This is my interpretation of numerous pasta salads I’ve tasted. It’s my daughter’s favorite, and I’ve brought it to several barbecues and picnics where it’s been well received. If the pasta appears a little dry when it’s time to serve, add more olive oil and toss it again.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 10 mins |
| Additional Time: | 2 hrs |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 40 mins |
| Servings: | 10 |
| Yield: | 10 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 (16 ounce) package tri-color rotini pasta
- 1 small red onion, diced
- 1 cup diced roasted red peppers
- 1 cup cubed mozzarella cheese
- 1 (6 ounce) jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
- ¼ pound salami, diced
- ¾ cup sliced stuffed green olives
- 1 (4 ounce) can sliced black olives
- ½ cup sliced pepperoncini peppers (Optional)
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder, or to taste
- 1 pinch seasoned salt, or to taste
- ground black pepper to taste
- ⅓ cup Italian-style salad dressing (such as Newman’s Own®)
- ¼ cup mayonnaise (such as Best Foods®)
- ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil; cook rotini at a boil until tender yet firm to the bite, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and run under cold water to cool.
- Mix rotini, red onion, roasted red peppers, mozzarella cheese, artichoke hearts, salami, green olives, black olives, pepperoncini peppers, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, seasoned salt, and black pepper in a large bowl.
- Whisk Italian-style dressing and mayonnaise together in a small bowl; pour over rotini mixture and toss to coat. Add Parmesan cheese and mix well. Refrigerate salad at least 2 hours before serving.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 358 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 38 g |
| Cholesterol | 24 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 14 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5 g |
| Sodium | 1375 mg |
| Sugars | 3 g |
| Fat | 17 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Tasty, Tasty! you can substitute the meats with those that you like. I used pepperoni we had left over. Really enjoyed this!
I made this pasta salad for a bbq and barely anyone ate it. I followed the recipe exactly and it tasted really bad! Frankly, I was pretty embarrassed. I will not be making this pasta salad again.
I thought this was really good. I like that the other ingredients made it more than just salad dressing thrown in pasta salad. Very good!
Love
I made this for an open house attended by > 60 people. This salad was a huge hit “as is”. I used the small diced pepperoni pieces in place of the salami the second time I made it – both are good. I am always looking for creative and tasty variations on standard picnic fare. This is a winner!
Made this without changes and it was good- but not as good as it could be if you doubled the mix-in amounts. The flavors of the olives, red peppers, artichokes, and pepperoncinis- while great additions- kind of get lost in the mix. Also, I made this the night before and so much of the dressing had been absorbed by the noodles the next day- next time I’ll double the dressing and reserve half of it to stir in right before serving. All in all a good recipe worth repeating!
This is my new favorite pasta salad. The ONLY thing I did differently was use drained sun-dried tomatoes instead of roasted red pepper. This make a ton of food & everyone loved it. Thank you for the recipe!
Very pretty to look at and has a tangy taste. A perfect pasta salad for a holiday dinner. Nothing I would change it is overall very delicious!
This was the best pasta salad I ever made!!
The recipe calls for “tri-color rotini”, which is not what’s shown in the picture and it certainly adds to the flavor and presentation. The colors are from vegetables in the pasta…. This is a good pasta salad. It needs to marinate overnight before serving, and the parmesan should be shredded, not grated, like green can… I will make it again using the same ingredients, but tweeking the quantities of each to match our family’s personal preference, but ALL the ingredients addded to the wonderful flavor. EVEN THE PEPPERONCINI! Don’t tweek and rate your own concoction people!! Newman’s Own Salad Dressing was PERFECT for this recipe.
YUMMY!!! I omitted a few items and used fresh basil in place of the italian seasoning and doubled the sauce. But this is one that I will be making again. Very yummy.
Great recipe!! I have used mini turkey pepperoni instead of the salami.
I liked it, but it wasn’t anything spectacular. I won’t make it again.
Yum! didn’t roast peppers & didn’t have artichokes. still delicious! (added pepperoni)
I love this pasta salad and it always gets rave reviews at BBQ.
I like 99% of the recipes on here, but every once in a while there is one that doesn’t click. I made this (to the tee according to the recipe) for a dinner reception for a large group of children…over 50 people. The kids (and parents) took one or two bites and didn’t eat any more. I felt bad, but like I said, some recipes just don’t work.
this was very tasty.. i used what i had on hand.. didn’t have the roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts or the green olives.. i sauteed some white onion and orange bell pepper.. used one cup of slice kalamata olives.. omitted the extra seasonings (italian seasoning, garlic powder, seasoned salt, pepper) and also the parm.. i doubled the italian dressing and mayo.. did add the pepperoncinis and doubled the salami.. didn’t have the patience to throw it in the fridge for 2 hours.. still tasted super yummy.. ty so much for the recipe
This is the best pasta salad I’ve ever had. I’m not very good at specific or critical reviews, but this was seriously the. best. I’m a huge pasta salad lover and this was just phenomenal. All of the vegetables and seasoning gave it a great spicy flavor. Just, seriously. Best pasta salad ever. Ever.
Very tasty, much better than I thought it would be. Doesn’t matter what pasta you use I reckon.
This recipe was exactly what I was looking for. A local restaurant makes a salad similar to this and I have been on a mission to find the recipe since! This is even better than the restaurant version, but like most suggested, it does require double the amount of mayo/Italian dressing mix at least, or more if you want a creamier salad. I didn’t have any roasted red peppers so I used some sun dried tomatoes instead. No complaints!
This an amazing pasta salad. We call it antipasto pasta salad. The only thing I would change about it was that it was a bit too salty. Next time I’d take out the seasoning salt and I’ll probably cut down on the amount of olives. But other than that it was soooo delicious. It is not going to last long in our house!