan cheese will work in a pinch.
- Italian salad dressing: I used traditional Italian dressing, but you could use zesty Italian dressing or make your own homemade Italian dressing.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Tortellini Pasta Salad
- Prepare The Pasta: Cook the tortellini pasta to al dente according to the package instructions.
- Combine The Contents: Combine the cooked tortellini, salami, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, olives, mozzarella pearls, onion, bell peppers, basil, salt and pepper. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and drizzle with dressing.
- Toss Together: Toss all ingredients together until well combined.
- Cover and Chill: Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour to allow the flavors to meld.
- Serve: Give the salad a good toss to ensure all the ingredients are coated. Garnish and serve chilled. Enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
This satisfying Italian tortellini pasta salad is already substantial on its own, but it can be bulked up to include more of your favorite foods. You can serve this cold salad alongside the main meal, eat leftovers for lunch, or feed your friends at your next warm weather gathering. This recipe makes a large bowl full of salad. You can cut the ingredients in half if you are serving to a smaller crowd.
Even better, you can create a creamy tortellini pasta salad by using a different kind of dressing. My BLT pasta salad, chicken bacon ranch pasta salad, and creamy pasta salad all contain dressing made with mayo.
Tips & Variations
- Don’t cook past al Dente: You should cook the tortellini just until al-dente; any longer and they will become mushy and fall apart when mixed with the other ingredients. Drain and rinse them under cold water to cool them down and stop the cooking process.
- Slice The Same Size: Make sure you dice and slice all your vegetables, cheese, and salami the same size. I prefer smaller sized mix-ins because it makes it easier to get a bite of everything in each forkful.
- Vegetarian Version: To make this salad vegetarian-friendly, omit the meat and bulk it up with garbanzo beans, chickpeas, black beans, kidney beans, or grilled tofu.
- Vary Your Veggies: Almost any vegetable will work for this pasta salad. You can add broccoli florets, shredded carrots, artichoke hearts, celery, corn, sun-dried tomatoes, or whatever you have on hand.
- Make It More Meaty: If you’d like your salad to have a bit more meat, add any combination of pepperoni, capicola, hot ham capicola, or even prosciutto to the mix.
- Grab Greek Ingredients: You can turn this tortellini salad recipe into a Greek pasta salad with a few ingredient swaps. Use pitted kalamata olives, crumbled feta cheese, and Greek dressing.
Proper Storage
- To Store: Store your pasta salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
- Make In Advance: This cold tortellini pasta salad is the perfect make-ahead recipe because it tastes best when it sits in the fridge before you serve it. This gives the dressing a chance to permeate your veggies, protein, and pasta and brings together all of the fresh flavors.
Other Easy Summer Salad Recipes
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Tortellini Pasta Salad
Serves — 8
Tortellini Pasta Salad is made with fresh ingredients and cheese-filled tortellini, this salad is easy to throw together and then toss in Italian dressing.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Chill Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes
Ingredients
- 24 ounces (1½ – 16-ounce) packages frozen tri-color cheese tortellini (you can also use plain cheese tortellini if you cannot find the tri-color)
- 1 cup chopped salami
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes washed and halved
- ½ cucumber sliced and quartered
- ½ cup sliced black olives
- ½ cup mozzarella cheese pearls or diced fresh mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup thinly sliced red onion
- ¼ cup diced red pepper
- ¼ cup diced green pepper
- ¼ cup chopped fresh sweet basil leaves
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
- ¼ cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
- ½ cup Italian salad dressing I used traditional Italian dressing, but you could use zesty
Instructions
- Cook the cheese tortellini according to the package instructions until they are al dente. Drain and rinse them under cold water to cool them down and stop the cooking process.24 ounces (1½ – 16-ounce) packages frozen tri-color cheese tortellini
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooked tortellini, chopped salami, halved cherry tomatoes, cucumber, black olives, mozzarella pearls, red onion, red and green bell pepper, fresh basil, kosher salt and pepper.1 cup chopped salami, 1 cup cherry tomatoes, ½ cucumber, ½ cup sliced black olives, ½ cup mozzarella cheese pearls, ½ cup thinly sliced red onion, ¼ cup diced red pepper, ¼ cup diced green pepper, ¼ cup chopped fresh sweet basil leaves, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
- Sprinkle the grated parmesan cheese over the salad ingredients.¼ cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
- Drizzle the Italian salad dressing over the salad.½ cup Italian salad dressing
- Gently toss all the ingredients together until they are well combined.
- Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour to allow the flavors to meld. Before serving, give the pasta salad a final toss to ensure all the ingredients are coated with the dressing. Serve chilled, and you can garnish with additional fresh basil leaves if desired.
Jenn’s Notes
Storage:
- To Store: Store your pasta salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
- Don’t cook past al Dente: You should cook the tortellini just until al-dente; any longer and they will become mushy and fall apart when mixed with the other ingredients. Drain and rinse them under cold water to cool them down and stop the cooking process.
- Slice The Same Size: Make sure that you dice and slice all your vegetables, cheese, and salami the same size. I prefer smaller sized mix-ins because it makes it easier to get a bite of everything in each forkful.
- Vegetarian Version: Make this salad vegetarian-friendly by omitting the meat and bulking it up with garbanzo beans, chickpeas, black beans, kidney beans or grilled tofu.
- Vary Your Veggies: Almost any vegetable will work for this easy pasta salad. You can add broccoli florets, shredded carrots, artichoke hearts, celery, corn, sun dried tomatoes, or whatever you have on hand.
- Make It More Meaty: If you’d like a bit more meat in your salad, add any combination of pepperoni, capicola, hot ham capicola, or even prosciutto to the mix.
- Grab Greek Ingredients: You can turn this tortellini salad recipe into a Greek pasta salad with a few ingredient swaps. Use pitted kalamata olives, crumbled feta cheese, and Greek dressing.
Nutrition Info
Calories: 416kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 52mg | Sodium: 2616mg | Potassium: 171mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 416IU | Vitamin C: 15mg | Calcium: 199mg | Iron: 3mg
