What would summertime be without an enormous bowl of creamy homemade pasta salad? They’re easy to make, can be made for almost any sized crowd, taste so much better than store-bought, and can be made to fit almost any budget. Here, you’ll find some of our favorite summer macaroni, tortellini, and couscous pasta salad recipes, just perfect for your next cookout, picnic, reunion, pool party, or barbeque get-together.
Pasta is super-affordable and available in all shapes and sizes, making it the perfect ingredient to use for homemade pasta salads. A little mayonnaise or even a simple olive oil-based vinaigrette is all that is needed to bring everything together. Simply fold in your favorite vegetables, cheeses, diced meats, eggs, or even fruit. The possibilities are pretty much limitless. Have fun with it. Summer is a great time to experiment.
The Best Creamy Classic Macaroni Salad
If you’re looking for a mayonnaise-based pasta salad that everyone will love, then this classic macaroni salad recipe is just what you need. The pasta is tender, the vegetables are crisp, and the sauce is creamy and flavorful. It’s the perfect side dish for almost any occasion and without a doubt will most likely become your new go-to macaroni salad recipe.
Tortellini Pasta Salad with Corn and Blueberries
I’m always looking for new side salads to bring along with me to cookouts, barbecues, and picnics, which can withstand the heat of summer. This healthy pasta salad made using frozen corn and refrigerated tortellini is the perfect example. It’s tossed with fresh blueberries, chopped scallions, and a light olive oil vinaigrette, which makes this a delicious and easy-to-make pasta salad just right for a hot summer’s day.
Green Pea & Herb Macaroni Salad
This herb-packed macaroni salad uses frozen sweet baby peas for extra nutrition and taste. I just love it when a pasta salad utilizes vegetables, not only for flavor but also as an added health benefit, don’t you? Serving this side salad is definitely a great way to get your kids to eat their veggies.
Pearl Couscous & Chickpea Salad with Basil
This easy-to-make side dish truly takes advantage of when fresh basil and cherry or grape tomatoes are in season. Add in chickpeas or garbanzo beans, pearl couscous, and a simple balsamic vinaigrette for a salad that pairs well with almost any summer meal. Oh, and don’t forget the crumbled feta, because cheese makes every summer salad side dish even more irresistible.
This amazingly flavorful muffuletta pasta salad has all of the good stuff in it, including ham, genoa salami, provolone cheese, celery, carrots, scallions, and lots and lots of green olives. It’s definitely anything but bland, and I’m willing to bet that it may just become your new go-to pasta salad recipe.
Cheese Tortellini with Nut-Free Pesto & Pimentos
Store-bought refrigerated cheese tortellini is a great time-saving ingredient on those occasions when you need a delicious pasta salad but don’t have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen, since it takes so little time to cook. Simply toss the tortellini with diced pimentos and a simple nut-free fresh basil and parsley pesto made with salted pepitas or pumpkin seeds, for a quick and flavor-packed side dish everyone can enjoy, including those with nut allergies.
BBQ Cheddar Summer Macaroni Salad
Create a flavor-packed summer macaroni salad using barbecue sauce and cheddar cheese. Add in some finely diced vegetables, as well as some chopped hard-boiled eggs, and you’ve got a pasta salad worthy of any cookout, picnic, or BBQ.
Bread & Butter Pickle Amish Macaroni Salad
Are you looking for a macaroni salad that is both sweet and tangy? Well then, this Amish macaroni salad recipe is just what you’ve been searching for. Finely chopped celery, carrot, and hard-boiled egg add lots of great texture while bread and butter pickles give this creamy pasta salad just the right hint of sweet vinegary flavor. Basically, this Amish macaroni salad has everything you could ever want in a pasta salad and more.
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