Greek Pasta Salad
A quick and easy side dish for summer, this Greek Pasta Salad recipe is loaded with fresh mediterranean flavor. Bite sized chopped veggies, salty kalamata olives, feta and herbs are tossed with a lemony vinaigrette for a fantastically, zesty mouthful of summer heaven.
Summer is officially here and I’m looking forward to all the picnics, barbecues, trips to the lake. It’s my favorite time of the year and my favorite foods make their appearance at all the big barbecues. Things like picnic food like hot dogs, ribs and PASTA SALAD!
I’m a huge pasta salad fan, especially my Italian Pasta Salad. Well, I’m a huge fan of any salad that isn’t lettuce based like this super fab Greek Cucumber Salad. But pasta salad is soooo good because….hellooooo, CARBS! And this Chopped Greek Pasta Salad Recipe is where it’s at right now.
Ingredients for Greek Pasta Salad
- Pasta – Use a smaller cut pasta to ensure every bite is a cornucopia of flavor. Larger pasta seems to overtake the other ingredients.
- Vegetables – We love to use cucumbers, tomatoes and bell peppers but use your favorite in season veggies for the freshest flavor.
- Cheese – A block of feta cut into bite size pieces if your best bet. It’s salty, briny taste is a great addition to the other mediterranean flavors.
- Dressing – You can make your own or use your favorite bottled Greek Dressing.
Other ingredient additions are outlined in the recipe card below.
How To Make Greek Pasta Salad
To start your pasta salad, the key to the best flavor is in how you cook the pasta for your pasta salad. My secret to adding flavor without too many additional steps is to salt the water, just like when you make your Sunday dinner pasta. Salting the water before cooking your pasta is going to add so much flavor to the pasta before you even begin to assemble the salad.
Also, you’re going to cook the pasta until al dente….or until it still has a bit of firmness to it. This will ensure that your pasta will hold up in the salad and not become mushy. It will also have a better chance of absorbing the flavors of the dressing. Win, win, win.
- Cook the pasta. Salt the water and bring to a boil. Cook the pasta just until al dente. Drain and cool.
- Chop the vegetables. Cut the vegetables, cheese and other ingredients into bite size pieces.
- Make the Dressing. Whisk together the dressing ingredients and set aside.
- Assemble the salad. Add the pasta, vegetables and other ingredients together in a large bowl. Toss to combine. Stir in the dressing and chill.
- Serve chilled.
How To Make Greek Dressing
A light and fresh vinaigrette dressing is so easy to whip up in about a minute. I like to add all the ingredients to a mason jar with a lid so I can just shake it up and store it in the refrigerator until I’m ready to use it. Vinaigrette generally is made of 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar whisked into an emulsion.
Herbs, garlic, salt, pepper are sometimes used to add more flavor and often times mustard is used as an emulsifier and to punch it up a bit more. Occasionally, I’ll use lemon juice in addition to vinegar to give it a lighter flavor which is fantastic for summer. I, especially, love THIS Greek Vinaigrette Dressing!
What is in a Greek Salad?
Greek Salad, or Horiatiki Salad, is made of fresh vegetables like chopped tomato, cucumber, bell peppers and onion. Kalamata olives and feta cheese are also thrown in there for their briney, salty flavor (so you can go easy on the salt with this one.) Dressed with olive oil, fresh oregano and lemon, this is one of the best things to make with all that summer produce.
So, I took all my favorite things in a Greek Salad and put them into this Chopped Greek Pasta Salad recipe. Why is it chopped, you ask? Well, because I’ve had my fair share of pasta salad where the veggies were so big I needed a knife to chop up my salad before I could eat it.
I like to try and keep my veggie pieces approximately the same size as my pasta….which in this case, I used my favorite Ditalini pasta (I love Delallo’s Ditalini) so my veggies needed to be super small.
How To Make Pasta Salad in Advance
Believe it or not, this easy pasta salad recipe is even BETTER if you make it the night before because it gives all the flavors a chance to blend together and get really happy! Just be sure to give everything a good toss right before you serve it because all the greek vinaigrette will settle to the bottom of the bowl overnight.
What To Serve with Pasta Salad
- Easy Oven Baked Chicken Breast
- Carolina BBQ Chicken.…so flavorful
- BEST EVER Grilled Chicken
- Grilled Balsamic Lamb Chops
- Honey Chipotle BBQ Chicken
More Easy Pasta Salad Recipes
- Amish Macaroni Salad
- Caprese Tortellini Pasta Salad
- Tarragon Chicken Pasta Salad
- Mediterranean Orzo Salad
- Spaghetti Salad
For more easy recipe ideas, follow us on Instagram and Facebook!
Get the Recipe: Greek Pasta Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound short pasta such as Ditalini
- 2 cups seeded and chopped plum tomatoes, approximately 4-5 tomatoes
- 1 English cucumber, chopped
- 1 cup chopped orange bell pepper, approximately half a bell pepper
- 1 cup chopped yellow bell pepper, approximately half a bell pepper
- 1/2 cup chopped red onion
- 1/2 cup chopped feta cheese
- 1/4 cup chopped kalamata olives
- 1 1/2 cup Greek Vinaigrette
Equipment
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil seasoned with 2 tablespoons kosher salt. Add the pasta to the water and cook until al dente, approximately 7-8 minutes. Drain the pasta and stop the cooking process by rinsing with cold water. Set aside. (To prevent the pasta from sticking together, you can drizzle lightly with olive oil. This step is optional.)
- Transfer the pasta to a large bowl. Add the tomatoes, cucumber, bell peppers, onion, feta and olives to the bowl.
- Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss to combine.
- Cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
16 Comments on “Greek Pasta Salad”
Where is the recipe for the vinaigrette shown in the video? The link is a different recipe. Thanks.
The recipe for the dressing is in the recipe card at the bottom. The greek vinaigrette I linked to is just an alternative that you can use instead.
Kellie, Thank you for responding. I still do not see the recipe for the vinaigrette shown in the video. I’m a old lady with old eyes, lol. So if I’m missing the recipe at the bottom of the recipe card, please help me find it. I printed the recipe using your link. Thank you for your help.
Deb
I did not see a written recipe for the vinaigrette. Please provide.
There’s a link to it in the post but here it is again to make it easier for you. https://thesuburbansoapbox.com/easy-greek-vinaigrette/
That doesn’t look like the same recipe she used in the video. I would like the recipe as shown in the video. Thank you.
It’s the same recipe.
It’s not the same as your link. In the video you put: lemon juice, salt, greek seasoning, garlic powder & Olive oil. Maybe you should re-watch your video.
Just made the Greek pasta salad………….OMG…….THIS IS A KEEPER RECIPE………..Thanks so much…..❤️❤️
So glad you loved it!
Pasta salad is my favorite in the summer, love these flavors!
Summer in a bowl, right here!
I am not usually a pasta salad lover, but this one could definitely change my mind. So good!
Love this Greek-style pasta salad! All the flavors!
Yum! That mix of veggies sounds so good!
This is one of my favorite picnic salads! So flavorful and chock full of delicious ingredients! Always a winner!