I never make the same dish the same way twice, but I do hope you give this incredible minestrone recipe a shot soon—but just once.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 15 mins |
| Additional Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr |
| Servings: | 70 |
| Yield: | 70 servings |
Ingredients
- 3 pounds garden rotini pasta
- 2 (16 ounce) packages steam-in-bag frozen broccoli florets
- 6 tomatoes, chopped
- 2 (16 ounce) bottles Italian-style salad dressing
- 16 ounces Cheddar cheese, cubed
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil; cook rotini at a boil until tender yet firm to the bite, about 8 minutes.
- While pasta is boiling, steam broccoli, one bag at a time, in a microwave per directions on the package, 4 to 6 minutes.
- Rinse cooked pasta in a colander until completely cool. Return to the pot. Add broccoli, tomatoes, salad dressing, Cheddar cheese, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Mix well. Refrigerate until chilled, 30 minutes to 1 hour. Serve cold.
- You can use any semi-hard cheese for this; you can either cube or crumble it.
- You may prefer to cut any remaining stems off of the broccoli florets.
- Variations: Add canned chicken, season with hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce, for an easy, complete light meal. Use half salt and half seasoned salt for more flavor. For prettier presentation, use as many colors as possible. Try Colby Jack cheese or other vegetables of your choosing. Use light dressing or half garden rotini/half whole wheat rotini for healthier options.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 141 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 17 g |
| Cholesterol | 7 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 5 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Sodium | 354 mg |
| Sugars | 2 g |
| Fat | 6 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Made 4 batches of this for a dinner for over 200. Rave reviews!