Quick Pesto Pasta Salad
When you need a salad FAST, this quick Pesto Pasta Salad is ready to go in the time it takes to cook the pasta! This salad is full of classic Caprese flavour, with grape tomatoes, basil pesto, fresh mozzarella, and tender pasta; perfect for a potluck, BBQ, or picnic!
Servings: 20 side dish servings
Ingredients
- 1 lb short cut pasta I used radiattore
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 2 cups grape tomatoes sliced in half
- 1 cup prepared or homemade pesto
- 2 Tbsp mayonnaise See note
- 1 container mini mozzarella balls drained
- Handful of fresh basil
Instructions
- Bring 5 quarts of salted water to a boil in a large stock pot, add pasta, and stir for 30 seconds to prevent sticking.
- While the pasta is cooking, slice the tomatoes and basil, and drain the mozzarella balls.
- When pasta is done cooking, drain and rinse with cold water until the pasta is cold to the touch.
- In a large salad bowl, add pesto and mayonnaise, and whisk until smooth.
- Add pasta, tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella balls. Toss until every bite is completely coated in the pesto sauce. Garnish with more chopped basil.
- Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate until needed; up to 2 days.
Notes
*Note: Because this salad contains mayonnaise, it should be kept chilled while serving. So if you’re taking it to a potluck where the salad will sit out for a few hours, leave the mayonnaise out of the recipe.
Did you make Pesto Pasta Salad? Post a photo on Instagram, and tag me @dinneratlulus and use the hashtag #dinneratlulus.