Healthy Italian Pasta Salad
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This healthy pasta salad is a versatile side dish that is so easy to make. With wholesome ingredients, it’s the Italian pasta salad recipe of your dreams!
Fresh veggies, creamy mozzarella, salty salami, whole grain pasta, and a bright vinaigrette dressing come together to make this fantastic healthy side dish. It’s perfect for your spring and summer get-togethers!
This is a healthier pasta salad option because it’s loaded with fresh vegetables, uses simple ingredients, and comes together in less than 30 minutes. I know you are going to love it!
It’s also easy to customize based on your preferences or what ingredients you have in your pantry. Fortunately, there are plenty of Italian vegetables, proteins, and cheeses that taste great in a salad like this!
While some pasta salads aren’t the healthiest, this one includes extra vegetables, protein, and healthy fats, making it a great option to enjoy in moderation.
liz’s tips for healthy pasta salad
- Cook the pasta al dente. The fusilli should be firm—not soggy or too dry. For the best texture, cook it 2 minutes less than the package instructions state.
- Keep your pasta salad completely covered to prevent it from drying out.
- Don’t make it too far ahead of time. Pasta salad is best when eaten fresh. Also, wait until 10 minutes before serving to dress the salad, or an hour before if you want to chill it in the fridge. This will allow enough time for the pasta to absorb the flavors of the dressing without becoming soggy!
- Use nitrate-free Italian meats if possible. Many cured meats like bacon, salami, and pepperoni have hidden sugars in them. Nitrate-free meats are a healthier choice, but may not be as easy to find.
Ingredients
Substitutions
Pasta: Any pasta with ridges is best for pasta salad. You want lots of nooks and crannies to soak up the dressing! Fusilli, rotini, farfalle, or any other pasta that has little curves that the dressing gets stuck in are all great options.
Grilled Veggies: If you want to use grilled veggies, check out our Grilled Vegetable Pasta Salad.
Mini Mozzarella Balls: You can chop or shred fresh mozzarella or cut large mozzarella balls in halves if you can’t find mini mozzarella balls.
Cherry Tomatoes: You can use regular tomatoes that have been cut up, cherry tomatoes, or plum tomatoes. If you love tomatoes, try our Caprese Pasta Salad.
Red Onion: We don’t recommend substituting with white onion – it has a pretty strong bite that hides some of the Italian flavors. You can omit the red onion if you’d like.
Cucumber: English (seedless)cucumbers work best in this recipe, but you can use any cucumbers. Feel free to scoop out the centers of garden cucumbers to remove the seeds.
Olives: You can omit the black olives, or use green or kalamata olives.
Parsley: Fresh parsley works best in this recipe, or substitute with fresh basil.
Salami: You can omit salami from this recipe or use cooked bacon. If you prefer tuna, try our Tuna Pasta Salad.
Bell Pepper: Red peppers work best in this recipe because they are sweet. You can substitute green, orange, or yellow peppers too.
Dried Spices: Feel free to omit the dried spices or use more or less to taste.
Lemon Juice: Do not use bottled lemon juice because it doesn’t taste the same. Freshly squeezed lemon juice is best.
Olive Oil: You can substitute avocado oil in place of olive oil.
Dijon Mustard: You can substitute Dijon mustard with whole grain mustard. However, we don’t recommend using yellow mustard. You can also omit the mustard if you don’t like it.
Maple Syrup: You can substitute maple syrup with honey.
How to Make the Healthy Pasta Salad
This is just a summary of the steps involved in making the recipe. Scroll down to the recipe card for the full instructions, or click on the Jump to Recipe button, below.
- In a measuring cup, combine dressing ingredients, then whisk well.
- Cook pasta until al dente. Then rinse with cold water to cool down.
- Add the pasta, veggies, and salami to a large bowl. Then stir in the dressing.
- For maximum flavor, chill in the fridge for around an hour!
Recipe Variations
For an even healthier side dish, use whole grain or nutrient-dense options like lentil or chickpea pasta.
