Our Italian pasta salad recipe has a fresh and flavorful dressing, two kinds of cheese, salami, olives, and the perfect blend of Italian herbs. Take one bite, and you won’t be able to stop!
Just like our easy pasta salad, we pack in as many textures and flavors to this Italian-inspired salad as we can. There’s not one, but two kinds of cheese, salami, briny olives, fresh tomatoes, and a generous handful of fresh basil. (If you love briny salads, take a look at this briny Greek pasta salad made with the brine from a jar of pepperoncini peppers.)
The dressing is a winner, too. It’s not all that different from the dressing we use for the other pasta salad, with the exception of an extra pop of flavor from lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and minced garlic.
Key Ingredients
- Pasta: Choose hearty pasta shapes like penne, fusilli, rotini, and farfalle (bow tie). They also have the advantage of lots of nooks and crannies, which trap the dressing and bits of cheese.
- Red Onion, Tomatoes, and Basil: I love red onion for its bite and tomatoes and basil for their freshness.
- Salami and Cheese: I love a sweeter salami in this, but for a spicy option, use pepperoni. For the cheese, use shredded parmesan and provolone. The parmesan is salty and the provolone is creamy.
- Olives: I used black olives in the photos, but feel free to substitute green olives or Kalamata olives. They all add a salty, briny flavor.
- Italian Salad Dressing: This pasta salad’s dressing is inspired by our homemade Italian dressing. It’s bright, herby, and much better than anything you can buy at the store.
How to Make Italian Pasta Salad
We’ve got a few pasta salad recipes already on Inspired Taste so you might be wondering why we needed another one, but trust me, this hearty salad with salami and cheese is a keeper. It’s super simple to make, too! Whisk the dressing ingredients together in the bottom of a big serving bowl, then pile in everything else.
Letting the salad sit in the dressing for a while makes a huge difference in flavor. We take the same approach when making potato salad. Make pasta salad and keep it in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Easy Italian Pasta Salad
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
Italian pasta salad made with a fresh and flavorful dressing, two kinds of cheese, salami, olives, and the perfect blend of Italian herbs. Take one bite of this pasta salad, and you won’t be able to stop.
Start with a hearty pasta shape that has nooks and crannies to hold onto the dressing like penne or rotini. We love adding parmesan cheese, which melts into the dressing as well as provolone cheese and salami, but you can always adjust the ingredient list based on your favorite Italian cheeses and meats.
You Will Need
Pasta Salad8 ounces dried pasta like penne, fusilli or rotini
1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
4 ounces sliced provolone cheese, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
4 ounces Italian-style salami, sliced and quartered
6 ounces tomatoes, chopped, about 1 cup
1 cup olives, pitted and halved
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
Salad Dressing1/4 cup (60ml) extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup (60ml) fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons (30ml) red wine vinegar
1 small garlic clove, finely grated or minced, about 1/2 teaspoon
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme or use 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Directions
1Place the sliced onion into a small bowl and cover with cold water. Set the bowl aside for 10 minutes so that the raw flavor on the onion calms a little. Drain, and then rinse the onions before adding them to the salad.
2Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until tender, 6 to 10 minutes (check the package for recommended cook time). Drain and rinse well under cold water.
3While the pasta cooks, in the bottom of a large bowl, make the dressing. Whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, garlic, mustard, honey, oregano, thyme, salt, and black pepper together until well blended.
4Add the drained and rinsed pasta to the dressing and mix well.
5Stir in the drained and rinsed red onion, provolone cheese, parmesan cheese, salami, tomatoes, olives, and basil.
6Taste for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper as needed. Serve or for the best results, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 5 days.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Pasta salad gets better and better over time so making it a day in advance is a great idea.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
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This salad is a hit wherever I take it! As with all of your recipes, the instructions are very clear, which makes it so easy for people like me who don’t have great cooking skills. This salad is very flavorful – I used Trader Joe’s green olives stuffed with garlic and jalapeño which added a nice additional spice. Thank you for making me a better cook!
Delicious! The only change I made was that I used fresh oregano and thyme. It’s all I had. Hits the spot.
Oregano and thyme sound delicious! Glad you loved your salad 🙂
Love all the recipes