When I was growing up, one of my family’s favourite calorie splurging dinners was Kentucky Fried Chicken. I LOVED the macaroni salad. I could eat a whole container of that stuff. I probably still could if I wasn’t worried about all the calories. Yum! Since we were so happy with the KFC macaroni salad, my family really never experimented with other pasta salads. And I have no idea why on earth not!? Because I’m looking through these recipes and I’m drooling. They look SO GOOD! After I got married, my husband introduced me to homemade pasta salad. (How ridiculous is it that I never thought of making it myself!?) His was a simple recipe with cheese and peas and a few other vegetables, and it was delicious! We’d make a giant bowl of it and keep it in the fridge all week to have an easy side dish to go with our dinners.
Those were the easy days before we had our three kids picky little eaters. And you know, before my husband decided to go gluten and dairy free. That kind of put a damper on the pasta salads in our house. I wonder if I can make these with gluten free noodles? I should definitely try, because it was amazing to always have a side dish in the fridge ready to go with dinner!
40 Best Pasta Salad Recipes
I never would have thought of all of these variations. You can make a regular vegetable salad and throw in some noodles for a mostly veggie pasta salad. Or you can make it all about the noodles with the tried and true creamy cheddar macaroni salad. You can pretty much take any of your favourite flavours, and turn them into a pasta salad. I had no idea. Chicken Ceasar Pasta Salad or Taco Pasta Salad or even Spinach and Artichoke Pasta Salad. They all look AMAZING! Which would you try first?
Summer Vegetable Salad via Budget Bytes
Avocado Pasta Salad via Cook Crave Inspire
Easy Mediterranean Pasta Salad via Gimme Some Oven
Creamy Cheddar and Dill Macaroni Salad via Life Made Simple
Black Bean and Corn Pasta Salad via Simple Delicious Southern Food
Autumn Crunch Pasta Salad via Chelsea’s Messy Apron
Mandarin Pasta Spinach Salad with Teriyaki Dressing via Creme de la Crumb
Shrimp Pasta Salad via Cook Crave Inspire
Mediterranean Pasta Salad via Little Spice Jar
Greek Tortellini Salad via Two Peas & Their Pod
Creamy Cheddar Macaroni Salad via A Pretty Life
Pasta Salad with Roasted Vegetables via Better Homes and Gardens
Pesto Pasta Salad via Tastes Better From Scratch
Orzo Pasta Salad via The Recipe Critic
Perfect Pasta Salad via Love Grows Wild
Hawaiian Macaroni Salad via The Recipe Critic
Caprese Pasta Salad via Pip and Ebby
Spinach and Tortellini Salad via 3 Boys Unprocessed
Lemon Pasta Salad via Create by Diane
Crab Pasta Salad via Wine and Glue
Brushetta Pasta Salad via A Pretty Life
Greek Pasta Salad via Baker by Nature
Strawberry Avocado Pasta Salad with Balsamic Glaze via Diethood
Pasta Salad via Iowa Girl Eats
Italian Tortellini Salad via Will Cook For Smiles
Creamy Summer Pasta Salad via Barefeet in the Kitchen
Mango Avocado Pasta Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing via Chef de Home
Italian Pasta Salad via Creole Contessa
Spaghetti Salad via Six Sisters’ Stuff
Taco Pasta Salad via Old El Paso
Pizza Pasta Salad via The Girl Who Ate Everything
Broccoli Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad via Julia’s Album
Southern Macaroni Salad via Add A Pinch
Avocado BLT Pasta Salad via Closet Cooking
Creamy Cheddar Pasta Salad via Center Cut Cook
Pesto Pasta with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Roasted Asparagus via Damn Delicious
Easy Italian Pasta Salad via Cupcake Diaries
Spinach Artichoke Pasta Salad via Cook Crave Inspire
20-Minute BLT Pasta Salad via Baker by Nature
BLT Pasta Salad via Life in the Lofthouse I would be so grateful if you would share this on Facebook! Seriously, every little bit of exposure helps us! All you have to do is click here and press share.
Before you go, check out these 25 Meal Sized Loaded Salads. They look sooooooo good! I’m always worried that I won’t be full after eating a salad for dinner, but these salads have it all!
