Easy Pasta Salad Recipe (2024)

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Easy Pasta Salad with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Artichokes, Olives, Arugula, and Parmesan Cheese. This delicious pasta salad can be served as a side dish or main dish.

Is anyone else confused by the current situation of summer and back to school? Outside tells me it is still summer, but Target and my calendar tells me it is time to for school to start. I really don’t want summer to end, but the boys are excited to start school. Caleb is starting kindergarten and Maxwell is starting preschool. I know, how did that happen? That is really why I don’t want summer to end, my babies are getting TOO big.

Because life is kind of crazy right now with summer ending and school starting, we are all about quick and easy meals. This Pasta Salad with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Artichokes, and Olives is the perfect easy dinner recipe. It is also a great side dish to take to a potluck, for those of us that are ignoring that summer is ending and having as many BBQ’s and pool parties as possible.

I love this pasta recipe because it is made with mostly pantry ingredients. I love walking into my pantry and finding almost everything I need to make an amazing dinner. For this pasta salad, you need the following ingredients:

pasta
sun-dried tomatoes
artichoke hearts
kalamata olives
arugula
Parmesan cheese

Four out of the six ingredients are pantry staples in our house. I almost always have arugula and Parmesan cheese in the fridge too, so I know I can make this salad anytime without having to run to the store.

The pasta has a ton of flavor without any dressing, but I like to whisk up a simple dressing so the pasta isn’t dry and to give it a little extra boost of flavor.The dressing is made with super basic ingredients that you should already have in your kitchen.

Tips for making this easy pasta salad:

We use whole wheat pasta for this recipe. DeLallo is our favorite brand. Gemelli, Penne, Farfalle, Fusilli, or Orechiette are all good noodles for this salad. You can use gluten-free pasta.
If you want to add protein to the salad, you can throw in some chickpeas, white beans, or shredded chicken.
If you don’t like olives, you can leave them out, but they are really good in this salad.
Feta cheese and goat cheese also work well in the salad, if you don’t have any Parmesan cheese on hand.
The pasta salad is good cold and holds up well so it can be made in advance. Leftovers are always tasty too!

This simple pasta salad recipe is good any day of the week and anytime of the year! We hope you like it as much as we do!

If you like this easy pasta salad, you might also like:

Spinach Artichoke Pasta Salad
Greek Tortellini Salad
Arugula Pasta Salad
Easy Summer Pasta Salad

Vegetarian

Pasta Salad with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Artichokes, and Olives

This easy pasta saladis made with mostly pantry ingredients and is great served as a side dish or main dish.

Ingredients

For the pasta salad:

1 lb pasta we use whole wheat Gemelli
1 6.7 oz jar sun-dried tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped
1 15 oz jar quartered artichoke hearts, drained
1 cup pitted kalamata olives drained and cut in half
4 cups arugula
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

For the dressing:

1/3 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons golden balsamic vinegar can use regular balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
2 cloves garlic minced
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

Cook pasta according to package directions.When the pasta is done cooking, drain and run cold water over the pasta. Drain completely and pour pasta into a large bowl.
Add the sun dried tomatoes, artichokes, olives, arugula, and Parmesan cheese. Stir.
In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, honey, garlic, salt, and pepper.
Drizzle dressing over the pasta salad and toss until salad is well coated. Serve.

Have you tried this recipe?

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