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
If you like this, check out my Green Goddess Salad Dressing!
3 Easy Pasta Salad Dressings
recipes for creamy, balsamic and Italian dressings
Ingredients
Creamy
- ¼ cup mayo
- ¼ cup greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- salt + pepper
Balsamic
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon mustard dijon
- salt + pepper
Italian
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- ½ lemon juiced
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
Instructions
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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!).
1 Comment
I made a pasta salad with the Italian dressing. It was delicious and easy. I like the flexibility of making a pasta salad with whatever veg I have on hand with one of these dressings.