3 Easy Pasta Salad Dressings

I love pasta salad. It’s one of those meals (or side dishes) you can customize a million different ways, it’s easy to make, and it makes great leftovers. What’s not to love?! So I thought I’d share my favorite three easy pasta salad dressing recipes.

The three pasta salad dressings I use most often are a homemade balsamic, Italian, and a creamy option. These all go well with about 8-10 ounces of cooked pasta plus whatever other ingredients you are throwing in. I most often use one of the two oil-based dressings, but if I’m making a pasta salad that has more vegetables/crunch, then I often opt for the creamy (like this creamy winter pasta salad).

You can customize these three dressings further if you want to add a handful of chopped fresh herbs or a little heat with some red pepper flakes or cayenne. And if you’re mostly still reading because you want to know where I bought that rainbow pasta, here it is. 🙂

The basic recipe for pasta salad is cooked pasta, one of these dressings, a few chopped vegetables (cherry tomatoes, bell pepper, broccoli, etc.), some cheese, and a few chopped fresh herbs. Sometimes I’ll add pepperoni if I’m feeling wild. Ha. Enjoy! xo. Emma

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3 Easy Pasta Salad Dressings

Course Main Course, Salad

Author Emma Chapman

Ingredients

Creamy

• 1/4 cup mayo
• 1/4 cup greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• salt + pepper

Balsamic

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• salt + pepper

Italian

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

Instructions

1. For each of the dressings simply combine all the ingredients in a small mixing bowl and whisk until well combined.

Recipe Notes

The creamy dressing will yield 1 cup. The two oil-based dressings will yield about 3/4 a cup. For all three dressings, the amount works well with about 8-10 ounces cooked pasta plus whatever mix-in ingredients you choose. But some like more or less dressing on their pasta salad, so this is just my suggestion for serving (the way I like it!). 

Credits // Author and Photography: Emma Chapman. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.