Summer Pasta Salad

5 from 1 vote

Easy Summer Pasta Salad is fresh, light, and loaded with colorful veggies. Perfect for picnics, potlucks, and backyard bbqs.

Prep Time20

Cook Time15

Total Time35

Course: Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings: 1½ cup servings

Calories: 791kcal

Fill a 5 to 6 quart stockpot ⅔ full with water over medium high heat.
Add the dry Rotini pasta and 1 tablespoon kosher salt to the stockpot.
12 ounces (4 cups) dry Rotini pasta, 1 tablespoon kosher salt
Cook according to package directions.
Drain the pasta and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. (Be sure the pasta is well drained)
Add the tomatoes, diced mini cucumbers, diced red, orange and yellow bell peppers. Stir to combine
2 cups halved cherry tomatoes, 2 cups diced mini cucumbers, 1 cup diced red bell peppers, 1 cup diced orange bell peppers, 1 cup diced yellow bell peppers
Add the feta cheese, but don’t stir yet. (Feta cheese can break down easily, so the least amount of stirring is recommended)
1 cup crumbled feta cheese

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, minced basil and garlic, kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper until well incorporated.
½ cup extra virgin olive oil, 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons fresh minced basil, 1 tablespoon minced garlic, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
Pour the dressing over the pasta salad and stir, or toss with salad tongs until all of the salad is completely coated before serving.

Storage :

To Store: Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Tips :

Mix in your favorite proteins to make this salad more hearty. Try crumbled bacon, hard salami, grilled chicken, pepperoni, or ham. For a vegetarian version, you can include garbanzo beans, chickpeas, black beans, or kidney beans.
Almost any vegetable will work for this easy summer pasta salad. You can customize the contents with broccoli florets, red onion, black olives, celery, corn, or whatever you have on hand.
For this dressing, aim for 3 parts oil to 1 part acid (lemon juice or vinegar). For this recipe, if you use about 1/4 cup of olive oil, you'll want 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice.
Let the pasta salad rest for at least 30 minutes to an hour in the fridge before serving it. This gives the flavors time to mesh together and allows the noodles to absorb some of the flavors from the dressing.