Cold Pesto Pasta Salad Recipe
Pasta salads are a perfect side dish for summer gatherings and your family is sure to love this fresh tasting and easy to make cold and creamy pesto version. The mix of fresh & sun dried tomatoes with sautéed mushrooms adds even more delicious flavor.
Cold Pesto Pasta Salad Recipe
yield: 8 SERVINGS
prep time: 10 MINUTES
cook time: 15 MINUTES
total time: 25 MINUTES
Easy and creamy cold pasta salad recipe to serve as a lunch meal or your side dish. Perfect for a summer cookout side!
Ingredients
- 1 - 16oz. box bow tie or penne pasta
- 1 cup pesto - either homemade or store bought
- 1/2 cup ranch salad dressing
- 1/2 cup of sun-dried tomatoes
- 1/2 cup of fresh cherry tomatoes
- 1 - 8oz. package of fresh sliced mushrooms
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 1/2 tablespoon butter
Directions
1
Cook pasta according to package directions and let cool.
2
Sauté mushrooms with garlic and butter until tender and set aside to cool.
3
Mix pesto with ranch dressing and combine with fresh & sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms, and pasta in a large bowl.
4
Chill in fridge before serving. Makes about 8 servings.
Hip Tip: Consider adding grilled chicken or shrimp and this salad becomes a meal in itself!
Mmm! This with quinoa instead of pasta!
I would love this .. but what else do u think u can use instead of ranch dressing?? Fam jst doesnt like that…..tia
Any Italian Dressing would be perfect!
A recipe a friend gave me was to toss the warm pasta with a dusting of dry Italian dressing mix, then toss with the pesto. It was really yummy!
Hmm maybe sour cream or plain yogurt – maybe add some Italian seasonings for similar idea. Thanks!
Thanks! Always looking for barbecue side dishes. You can only have potato salad but so many times.
Any reason this couldn’t be served hot, maybe with grilled chicken pieces?
You could serve it warm or hot. My husband does when I make something similar (he’s not a fan of cold pasta). I prefer pasta salads room temp – not straight out of the fridge cold, but not hot off the stove either.
That didn’t make sense LOL. Should me – My husband warms his when I make pasta salad.
We need an edit button LOL… 3rd times a charm ?!- BE, not me
LOL Happens to me all the time – thanks for the quick reply! Hubby and I both work so I need more quick, easy and relatively healthy ideas that a 5.5yo will eat (and two grown-ups who eat like kids 🙂 )
Mel, the original did make sense to me lol
Doesn’t have to be pasta salad to eat cold, you can warm or room temp it to preference.
I make this ALL the time.. except I use McCormick’s creamy pesto sauce mix (that comes in the little seasoning packets that you mix up) and I put grilled or rotisserie chicken with it and eat it hot. Our entire family loves it and we are plain/picky eaters.
Nice salade
Thx everybody for all the ideas..i will try them all & c what the family likes…
This looks so good! I love cold pasta. This will be so good to serve with Memorial Day grilled meats. Thanks Lina!
Sure – enjoy!
Macy’s has something similar to this, but instead of ranch dressing they use lemon and olive oil. It’s really good!
I just made a tortellini pasta salad… so good… the tortellini had cheese and pesto in it. Added some grilled chicken too. I forget the brand of the tortellini, but its definitely a shortcut to get that nice pesto flavor!