This easy Greek Pasta Salad recipe is perfect for making during the warm summer months. It’s light, fresh, easy to make, and loaded with veggies, tender pasta, fresh basil, and feta cheese.
Looking for more pasta salad recipes? You can also try my Tortellini Greek Pasta Salad, Tortellini Pasta Salad, or this original Pasta Salad recipe.
Greek Pasta Salad Recipe
Pasta salad is like the honorary food mascot of summer. It’s quick to make, involves pasta (which kids love), and always seems to hit the spot. This Greek pasta salad version is loaded with olives, cucumber, red onion, tomatoes, fresh basil, and feta cheese all covered in my homemade Greek vinaigrette.
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Best of all, the flavors actually improve with time, so you can make this salad the night before and serve whenever you want.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Quick and easy. Pasta salad is a summer staple because of how yummy it is, but also because of how easy it is to throw together. You can make a big batch of this and be eating it for the next few days if you want.
- Customizable. It’s easy to switch up the veggies, herbs, and dressing ingredients, or add something like grilled chicken or beans for more protein.
- Make it ahead of time. This salad actually tastes better after it has sat in the fridge overnight, so definitely do not hesitate to make it the day before.
Key Ingredients You Will Need
- Pasta: choose a pasta shape with lots of surface area to soak up the dressing, and little nooks and crannies to catch some of the ingredients. Penne, spirals, mostacolli, or similar pasta types would all work great.
- Cucumbers: I love to use English cucumbers because they are seedless and tend to have a slightly thinner peel.
- Cherry Tomatoes: cut the tomatoes in either half or in quarters, depending on how big they are. You can also use another type of tomato and cut it into small dice.
- Artichoke Hearts: this adds a little bit of a briney flavor and a different texture that I love in pasta salad. Roasted red peppers in a jar are also great, or even kalamata olives.
- Red Onion: be sure to dice these small so that no one gets a huge chunk of raw onion in a bite.
- Basil: fresh basil adds so much flavor and color to pasta salad. Fresh mint would also be great.
- Feta Cheese: with Greek salad, you almost have to add feta cheese. You can get a block and crumble it with your fingers, or purchase feta that is already crumbled.
- Red Wine Vinegar: for the dressing, you will need red wine vinegar. Balsamic would also work well.
- Dried Herbs: use a combination of dried herbs such as oregano, parsley, and thyme.
- Dijon Mustard: the mustard adds flavor to the dressing but also helps to bind it. Dijon has the best flavor for this particular dressing.
How to Make Greek Pasta Salad
- Cook the pasta. Cook the pasta to al dente, then run cold water over the cooked pasta to cool, drain, and transfer to a large mixing bowl.
- Add the rest of the salad ingredients. Add the cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, red onion, and sliced fresh basil to the bowl with the cooked pasta.
- Make the dressing. In a separate bowl, whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, sugar, minced garlic, mustard, oregano, parsley, thyme, salt, and pepper.
- Toss the salad. Pour the dressing over the pasta and vegetables and mix until everything is evenly coated, then store in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving.
Recipe Tips
- Soak the red onions. In order to mellow out some of the sharpness of raw red onions, you can let them soak in cool water for about 10-15 minutes, then drain and use.
- Use plenty of salad dressing. Penne pasta, along with basically every other pasta, soaks up a lot of liquid fairly quickly. Because of this, you shouldn’t be shy about adding plenty of dressing to the pasta salad.
- Add grilled chicken. To make this a heartier meal, you can add drilled diced chicken.
Storage Instructions
- Refrigerator: store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
More You’ll Love
This Greek Pasta Salad is crunchy, fresh, and loaded with tender pasta, veggies, and feta choose. It can be made the night before and stored in the fridge, ready to enjoy.
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Greek Pasta Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound penne pasta
- 1 medium English cucumber, diced into 1/2" pieces
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- 1/2 cup artichoke hearts, diced
- 1/2 cup red onion, diced
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
- 1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
Greek Vinaigrette
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1½ tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Prepare the penne pasta according to package directions, cooking until al dente. Run cold water over the cooked pasta to cool, then drain and transfer to a large mixing bowl.
- Add the cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, red onion, and sliced fresh basil to the bowl with the cooked pasta.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, sugar, minced garlic, mustard, oregano, parsley, thyme, salt, and pepper.
- Pour the dressing over the pasta and vegetables and mix until everything is evenly coated. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper as needed.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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Categories:
30-Minute Meals, Easy Weeknight Meals, Healthy, Nut-Free, Salads, Summer Recipes, Vegan,
