Italian Pasta Salad

EASY Italian Pasta Salad recipe!  This vegetarian recipe uses Italian dressing, tri color pasta, fresh cherry tomatoes, celery and arugula! It’s the perfect garden Summer salad!

Easy to Make Pasta Salad

When it’s hot out all I crave is fresh vegetables.    That’s why this Italian Pasta Salad is one of my favorite meals in the Summer! 

When it’s hot out, I don’t want to think about turning our oven on.  I also don’t want to even think about drinking or eating anything hot, instead I like to rely on chilled recipes, like this Pasta Salad!

That’s why my family loves this recipe during the Summer months!

One thing that I do enjoy about the Summer is that it means fresh vegetables are being picked in the garden by the handful.  And because this recipe is bursting with fresh cherry tomatoes, arugula and celery – it’s a garden lovers dream recipe!   I get so excited when we start to fill our basket with garden tomatoes, that means we’ll making this pasta salad often! 

If you wanted to add some more Summer time vegetables, you could even chop up some onions or green peppers to throw into this salad!

Ingredients for Italian Pasta Salad

• 12 oz box of tri color penne pasta
• 1/2 cup Italian Salad Dressing
• 4 stalks of celery chopped up
• 1 pint of cherry or grape tomatoes halved
• 1 1/2 cup arugula
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

This Italian pasta salad is packed full of cherry tomatoes, celery and arugula making it the perfect excuse to hit up the farmers market or your own backyard garden!   I love that every bite has a little bit of crunch with the celery! (By the way – did you see we finally grew celery in our garden!?)
 

Calories in Pasta Salad

This recipe makes 6 servings, each serving coming in at  293 calories.  Since it’s filled with vegetables, it’s a perfect light Summer time meal!

Vegetarian Pasta Salad

This classic Italian Pasta Salad is vegetarian.  I know some people think Italian Pasta Salad needs to include Italian meats, but I make this just like my Mama did growing up – no meat, just lots of vegetables!

If you need a salad to make quick for a get together and don’t want to eliminate your vegetarian guests – this is it!  Everyone will love it!

I hope you enjoy this Italian Pasta Salad!

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4.50 from 2 votes

Italian Pasta Salad

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EASY Italian Pasta Salad recipe!  This vegetarian recipe uses Italian dressing, tri color pasta, fresh cherry tomatoes, celery and arugula! It’s the perfect garden Summer salad!

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Total Time 17 minutes

serves 6

Ingredients

• ▢ 12 oz box of tri color penne pasta
• ▢ 1/2 cup Italian Salad Dressing
• ▢ 4 stalks of celery chopped up
• ▢ 1 pint of cherry or grape tomatoes halved
• ▢ 1 1/2 cup arugula
• ▢ 1 tablespoon dried basil
• ▢ 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• ▢ 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

Instructions

• Prepare your pasta as directed. Drain.
• Put your pasta in a big bowl.
• Add your chopped vegetables, salad dressing and dried herbs.
• Mix together so everything is coated in salad dressing.
• Add in your mozzarella cheese, toss around.
• Cover, put in fridge to chill for 2 hours.
• Enjoy!

Notes

If your pasta salad looks a little dry when it comes out of the fridge, add a tablespoon of salad dressing and mix.

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 293kcal (15%)

Course:Side Dish

Cuisine:American

Keyword:italian pasta salad, pasta salad recipe, tri color pasta

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