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Greek Pasta Salad
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Best Greek Pasta Salad

Best Greek Pasta Salad has quality ingredients like feta cheese, pasta, olives, cucumbers, carrots, peppers and tomatoes. And that's just the base. With additional options and topped with Greek pasta salad dressing, makes this pasta salad supreme!
Course Main Course, Salad
Cuisine American, Greek
Keyword best, easy, greek, pasta, pasta salad, salad

Equipment

  • saucepan

Ingredients

Greek Pasta Salad Dressing

  • ¾ cup olive oil
  • ⅓ cup red wine vinegar
  • ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice or juice from 2 lemons
  • 2 medium shallots, minced
  • 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon oregano, leaves, dried or 2 tblsp fresh oregano leaves, minced
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper

Salad

  • 1 pound pasta, cooked
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled and grated
  • 1 large sweet pepper, cored, seeded, cut into strips
  • 1-2 cups feta cheese, crumbled
  • 1 cup pitted olives, chopped, whole or sliced
  • ½ cup fresh parsley leaves, minced
  • 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes
  • 1 cup cucumber, seeded (if desired) and sliced
  • ½ cup purple onion, sliced

Options

  • 1 cup cooked chicken, rotisserie or leftover, shredded, diced or sliced
  • 1 cup chickpeas
  • 1 handful baby spinach or baby kale

Instructions

Salad Timing

  • If serving salad immediately, you will be adding vegetables to the pasta and then tossing the dressing into the salad. You just want to keep the pasta moist and I always serve this salad with the extra dressing available if desired. Do not dump all of the dressing into your salad, about ¼ to ⅓ of it should be plenty.

Make Ahead of Time

  • If you are making this salad the day before needed, toss pasta in only enough salad dressing to just totally coat the pasta, between ¼ and ⅓ of it usually works for me.
  • Cooking the pasta until it is completely tender is also crucial as pasta becomes tough if it sits dry in the salad overnight. 
  • Add vegetables and toss with coated pasta. Cover salad tightly with plastic wrap, poke several vent holes with a sharp knife and toss salad periodically until ready to serve. Store extra dressing in an airtight container in your fridge. Pasta salad will last in your fridge for up to 2 days total and I include the day I made it.

THE RECIPE

    Greek Pasta Salad Dressing

    • In a medium sized bowl, combine olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, shallots, mustard, oregano, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Set aside.

    Pasta

    • Cook pasta until totally cooked according to package directions. Drain and place cooked pasta into a large bowl.

    Salad

    • Add carrots, peppers, cucumber, onions, feta, olives, and parsley. Toss with pasta. Add tomatoes and some feta, if desired, across the top of your salad.

    To Store

    • Cover the pasta salad tightly with plastic wrap and poke several vent holes. Transfer the remaining dressing to an airtight container. Refrigerate the pasta salad and reserved dressing separately for up to 2 days.

    To Serve

    • When you are ready to serve, remove salad from fridge about 20 minutes before serving. If you prefer a salad that is room temperature, place the salad into another bowl and allow the salad to sit in that instead. Add just enough salad dressing to keep the salad moist.

    Notes

    Recipe has been adapted from CooksIllustrated.com