This Italian Pasta Salad is so quick and easy that you can make it for a weeknight meal, lunch, or even for a crowd. It combines penne pasta, salami, black olives, mozzarella cheese, artichoke hearts, grape tomatoes, sweet red onions, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese tossed lightly with homemade Italian dressing.
Serve it as a main dish for lunch or a light dinner during the hot summer months. Or serve it as a side dish with grilled chicken or grilled shrimp. Whatever you choose to serve it with, it is always delicious and a huge hit.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
See the complete list of ingredients below on the recipe card.
- Red wine vinegar: You can substitute white wine or champagne vinegar
- Pasta: Use penne, cellentani, corkscrew, rotini, bowtie, or elbow pasta
- Italian salami: Such as Genoa, Calabrese, or Napoli.
- Mozzarella: Use balls or cubes of soft whole milk mozzarella
- Artichoke hearts: Look for the canned ones packed in brine. If you can not find the quartered ones, look for the whole ones and quarter them.
- Tomates: Use grape or cherry tomatoes.
- Parmesan cheese: Freshly grated is always best.
Preparation Tips
- Don’t overcook the pasta. It should be cooked fairly firm so it does not break apart when tossed or absorb too much of the Italian dressing.
- If you don’t like something, make a substitution. For instance, if you don’t like artichoke hearts, substitute chopped bell peppers. As I always say, don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.
- In a hurry, use your favorite bottled Italian dressing.
- This pasta salad can be made up to a day in advance. However, you might want to add a couple of tablespoons of Italian dressing to freshen it up.
Serving Suggestions for Italian Pasta Salad
This is always delicious with lemon pepper baked cod or shrimp salad. Or serve with an open-faced tuna melt, traditional club sandwich, or grinder sandwich. It is also delicious with crusty French bread, crostini, or cheddar pull-apart bread.
More Pasta Salads
Italian Pasta Salad with Italian dressing
Ingredients
Italian Dressing
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- ¾ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Italian Pasta Salad
- 16 ounces uncooked penne pasta
- ⅔ cup diced Italian salami
- ¾ cup sliced black olives
- 1 cup mozzarella balls
- 1 cup drained and quartered artichoke hearts
- 1 cup halved grape tomatoes
- ⅓ cup thinly sliced red onion
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- salt to taste
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice, red wine vinegar, garlic, sugar, oregano, parsley, basil, salt, and black pepper. Slowly whisk in the olive oil.
- Cook pasta al dente according to package directions. Drain well and rinse lightly with cool water to stop the cooking process.
- In a large bowl, combine the cooked penne pasta, salami, black olives, mozzarella cheese, artichoke hearts, grape tomatoes, red onions, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Toss with the Italian dressing and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
- This pasta salad can be made up to a day in advance. However, you might want to add a couple of tablespoons of Italian dressing to freshen it up.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
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https://www.smalltownwoman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Beth-1.pdf
Kristin
I absolutely love this lighter take on pasta salad. The meats, cheese, and tomatoes are perfect!
Maria
As an Italian, I really love the flavors in this pasta salad. It’s good!
Beth Pierce
Thank you, Maria!
Jennifer Robertson
I haven’t tried this yet and am searching for the best recipe for a crowd. This looks delicious! I have the ingredients and am not sure how much more to add to be a potluck side dish.
Beth Pierce
You can always double the recipe. Not sure how many you are expecting for your potluck.
Steven M Berry-Brooks
What do you think about adding chopped pepperoni as well? I have worked in many place that served pasta salad with pepperoni its usually a keeper. I can’t wait to try this amazing new recipe.
Beth Pierce
Pepperoni is very good in this pasta salad. Enjoy and thanks for reminding us of that.
Heidy McCallum
I made this the other day and the whole family loved it. We loved all the flavorful ingredients in this wonderful pasta salad. I will be making it again.
Heidy
Katie
Made this for the family and it was a hit!
Justine
I’ve made a variation of this salad for years, but absolutely LOVED this version. The artichoke hearts and bell peppers were a very welcome addition – it was so good!
Erika
Pasta salads are one of my favorites. Looks delicious!
Jessica
This is the best pasta salad recipe I’ve ever tried! My family always loves it, and I always get asked for the recipe
cam
Y is there two listings of tomatoes? When do you add parsley? After you mix w dressing. Going to make soon for picnic, think will go well w chicken cutlets
Beth Pierce
Thanks for the heads up! I have fixed the recipe. It will go great with the chicken.