16 Summer Pasta Salad Recipes

Summer Pasta Salad

It’s hard to think of a time when a pasta salad doesn’t round out a warm weather meal perfectly.  It can also be the main course, holding center stage in all of its colorful glory, and if you make a vegetarian pasta salad it can serve as the entrée for some, and a side dish for others.  If I am making a pasta sinner, I often cook extra pasta so that I have a jump open a pasta salad later in the week, which cuts down on time, and also turning on the stove sometimes, if the other ingredients in the salad are uncooked or precooked.

I often make pasta salads to clean out the fridge, especially when I have a mishmash of ingredients on hand that on their own wouldn’t make much of a meal.  Leftover cooked vegetables, half a zucchini, part of a pint of cherry tomatoes, extra roasted or grilled chicken, chopped onions or a handful of sugar snap peas from a stir fry.  Into the cooled pasta they go.  

Pasta Salad Dressing

As for a dressing, you can stick with a very simple olive oil or mayo based dressing, or you can use some leftover vinaigrette, maybe softened with a few extra glugs of olive oil.  Or maybe the dressing showcases those leftover herbs you have.  I made a pasta salad with leftover ranch dressing the other day that was nothing short of divine.  

So, while you can ad lib your own pasta salad any day of the week, sometimes you want to aim for something in particular.  Here are 12 pasta salad recipes for the pondering.

16 Cold Pasta Salad Recipes

Pasta Salad with Chicken, Avocado and Tomato

Summery, colorful, delicious. Perfect for entertaining, packing for an office lunch, picnics, you name it.

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Chicken Piccata Orzo Salad

Leftover chicken piccata becomes a springboard for a delicious salad that can be served warm or cool.

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Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad

If you like Caesar Salad, and you also like pasta salad this is your lucky day. This Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad is the best of both worlds.

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Vegetarian Pasta Salad

This pasta salad is portable and flexible. It’s also a nice way to play around with the vegetables of the season.

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Spinach Orzo Salad

An orzo salad with colorful, barely wilted spinach adds nutrition and freshness to the pasta.

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Classic Macaroni Salad

This is the best kind of old-fashioned macaroni salad, starring a simple dressing and elbows, perfect for picnics and barbecues.

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Pasta Salad with Tomatoes, Feta and Herbed Mayonnaise

A quick summery meal that can be made ahead. Skip the bacon and it’s vegetarian!

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Shrimp Orzo Salad

This is a light and very colorful pasta salad, perfect for picnics and potlucks and warm weather lunches. Great to take to work as well.

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Pasta Salad with Chicken, Green Olives, and Ramp Vinaigrette

Chicken salad meets Spring. This pasta salad is heavy on the chicken.

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Pasta and Salmon Salad with Ramp Dressing

A springtime pasta perfect for a picnic, a buffet, or for a potluck.

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Herb Orzo Salad

Tiny rice shaped pasta is surrounded with chopped herbs and vegetables in this colorful, cheerful, portable orzo salad.

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Greek Chicken Pasta Salad

This is so, so pretty, and can be made ahead, which is great when you have a crew of guests.

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Vegetarian Spring Orzo Salad

This cheery, fresh green-and-white orzo salad features asparagus and sugar snap peas.

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Pasta Salad with Chicken and Chipotle Dressing

Leftovers join forces to become this better-than-I-expected salad.

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Pasta Salad with Salmon and Creamy Cilantro Dressing

This dish turns lunch into a luncheon.

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Tomato Mozzarella Pasta Salad

This pasta salad is late summertime eating at its finest.

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More Summer Recipes to Try:

• 25 Easy Summer Salad Recipes
• 8 Fruit Salsas to Change Things Up!
• 5 Great Tomato, Corn, and Zucchini Recipes
• 5 Great Grilled Dishes