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You are here: Home / Salads / Cold Pasta Salad With Feta Cheese and Basil Dressing

Cold Pasta Salad With Feta Cheese and Basil Dressing

June 30, 2020 By Joe Boyle 7 Comments

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Last Updated on May 7, 2025

It seems like a good time to make a Cold Pasta Salad Recipe, which you will surely make several times during the summer months. The recipe makes enough for a crowd and is a perfect side dish for summer cookouts. 

Disclaimer: This post includes an affiliate link to a recommended product.

Clear glass bowl of cold pasta salad on a blue checkered cloth.

Jump To Contents:

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  • Ingredients You Will Need For This Easy Pasta Salad Recipe
  • Assembling The Pasta Salad
  • The Dressing Ingredients (with a fun twist)
  • Variations And Tasty Options
  • Additional Tips
  • What To Serve With Cold Pasta Salad
  • Here Are Some More Tasty Recipes To Try
  • Pasta Salad Recipe With Feta Cheese And Basil Dressing

Hot summer days and cold pasta salad go together like peas and carrots. This salad is unlike a homemade Italian dressing salad, as this one has a unique blend of juicy tomatoes, fresh herbs, vinegar, and garlic to make a tangy dressing. 

Ingredients You Will Need For This Easy Pasta Salad Recipe

The ingredients in the salad are easy to prepare:

  • Rotini pasta or any other curly pasta
  • English or hothouse cucumber
  • Yellow and red bell pepper
  • Grape tomatoes
  • Scallions  (green onion)
  • Black olives 
  • Fresh parsley
  • Feta cheese

Assembling The Pasta Salad

Just chop the veggies into the size you like, and you are nearly done making the salad.  

Cook the pasta to al dente according to package directions, then let it cook for another minute. The pasta is best when it is soft. Run cold water over it to cool.

Put all of the salad ingredients, except the feta cheese, into a large mixing bowl and fold together. Next comes the dressing.

Ingredients for the pasta salad dressing.

The Dressing Ingredients (with a fun twist)

  • Can of diced tomatoes
  • 3 garlic cloves, or more if you like
  • 1/4 cup fresh basil (2 or 3 leafy sprigs)
  • Tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Red pepper flakes

Here is the fun twist. This homemade dressing is made in a food processor. Toss all of the ingredients into a food processor and run for 20 to 30 seconds so you make a smooth dressing.

Give the dressing a taste and add extra salt, vinegar, pepper flakes, or even garlic if you feel it needs more. This dressing is the essence of the flavor of the dish, so it has to taste to your liking.  

Then give the dressing a few more pulses in the food processor. 

Cold Pasta Salad dressing being mixed in a food processor.

I used my handy little Kitchen Aid food processor, (#ad) to blend the dressing ingredients. This is a sweet, small processor you can see in the link.

Variations And Tasty Options

This salad is quite versatile and additional flavors and textures can be added and others subtracted. 

  • Thin sliced zucchini
  • Kalamata olives
  • Mozzarella balls
  • Pepperoncini
  • Summer sausage 
  • Red onion
  • Bacon bits

These can either be substitutions or additions. 

Chopped ingredients for Cold Pasta Salad.

Also, any short pasta shape can be used. I used Rotini pasta because it has lots of surface area to hold onto the tomatoey salad dressing. Cook it until thoroughly softened, then rinse it under cool water.

Other pasta types to use are fusilli, farfalle (bow ties), and even conchiglie (like a medium shell).

For a gluten-free diet, try gluten-free pasta. I have tried some of these, and it’s hard to tell the difference between flour pasta.

If you are interested, here is a great article on cooking pasta… Pasta: 8 Common Mistakes in Cooking …interesting tidbits to better pasta.

Additional Tips

  • For best results, refrigerate the salad for an hour or so after making it. This will allow the flavors to meld and develop.
  • Store leftovers refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
  • If the salad seems dry after storing, drizzle a bit more olive oil on or even the juice from a lemon. Give it a stir to combine and loosen.

Close-up view of Cold Pasta Salad.

What To Serve With Cold Pasta Salad

When I made this again recently, I just pan-fried some herb-crusted chicken breasts. You could also try it with crispy chicken cutlets. 

The best way to serve this is with some grilled burgers or brats, outdoors with family or friends.

Make the salad a day ahead if you like, because it stores well in the fridge and is a good leftover. 

Close-up side view of Cold Pasta Salad.

