California Pasta Salad is fresh, healthy and packed full of flavor! I like to serve this amazing pasta salad at summer barbecues and potlucks. It’s always a hit!
Summer is officially here! Well, for us here in Southern Utah anyway. 🙂 Yesterday was the last day of school for the kids and let me tell you, they were a little too excited. haha. But I don’t blame them one bit. After I picked them up from school we went to lunch and ran some errands in town. Not the funnest way to start off summer break, but today hopefully we’ll make up for it and go swimming.
It’s also hotter than a hot tamale here as well. Another indication summer has arrived. We are already flying high in the 90 degree temps. I know we will be spending a lot of time at the pool and Momma will be doing most of my cooking where I don’t have to turn on the oven.
This CALIFORNIA PASTA SALAD is a great example. No oven required for this AMAZING salad. I served it at a small barbecue we had Saturday night and it was a hit. It is fresh, healthy and packed with flavor. All of my favorite veggies are inside this delicious bowl of yum. I know I’ll bet making it a lot this summer.
MORE PASTA SALAD RECIPES YOU MAY LIKE:
Strawberry Chicken and Spinach Pasta Salad
Mandarin Orange and Spinach Pasta Salad
Poppy Seed Chicken and Grape Pasta Salad
Pepperoni Pizza Pasta Salad
California Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound bow tie (farfalle) pasta
- 10 ounces cherry tomatoes sliced
- 1 medium zucchini diced
- 1 large cucumber diced
- 1 green bell pepper diced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1 small red onion diced
- 2 small cans sliced black olives
Dressing
- 1 bottle (16 ounces) Zesty Italian salad dressing
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Boil pasta in a large pot of water until al dente. Drain water then rinse pasta in cold water. Drain well.
- Place cooked, cooled pasta in a large bowl. Add all the diced veggies to pasta. Toss to combine.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients. Pour dressing over pasta and veggies.Gently toss to combine everything. Cover with lid and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. Serve and enjoy!
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Do you cook the zucchini? Thanks!
Nope. It goes in raw 🙂
Is this fresh grated parmesan cheese or the Kraft type in the can?
Either works fine 🙂
It is truly fresh, healthy and packed full of flavor! I usually only know each dish of roasted macaroni cheese. HuHu, finally I was enlightened with a delicious and healthy dish that was quick to cook.
This is a go to for both side dish or main meal! I make my own italian dressing, and add rotisserie chicken to the salad for a super lunch option! Thank you!!
The best pasta salad i have ever made
This is amazing! I tweaked the recipe just a bit to make it vegan. I DIDN’T add parmesan cheese, but I set out shredded parmesan to be added as desired. Many Italian dressings have eggs, so I just found one that didn’t. This recipe is DEFINITELY a keeper!