Weight Watcher's Caprese Pasta Salad

Caprese pasta salad is a simple Italian salad made with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil. You can add any fun-shaped pasta to it to completely transform it into a pasta salad. 

I've been noticing a trend in the type of recipes you guys like lately, and what I've found was, that you guys mostly like pasta and casserole recipes. I've done Caprese pasta salads before on this blog, but not a Weight Watcher version. There's not a lot of difference between a lightened-up version of this dish, and a regular version. It's just your typical tomato, basil, and mozzarella. Use whole grain penne pasta. Barilla has one with 19 grams of protein. Just make sure to watch your serving size!

Make Ahead

I'm taking this pasta to the lake on Friday and it can be made ahead of time. Just keep it stored in a large enough Tupperware container if you plan on bringing it somewhere. I've done that before with the BLT pasta salad and the longer it sits, the better it gets.

What Ingredients do I need? 

In this section, you can find substitutes or suggestions for certain ingredients. I also will try and list out what the ingredients' purpose is for. 

Pasta  - any fun shaped pasta, I used whole wheat penne noodles 

Heirloom Tomatoes  -  sliced in half 

Fresh Mozzarella - such as Belgioso - This cheese comes in a variety of sizes and shapes. I like the bocconcini balls. 

Olive Oil - I like to use the Simply Nature Olive Oil from Aldi 

Balsamic Vinegar - When I worked at the hotel in the salad department we would make this pasta salad quite often and used a container of Italian Dressing instead of Balsamic vinegar. It's was fast and easier than making a dressing.

Spices - Garlic and Oregano 

Basil - freshly torn 

How to make Caprese Pasta Salad 

1. Cook the pasta in a medium saucepan until al dente. About 7 to 8 minutes. Drain. 
2. Cut the basil into thinly sliced strips and the tomatoes in half while the pasta is cooking.
3. In a small bowl, combine the garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and oregano.
4. Combine the pasta, and all the rest of the ingredients into a bowl. Add the dressing and serve. 

Other Recipes To Try 

25 Recipes for the Slow Cooker 

Maple Bacon Corn Bread Muffins

Knock You Naked Brownies 

Sweet Potato and Sausage Hash 

Buffalo Chicken Taquitos 

Sour Cream Noodle Bake 

If you’ve tried this Caprese Pasta Salad or any other recipe on the site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out. Snap a picture and upload it to Pinterest.

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