Pasta Salad

Recent Recipes

• 1

  Seafood Salad

• 2

  Grandma’s Macaroni Salad

  My favorite thing to eat, without question, is my grandma’s macaroni salad. I know what you’re thinking: Whose favorite food is macaroni salad? But it’s not just any macaroni salad, and especially not the kind you find at grocery stores. My grandma’s version is made exclusively with giant elbow macaroni, lots of hard boiled eggs, and a light coating of a just-sweet-enough blend of mayo, Miracle Whip, and sweet relish. It’s my ultimate comfort food.
  
  My grandma has a giant, basketball-sized Tupperware bowl she always puts her macaroni salad in, and it's usually served on a plate alongside corn on the cob and a burger, or a steak, or something similar off her backyard grill. At my house, we eat it on its own out of a bowl (or sometimes straight out of the stockpot).
  
  And yes, this recipe is designed to serve a crowd, but you can adjust the recipe for practicality.
  
  

• 3

  Cheesy Tortellini Salad

  Pasta salad is a summer staple in my home. With so much space to customize, you can have fun playing with different kinds of pasta, dressings, vegetables, and, of course, cheeses. Frozen tortellini is an easy swap for standard penne or farfalle. Full of rich cheese, tortellini add a decadent, creamy base to contrast the fresh, crunchy vegetables. Think of this recipe as a clean-out-the-fridge pasta salad: cucumbers, peppers, onion, tomatoes, herbs galore, anything goes. To bump it up, I like to add some fresh mozzarella and savory salami for a little antipasto moment. You can serve this at room temperature, right after mixing, or if you’d like to make it in advance, just pop it in the fridge. 

• 4

  Tuna Pasta Salad With Tomatoes & Crushed Olives

  This dish is a far cry from the lackluster, mayo-laden tuna macaroni salad that few people want at the barbecue. (All love for mayo; I just don’t want it on my pasta.) I want a pasta salad that is bright, punchy, and savory. This one takes its inspiration from puttanesca, the pungent, briny Neapolitan tomato sauce flavored with garlic, capers, olives, anchovies, and red pepper flakes. It’s a little in your face, but that’s its charm.
  
  For this summery take, I celebrate the joy of peak-season tomatoes by leaving them raw. You’ll use two whole pounds of the ripest tomatoes you can find, which make this feel more like a salad with pasta than a pasta dish. The salad gets a major burst of flavor from a sizzled garlic-caper-anchovy-chile oil, plus protein and extra richness from oil-packed tuna. I like to top each serving with a handful of arugula, for a hit of peppery freshness.
  
  While you can of course dig in immediately, this is also a great make-ahead dish. Bring it to the beach, bring it to a picnic, or eat it straight out of the fridge on your couch. Try this pasta salad alfresco with an ice-cold spritz and you might, for a brief moment, think you’re on the coast of southern Italy.

• 5

  Herby Pasta Salad With Potatoes & Green Beans

  This herbaceous pasta salad is inspired by one of my favorite summer dishes, trofie al pesto. It’s an icon of Liguria—handmade pasta spirals tossed with Genovese basil pesto, cubes of potato, and green beans—that I first enjoyed in a seaside café in Manarola, a small town in Cinque Terre. This recipe is entirely different, but the freshness of the dressing, made zingy with a dollop of yogurt (something I first spotted on Pasta Grannies) and squeeze of lemon, still brings visions of Riviera sunshine to mind. Enjoy it same-day or refrigerate and pack it up for your next excursion. You can also make it vegan by swapping the yogurt for your favorite dairy-free alternative and the Parmesan for nutritional yeast.

• 6

  Lemony Pasta With Sardines & Escarole

  Often the most budget-friendly meals are the ones compiled with what’s already in the kitchen. Like this salad pasta—not pasta salad—of sardines with raw bitter greens. It starts with short pasta ($1.85)—I’m partial to bow ties (aka farfalle), but anything goes. While the noodles boil, let’s talk about sardines. There’s no way around the fact that fish is expensive, but having tinned fish on hand can be an economical option. The tins are shelf-stable, sometimes for years, so you can stock up when you find a good deal. It’s also true that a number of tinned fish brands are quite expensive, and justifiably so when you consider ethical sourcing and labor, but it’s possible to find reputable brands of sardines—Season is a great one—for about $2 to $3 a can (we’ll use two here). And here’s a bonus sardine tip: Buy oil-packed for a free start to salad dressing; better yet, if you pick tins seasoned with lemon peel, tomato, or pickled peppers, that’s even more bonus flavor built right into the price. Here's how this dish gets away with being so cheap (and so good): Drain the oil from the sardine tins into a large bowl, then whisk it with grated garlic, chile flakes, and the zest of a lemon ($0.50). Toss the warm pasta in the spicy sardine oil, then add a torn head of escarole or romaine ($2). Could you just as easily swap in radicchio, arugula, or baby spinach if you happen to have it in the fridge? Of course. For brightness, finish the whole mess with lemon juice and a fat handful of chopped dill ($0.40).