Nutrition

15 Perfect Pasta Salad Recipes

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these Pasta Salad Recipe It's fantastic for parties and feasts, but it's equally great for weekday lunches! Get the recipe and tips for making the perfect pasta salad.

6 Tips for Making Pasta Salad

When it comes to healthy recipes, pasta salad may not be at the top of your list, but it should be! By avoiding heavy dressings and adding more vegetables, you can create a light pasta salad that is fresh and flavorful.

Here are my best tips:

add salt to water

Sometimes you may want to avoid adding salt to the water you cook pasta in, for fear of adding too much sodium. But remember: Most of the salted water you add will end up in the drain!

Adding salt when cooking pasta will give the pasta a richer flavor. With the pasta's flavor intensified, you won't need to add a ton of dressing and cheese to make a delicious pasta salad.

Dress in two steps

If you’ve ever made a pasta salad in advance and left it in the fridge, only to find that it’s just bones, here’s the solution: Add half the dressing right away while the pasta is still warm. Toss to coat.

Then, add the rest of the dressing just before serving. This will allow the pasta salad to absorb some of the dressing while it is warm, so it won't absorb the rest of the dressing when you add it just before serving.

Consider additional features

Another tip for making pasta salad ahead is to leave out extra ingredients that don’t keep well in the refrigerator. For example, croutons and nuts lose their crunch, and fresh spinach and arugula will wilt. To keep your pasta salad fresh, add these types of mix-ins just before serving.

Change the mayonnaise

If you have a classic pasta salad recipe that you want to lighten up, I recommend replacing some or all of the mayonnaise with plain Greek yogurt. It’s creamy and rich, but with added protein and a wonderful tart flavor. The yogurt lightens the pasta salad and makes it more satisfying.

Increase the ratio of vegetables to pasta

To make your pasta salad more salad than pasta, flip the usual ratios! This is my favorite way to make pasta salad lighter.

It's not just because you're adding more vegetables than you are adding calorie-dense pasta. Also, vegetables have a stronger flavor than pasta, so you can use less dressing.

Leave at room temperature.

Instead of serving my pasta salad cold, I like to let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes. This makes the salad creamier and lets you really taste all the flavors.