This cold pasta salad recipe makes enough for a crowd and is perfect for a summer party. Fresh vegetables and ingredients make this a great, healthy side dish.

Here Are Some More Tasty Recipes To Try:

  • Southwest Dressing Recipe
  • Cold Tuna Salad
  • Spinach and Potato Quiche
  • Tender Beef Tips and Egg Noodles
Overhead view of cold pasta salad in a glass bowl

Pasta Salad Recipe With Feta Cheese And Basil Dressing

Tasty cold salad which is perfect for picnics, potlucks, or family gettogethers.
4.09 from 12 votes
Print Pin Rate Save Saved Recipe
Course: Pasta, Pasta Side Dish, Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cold pasta salad, pasta salad
Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes
Resting time: 1 hour hour
Total Time: 1 hour hour 35 minutes minutes
Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 258kcal
Author: Joe Boyle

Ingredients

Dressing:

  • 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
  • 3 large garlic cloves , coarse chopped
  • 1/2 to 3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 cup fresh basil tightly packed
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Salad:

  • 1 lbs Rotini pasta cooked according to package directions, a little past al dente
  • 1 English cucumber , chopped
  • 1 medium red pepper , chopped
  • 1 medium yellow pepper , chopped
  • 2 cups grape tomatoes , halved
  • 3 green onions , chopped
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley , chopped
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 cup pitted black olives , halved
  • 8 oz crumbled feta cheese
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Instructions

  • Puree the ingredients of the dressing in a food processor or blender, 20 to 30 seconds. Set aside and allow to cool in the refrigerator or make and cool overnight in the refrigerator.
  • Cook the pasta until well softened, (just a minute past what you would call al dente). Drain and rinse under cold water.
  • Chop the vegetables and place all the ingredients except the feta cheese in a large bowl, then toss to combine with the olive oil.
  • Add the pasta and dressing and toss again. The salad may then be refrigerated. An hour is recommended to allow the flavors to develop.
  • Just before serving, add the crumbled feta and serve cold or at room temperature.

Notes

  1. An English or hothouse cucumber is best for this salad as it will not sweat liquid like a regular cucumber will do.
  2. Keep leftovers covered in the refrigerator for 4 or 5 days. 
  3. Use variations in the salad as suggested in the blog text.
  4. Recipe adapted from Cook's Country.

Nutrition

Calories: 258kcal
 

 

Cold Pasta Salad collage for Pinterest.

 

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Filed Under: Pasta, Salads, Side dishes

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Deb

    December 21, 2022 at 6:37 am

    5 stars
    This recipe was a life saver and turned out well. My husband tells me at 6pm at night that they are having a pot luck for Christmas at work the next day. I was looking for a cold dish option. I did have to make a few subs/changes since I didn’t have all of the ingredients. I used fire roasted diced tomatoes, omitted the olives and used some smoked gouda since I didn’t have feta. It turned out wonderful. Would definitely make this again.

    Reply
  2. Angela Ivanovskiy

    September 7, 2021 at 2:15 pm

    4 stars
    A great guide for a cold pasta salad, with some tweaks (just personal preferences). I felt the tomato flavoring of the canned tomatoes was a little overpowering (much like a spaghetti sauce) and the feta cheese was too bland. We tweaked it by adding more red wine vinegar, 2 tbs of juice from a lemon, and substituted the feta for goat cheese. I’d probably omit the can of tomatoes next time and just puree fresh tomatoes, plus I’d play around with more herbs. This was my favorite recipe of all of them on Yummly.

    Reply
  3. Kristin Nelson

    July 2, 2020 at 12:10 pm

    5 stars
    Perfect for the weather we have in MN right now! Yum!

    Reply
  4. Molly

    February 2, 2017 at 5:17 am

    3 stars
    Made this for the family and for us the garlic was too overpowering but would definitely make again and adjust to our taste thanks for the recipe

    Reply
  5. sister

    October 15, 2016 at 4:32 pm

    Love the salad best one ever everything’s in it light and fulfilling

    Reply
    • Joe

      October 15, 2016 at 7:42 pm

      Thanks, I make it all the time. It’s especially good to share at potlucks.

      Reply
  6. MaryJo

    March 16, 2015 at 7:03 am

    5 stars
    This is really delicious. Be sure to cook the pasta until it’s tender.

    Reply
4.09 from 12 votes (7 ratings without comment)

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