This refreshing Pesto Pasta Salad is vibrant and a terrific use of summer ingredients. The tomatoes and basil were all handpicked from my wife's garden! Made with homemade pesto, cherry tomatoes, and mozzarella balls, this recipe is easy to make and ready in only 15 minutes!
Looking for more pesto recipes? Try my Creamy Pesto Pasta and Homemade Pesto next!
About This Recipe
As I promised earlier this week, here is another recipe to make with pesto: pasta salad!
I find pasta salads to be one of the very divisive foods. Either you hate it, or you love it. I'm one of those people who LOVE pasta salad. I grew up eating it at almost every potluck I attended, and I loved it so much that it eventually became the thing that I brought.
I would say pesto pasta salad is my favorite variation of pasta salad. It's rich, herbaceous, nutty, refreshing, and the combination of tomatoes and cheese just screams summer. I remember the first time I tried it was actually at my college campus cafe. And I went home to try to recreate it. Spoiler alert, it's really easy to make!
My recipe only requires 5 ingredients. Once you slice the tomatoes and red onions, it's only one step to make the recipe: mix everything together!
Key Ingredients
Pasta: I always use fusilli or rotini pasta for pasta salad because the sauce clings to them very well. You could also use penne if you want.
Pesto: A high-quality pesto is a must for this recipe since it makes up all of the salad dressing. I always recommend making your own homemade pesto because the flavor is much better, but one thing to keep in mind with homemade pesto is that it oxidizes quite fast, so it develops a brown color within minutes of being made. Commercial has compounds that neutralize the oxidizing agents so they do not brown.
Cherry tomatoes: These add bright pops of acidity to the salad.
Baby bocconcini: If you don't know what these are, they are small mozzarella balls. The best deal for them is at Costco.
Red onion: For savory and pungent depth.
Instructions
STEP 1: Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain well.
STEP 2: In a large bowl, toss the drained pasta, pesto, tomatoes, bocconcini, and red onion together. Garnish with freshly cracked black pepper, if desired. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
Pesto Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 12 ounces rotini pasta (or fusilli)
- 1 cup pesto (homemade recipe)
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes (halved)
- 1 (12-ounce) container baby bocconcini (mozzarella balls; drained)
- ¼ cup red onion (sliced)
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain well.
- In a large bowl, toss the drained pasta, pesto, tomatoes, bocconcini, and red onion together. Garnish with freshly cracked black pepper, if desired.
- Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
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