This is a simple pasta salad you can whip up in a snap. It uses fresh seasonal produce that you can pick up at your local farmers market. Swap out the produce as the seasons change for variety!
This is a pasta salad I make often. I love it, and my family loves it. It’s perfect for summer. You can use local veggies from your farmers market and swap them out as the seasons change. What I love about this pasta salad is it’s good warm or cold. My hubs likes a cold pasta salad, while I like mine warm. I tend to nosh a ton of this stuff the first day I make it. Hubs prefers it the next day when all the flavours marry together.
We eat this for a light meal on a busy day. We try to eat meatless a couple of days a week. So this fits the bill on those days. It also makes a great side dish as well. It’s one of those “go to” recipes you can bring to a pot-luck or shower. If I’m feeling like I need to pump up the volume on this I’ll add some chicken to it. Super yummy!
Another thing I love about this one is it’s great when you have extra noodles hanging around. I made a huge batch of noodles the other day for a stir fry for Mini-Me so I had some left over. They worked perfectly for this. I like to use spaghetti noodles for this too, as well as farfalle. The mini ones are not only tasty but they look super cute in a pasta salad.
If you need to take these with you when you’re on the run use small mason jars. They work perfectly for packing up things like this. You can bring them to a picnic and everyone has their own little jar to nosh from. Totally cute. Hope you get a chance to try these.
- 4 cups cooked pasta
- 3/4 to 1 cup of salad dressing I used Roasted Red Pepper with Parmesan
- 1/3 cup yellow pepper chopped
- 1/4 cup red pepper chopped
- 1/4 cup shallot chopped
- 1/2 cup celery diced
- 1/2 cup carrot shredded or diced
- 3/4 cup chopped tomatoes
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Optional:
- Parmesan Cheese
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Cook your pasta ahead of time.
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In a large bowl combine all of your ingredients. Mix well.
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Add more salad dressing if you find it dry.
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Mix again.
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Pop in the fridge for about 4 to 8 hours.
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Sprinkle some Parmesan over top if desired.
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Serve with big old I love my Farmers Market smile!
I always eat this while it's hot as I add the noodles. I can't help myself. I'm a hot pasta kind of gal. I have to do two batches since I can't eat raw tomatoes. So this is a dish you can either use them or not.
Absolutely delish! Try it today. Seriously!
To see other great Weekday Suppers from our Sunday Supper crew visit some of my peeps:
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- Monday – That Skinny Chick Can Bake – Chicken Piccata
- Tuesday – Supper For A Steal – Roasted Poblano Mac and Cheese
- Wednesday – Shockingly Delicious – Sun-Dried Tuna Italian Rice Bowl
- Thursday – Cindy’s Recipes and Writings – Sausage and Peppers Turnovers
- Friday -Cravings of a Lunatic – Farmers Market Pasta Salad
Check in tomorrow for a huge cherry recipe round-up! Tons of amazing cherry recipes to enjoy for cherry season!
Toodles and smoochies! xx
Renee says
Great recipe for those fresh farmers market veggies! It does look like something I could munch on for days too.
Kim Beaulieu says
Thanks so much Renee. I love this pasta salad so much. I make it with spaghetti noodles most often for some reason. But I was out of them, which never happens. Lol.
We barely got to many farmers markets this year. The downside of IBS morning flare ups. Most markets are in the morning. Such a bummer.
Ashley Bee (Quarter Life Crisis Cuisine) says
Yum! I love using all the veggies from the farmers market in a lovely dish like this! Great job 🙂
Kim Beaulieu says
Thanks so much Ashley. I love fresh veggies.
[email protected] says
I love pasta salads like this! Light and healthy, and as you point out, a great way to use seasonal produce. Those mason jars are cute!
Kim Beaulieu says
Thanks John. I love recipes like this. Family favourite, in the fridge all summer long.
Kate from Scratch says
Looks absolutely gorgeous, Kim! Can’t wait to get to the farmer’s market this Sunday and give it a go. Deeeelicious!
Kim Beaulieu says
Thanks so much Kate. I love farmers markets, did not get there enough this year.
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef says
John’s not fond of pasta of any sort and I LOVE pasta of every variety. I can’t remember what attracted us but it wasn’t a love of pasta. 🙂 I’m going to make this salad just for me!
Kim Beaulieu says
Ha, that’s hilarious. I am such a pasta girl, it’s comfort food at it’s finest.
Emily @ Life on Food says
I don’t know why I don’t make pasta salad more often this looks great. Lots of veggies and no mayo.
Kim Beaulieu says
It’s so good. I can’t do mayo so I always have to find a way to substitute things in for it.
Anna @ hiddenponies says
This looks like it would definitely be great hot or cold – love that you put it in jars!
Kim Beaulieu says
Thanks so much. I love the jars for picnics and lunches. Just good fun.
Alida says
This is a wonderful, summery pasta salad – quick and easy. Roasted red pepper with Parmesan dressing sounds perfect!
Kim Beaulieu says
Thanks so much Alida. It’s amazing how many cool dressings are on the market these days. It’s almost overwhelming.
Pamela @ Brooklyn Farm Girl says
I love pasta salad, especially in the summer time.. plus I love meatless dinners once in awhile. Perfect – thank you!
Kim Beaulieu says
Me too. We try to do meatless once or twice a week. We’re carnivores but I feel like maybe it helps if we don’t eat it every day. Plus I find it makes you get a bit creative. It’s fun to play with meatless dinner ideas.
Ramona W says
Love how you put these in the jars… this pasta salad is full of my favorite ingredients for summer. 🙂
Kim Beaulieu says
Thanks Ramona. I love my mason jars. It’s a serious addiction at this point.
Kristi Rimkus says
What a fun presentation and delicious recipe. The jars are perfect.
Kim Beaulieu says
Thanks so much Kristi. I love mason jars. And pasta.
Aurora Importing says
Great recipe! Plus lovely presentation, ready to go picnic!
Kim Beaulieu says
Thanks so much. I love my little jars.
Joann says
Hi Kim, Just saw the recipe for the pasta salad and I was just wandering what other types of dressing would work on this? We love our Ranch here. Thanks for any suggestions. 🙂
Kim Beaulieu says
Hi Joann. I would try Catalina, but not sure Ranch would work with this. I’m off the mind “experiment and see what happens”. Maybe try half a batch with Italian, then half with a Ranch that’s not too thick. I’ve only ever tried it with Italian type dressings. But in theory you should be able to adjust to your own taste. Just make sure it has the consistency of Italian dressing, it’s a bit more thin and liquid-y than some others. That’s a technical term, liquid-y. Ha. Let me know how it turns out if you try it. Now I’m super curious.
Patricia Fernald says
Is there a particular brand of roasted red pepper parmesan you use? I see the Kraft version is also called italian?
Kim Beaulieu says
Hi Patricia. I like the Kraft version but any will do. Honestly, you could use just about any flavour and this will turn out amazing. Hope you get a chance to try it. Have a fabulous week!