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Side view of large white bowl of Tri-Color Rotini Pasta Salad with Italian Dressing with a wooden spoon dipping in to serve it. In the background is a green bell pepper against a white marble background, and cherry tomatoes in the foreground, with the bowl sitting on a light blue-gray napkin.
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Tri-Color Rotini Pasta Salad Recipe

Enjoy this Classic Tri-Color Rotini Pasta Salad with Italian Dressing at your next summer backyard barbecue or with a green salad.
Course Side Dishes
Cuisine American, Italian
Keyword classic pasta salad, Italian pasta salad, pasta salad, pasta salad for barbeque, rotini pasta salad, tri-color pasta salad
Prep Time 20 minutes
Chill 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings 8
Calories 522kcal
Author Michele

Ingredients

Tri-Color Rotini Pasta Salad

  • 12 ounces tri-color rotini pasta
  • 4 ounces deli genoa salami (cut into 1/4 inch slices)
  • 1 pint grape tomatoes (cut in half)
  • 8 ounces mozzarella cheese block (small diced)
  • 1 cup small-diced green bell pepper
  • 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
  • 1/4 cup canned sliced black olives (drained)
  • 1/4 cup canned sliced green olives with pimento (drained)

Italian Dressing

Instructions

Cook The Rotini

  • Cook the tri-color rotini pasta per the instructions on the back of the box to al dente. Drain and rinse the rotini with cold water to stop it from cooking, drain well. Transfer the pasta to a large bowl.

Make the Italian Dressing

  • In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, minced garlic, grated parmesan cheese, sugar, salt, black pepper, and celery seed until well combined.

Make The Pasta Salad

  • Cut the Genoa salami into half inch cubes, and add to the bowl with the halved cherry tomatoes, cubed or pearled mozzarella, chopped green bell pepper, thinly sliced red onion, black olives, and green olives, and pasta. Set aside.
  • Pour the Italian dressing into the bowl and toss the ingredients so everything is covered in the dressing. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill for one hour and then serve.

Video

Notes

Recipe Tips

  • You can prepare elements of this salad to store in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator overnight, saving you some time and cleanup when assembling the salad to serve the following day. 
  • This salad needs about 1 hour of chill time so that all of the flavors from the ingredients blend together. Make sure that you factor this time in for best taste. Even though you could serve it immediately after assembling, it will always taste better after the allocated chill time. 
  • Before serving this salad, be sure to toss it again as some of the dressing could have settled at the bottom in the refrigerator. 
  • You can easily use this classic pasta salad as a base recipe to add all of your favorite ingredients. 

Nutrition

Calories: 522kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 20g | Cholesterol: 35mg | Sodium: 971mg | Potassium: 368mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 799IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 184mg | Iron: 1mg