Garden Rotini Pasta Salad Recipe

Last Updated on June 14, 2021 by Niks

The corkscrew shape of rotini makes it the perfect pasta for your delicious sauces. With the rotini pasta, you can get as creative as you want with the dressing. Be it mayonnaise, pesto, or ranch; the options are endless. Every bite of your rotini pasta should taste of the beautiful dressing.

Rotini pasta salads are making waves in the culinary world. From fine-dine restaurants to cafes, everyone is going with the trend. Pasta salads are healthy, delicious, and have a whole lot of nutrients in them.

Most of the pasta salads are eaten as cold salads and have various toppings like cherry tomatoes, asparagus, or roasted bell peppers.

In this recipe, you will learn to make a lip-smacking bowl of the perfect rotini pasta salad with delicious Italian dressing.

Garden Rotini Pasta Salad Recipe             

Total time – 30 minutes

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Serves: 4 to 6 people

Ingredients

For Pasta:

• Rotini pasta – 8 ounces
• 1 small peeled and diced cucumber
• 1 cup diced and seeded tomato
• One can of ripe olives (sliced)
• ½ cup diced red bell peppers
• ¼ cup chopped celery
• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
• ¼ cup finely chopped onion
• ¾ cup mayonnaise
• ½ teaspoon ground pepper
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup freshly chopped parsley

For Italian dressing:

• ½ cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar (or any other vinegar)
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning (oregano, rosemary, garlic, thyme, and coriander)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoon pesto
• Pepper and salt to taste

Steps to make a perfect bowl of rotini pasta salad

Step 1: Cook the Pasta

Take a medium-sized pan and fill it with 4 cups of water. Add some salt and let it boil. Once the water comes to a boil, add the pasta into it and give it a stir using a wooden spatula.

Remember not to use metal spatulas as they can alter the taste of your pasta. Stir frequently for nearly 10 minutes and check the pasta for doneness.

It would be best if you left your pasta half-cooked for an al dente texture. If it’s half done, remove the pasta from the heat and drain the excess water using a colander.

Rinse your pasta in cold water. You can add a few drops of olive oil to prevent the pasta from sticking to each other.

Step 2: Toss in the veggies.

Once the pasta is thoroughly cooled, transfer it to a large bowl. Add in the diced tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, olives, celery, and onion.

Please give them a toss and mix all the ingredients properly.

Step 3: Make the dressing.

Take a medium-sized bowl and add the mayonnaise and pesto. Mix them and add lemon juice and white wine vinegar. Make it into a smooth paste and combine olive oil, pepper, salt, and sugar.

Finally, add the Italian seasoning (it’s alright if you have a few ingredients missing in your Italian seasoning) and give it a right mix for a minute or so. If you want, you can even add chopped parsley to your dressing.

Step 4: Coat your pasta with the dressing

In the pasta bowl, add your prepared dressing mix and combine it. Be gentle while you mix the dressing with the pasta as the pasta might lose its shape if you mix too hard.

The best way to do this is to follow a folding pattern. Once each piece of pasta is coated with the dressing, adjust the seasoning as needed.

Add freshly chopped parsley, grated cheese, and cover the bowl either with a cling wrap or a plate. Refrigerate the bowl until it’s time to serve.

Step 5: Time to serve!

You can keep the pasta in the fridge for a maximum of three days. Your pasta will taste the best after two days as the vinegar in the dressing will break the starch in the pasta and increase the flavour profile of the pasta.

Give it enough time to marinate and take it out of the fridge to serve. You can even serve it with side dishes like fried chicken or crispy chickpeas.

Want to make your pasta heartier?

If you want to have the pasta as a main dish, you can add roasted and shredded chicken, roast beef, boiled and diced eggs, or leftover meat from dinner. Or, you can add some more cheese cubes. Roasted nuts also taste good with cold pasta salads.

Garden Rotini Pasta Salad Recipe

Rotini pasta salads are making waves in the culinary world. In this recipe, you will learn to make a lip-smacking bowl of the perfect rotini pasta salad with delicious Italian dressing.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Course Appetizer, Breakfast, Salad

Cuisine Italian

Servings 2 people

Calories 418 kcal

Ingredients

  

• Rotini pasta - 8 ounces
• 1 small peeled and diced cucumber
• 1 cup diced and seeded tomato
• One can of ripe olives (sliced)
• ½ cup diced red bell peppers
• ¼ cup chopped celery
• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
• ¼ cup finely chopped onion
• ¾ cup mayonnaise
• ½ teaspoon ground pepper
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup freshly chopped parsley

Ingredients For Italian Dressing

• ½ cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar (or any other vinegar)
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning (oregano, rosemary, garlic, thyme, and coriander)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoon pesto
• Pepper and salt to taste

Instructions

 

• Take a medium-sized pan and fill it with 4 cups of water. Add some salt and let it boil. Once the water comes to a boil, add the pasta into it and give it a stir using a wooden spatula.
• Remember not to use metal spatulas as they can alter the taste of your pasta. Stir frequently for nearly 10 minutes and check the pasta for doneness.
• It would be best if you left your pasta half-cooked for an al dente texture. If it’s half done, remove the pasta from the heat and drain the excess water using a colander.
• Rinse your pasta in cold water. You can add a few drops of olive oil to prevent the pasta from sticking to each other.
• Once the pasta is thoroughly cooled, transfer it to a large bowl. Add in the diced tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, olives, celery, and onion.
• Please give them a toss and mix all the ingredients properly
• Take a medium-sized bowl and add the mayonnaise and pesto. Mix them and add lemon juice and white wine vinegar. Make it into a smooth paste and combine olive oil, pepper, salt, and sugar.
• Finally, add the Italian seasoning (it’s alright if you have a few ingredients missing in your Italian seasoning) and give it a right mix for a minute or so. If you want, you can even add chopped parsley to your dressing.
• In the pasta bowl, add your prepared dressing mix and combine it. Be gentle while you mix the dressing with the pasta as the pasta might lose its shape if you mix too hard.
• Add freshly chopped parsley, grated cheese, and cover the bowl either with a cling wrap or a plate. Refrigerate the bowl until it’s time to serve.
• You can keep the pasta in the fridge for a maximum of three days. Your pasta will taste the best after two days as the vinegar in the dressing will break the starch in the pasta and increase the flavour profile of the pasta.

Keyword rotini pasta salad recipe