Italian Pasta Salad

Italian Pasta Salad - A lightened-up version of the classic Summer pasta Salad loaded with cherry tomatoes, turkey pepperoni, mozzarella balls, and cucumbers. 

If you enjoy other pasta salads please try BLT Pasta Salad with Ranch, Shrimp and Pea Orzo Pasta Salad, or One Pot Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta.

Jump to:

• Why You Will Like This Recipe
• Ingredients Needed
• How to Make Italian Pasta Salad
• Recipe FAQs
• What else can you add to Italian Pasta Salad?
• Other Recipes to Try
• Italian Pasta Salad - Weight Watchers

Why You Will Like This Recipe

Pasta Salads are pretty much a blank canvas and you can add to them whatever your little heart desires! The hardest part about making them is probably boiling the noodles and doing all the prep work.

If you don't know how to boil noodles by now, there's probably plenty of youtube videos of that online.  Don't like cucumber? Leave them out. Like olives? Add them to this dish. This is just what I really liked and those peperoncino peppers are really good! Just give them a try if you've never had them before.

Ingredients Needed

• Pasta - I like to use a fun spiral-shaped pasta like cavatappi or malfada for pasta salads.
• Cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• Cucumber, cut into quarters
• Mozzarella balls - Small mozzarella balls are best to use for this recipe. Saves time in having to dice the cheese yourself.
• Pepperoni - is a type of salami that is commonly used as a pizza topping. It is made from a combination of beef and pork, and is seasoned with various spices, including paprika, garlic, and fennel.
• Pepperoncini - is a type of chili pepper, also known as Tuscan peppers or sweet Italian peppers. Great for sandwiches or salads.
• Teaspoons Italian Dressing - is a flavorful and versatile salad dressing that is enjoyed by many people around the world.
• See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements. 

How to Make Italian Pasta Salad

1. Fill a medium pot with water and bring the water to a boil. Add the dry pasta and cook the pasta until al dente. (About 8 minutes). Drain the pasta and set it aside.
2. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half lengthwise and the cucumbers into tiny half-moon pieces.
3. Add the pasta to the bowl along with the tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, mozzarella, pepperoni, and Italian Dressing. Toss until well combined. Makes 4 servings.

Recipe FAQs

What is Peperonicino?

Peperoncino (Italian: [peperonˈtʃiːno]; plural peperoncini [-ni]; sometimes spelled pepperoncino or pepperoncini in English)^[a] is the generic Italian name for hot chili peppers, specifically the cultivars of the species Capsicum annuum and Capsicum frutescens.^[2] The sweet pepper is called peperone (plural peperoni) in Italian.^{[3] (source: From wikipedia) \}

How to Lighten Up Italian Pasta Salad

In order to lighten up this classic Summer pasta salad I used lite Italian Dressing, zero point vegetables such as cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and pepperoni. Use Turkey pepperoni and fresh mozzarella balls. You could always buy the blocks of cheese and cut them up into tiny cubes if you prefer that instead of mozzarella balls, but tiny mozzarella balls are almost too cute to pass up and they are a must in this salad. Don't overdress your pasta salad and you can still have pasta salad as a side dish this Summer.

How do I store leftovers? 

Always store leftovers in clean, food-grade containers. The type of container doesn’t really matter. Use zip lock, glass, plastic,  whatever!  Make sure to store any leftovers in an airtight container. 

What else can you add to Italian Pasta Salad?

Black Olives, Bell Peppers, Parmesan Cheese

Pesto sauce instead of Italian Dressing ( but that would be more points

Red Onion too make the pasta more colorful

Looking for more pasta salad recipes? Try BLT Pasta Salad and Greek Orzo Salad with Mustard Dill Vinaigrette, 

and Caprese Pasta Salad

Other Recipes to Try

If you tried this Italian Pasta Salad orany other recipe on my website, please please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you! Follow along on Tiktok @jennarecipediaries

Print