Gluten Free: I haven’t tried making this with gluten free pasta, but I think it would work. Or, check out this Gluten-Free Italian Pasta Salad or this Gluten Free Pasta Salad recipe!
To make it plant-based, omit the salami.
To reduce the carbs, add more veggies and cut down on the amount of pasta.
Want to lower the calories? Use less salami and olives.
Higher Protein: Try our High Protein Pasta Salad or Greek Chicken Pasta.
Dressing: I haven’t tried this with other dressing recipes but I think it would be good! Check out these Healthy Salad Dressings!
storage
Refrigerator: While it’s best eaten on the day you make it, the salad will stay fresh and delicious for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. Store it in an airtight container so it doesn’t dry out.
Freezing: This dish does not freeze well, especially after tossing it with the dressing.
Pasta Salad Recipe FAQs
You can cook your pasta and chop your components, but it’s best to dress your pasta salad right before you serve it. If you assemble the pasta salad the night before, the pasta might get too soggy.
Serving Suggestions
The Italian pasta salad tastes great with so many different things!
Proteins: It tastes fantastic with dishes like Italian pork tenderloin and Greek chicken kabobs. The flavors would pair well with chili lime shrimp, too!
Other Sides: If you’re serving this dish at a BBQ or picnic, it’s delicious alongside healthy broccoli salad and strawberry spinach salad. People also rave over our Italian chopped salad recipe.
Healthy Pasta Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 15 oz fusilli pasta
- 1 cup mini mozzarella balls whole or halved
- 1½ cups halved cherry tomatoes 8 oz
- ¼ cup diced red onion
- 1 cup halved & sliced cucumber
- ½ cup black olives
- ¼ cup chopped parsley
- ½ cup diced salami 5 oz
- ½ cup red bell pepper diced
Dressing
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ tablespoon lemon juice juice of ½ a lemon
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Prepare pasta according to package directions. Make sure to cook until al dente. Once cooked, drain the pasta in a colander. Run cold water over the pasta to stop it from cooking and to cool it down.
- While pasta cooks, make the dressing. In a measuring cup or mason jar with a lid, combine dried thyme, oregano, lemon juice, olive oil, dijon mustard, maple syrup and black pepper. Stir/shake well.
- Prepare your veggies and salami by cutting them and arrange in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the cooled, cooked pasta to the bowl with veggies and salami. Stir in the dressing.
- For best flavor, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put in the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour.
Video
Notes
- Use nitrate-free Italian meats if possible. Many cured meats like bacon, salami, and pepperoni have hidden sugars in them. Nitrate-free meats are a healthier choice, but may not be as easy to find.
- For an even healthier pasta salad, substitute regular fusilli or rotini for whole grain or nutrient-dense options like chickpea or lentil pasta.
- This side dish tastes best when it eaten on the day it is made. Wait until 10 minutes before serving to dress it, or 1 hour ahead if you plan to chill it first.
Nutrition Facts
Other healthy side dish recipes
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Loved this refreshing and filling pasta salad with the added protein of cheese and salami. I added extra dressing and it was perfect.
This has the potential to be such a good pasta salad but as other reviewers noted, it’s a lot of pasta with not enough dressing! I added some Olive Garden Italian dressing in addition to following the recipe as directed and it’s still pretty dry. Will have to add more dressing and will make without as much pasta next time.
Excellent salad recipe!
Delish, will lessen the pasta next time though 🙂 used Olive Garden dressing vs making my own- very good!
So easy to make and delicious! Will definitely be making over and over!
This recipe is delicious!
Healthy pasta salad was flavorful. I did have to tweak a few ingredients to appeal to members of my family. Overall dressing was flavorful and easy to make, used honey rather than maple syrup. Next time I would double to dressing or half the pasta as my only complaint if you can call it that, is that pasta absorbs the dressing so fast that it leaves it rather dry. Other than that, will definitely make again.