Creamy Pasta Salad

The best creamy Pasta Salad loaded with colorful vegetables and tossed in light creamy and tangy salad dressing.

Are you a cold salad lover? This one is for you. This salad is perfect as a meal on its own or as a side dish and can easily feed a crowd. I love salads like Asian Noodle salad or Mediterranean Couscous Salad Or a Simple Quinoa Salad that are packed with colors and flavors. And, this creamy pasta salad is no less. throw in bright and fresh vegetables, use pasta of your choice, and toss it in a creamy salad dressing for a satisfying meal.

How to make Creamy Pasta Salad?

Ingredients that you need to make this recipe –

• Pasta of your choice
• Vegetables (Carrots, peas, broccoli, asparagus, bell peppers, cucumber, onion, celery, etc)
• Mayonnaise
• White Wine Vinegar or apple cider vinegar
• Dijon Mustard or yellow mustard
• Jalapeno sauce or red chili flakes
• honey (optional). I usually skip this as we prefer a tangier pasta than a sweetened version.
• Salt
• Pepper

Tips to make perfect creamy pasta salad –

Rinse the cooked pasta – Rinse the pasta immediately after cooking in cold water. This will keep the pasta from sticking and keeps fine separated. The cooked pasta is coated in starches. By removing it, it keeps the pasta clump-free.

Use a light mayo: If you have full-fat mayo, you can use it. I used light mayo to get the creamy and tasty salad.

If you want a heavier pasta salad, you can use sour cream along with mayo. Using sour cream also gives the freshness that lemon would add to the dishes. If you would like to add use half sour cream, half mayo in the recipe

You can add any vegetables of your choice. Feel free to add more or less vegetables to the salad than what is given in the recipe.

Method

In a large pot pan, bring water and salt to boil. Add pasta and cook until soft. A minute or two before the cooking is done, confirm if pasta is cooked just right, if yes rinse immediately in cold water.

When pasta is being cooked, chop the veggies and keep them ready. I recommend using broccoli and/or asparagus in the recipe. Steam or cook the broccoli, asparagus in the microwave just enough to soften the crunch and brighten up the color.

If you are adding onion, make sure to chop them finely to avoid overpowering onions in the creamy pasta salad.

This salad is all about the dressing. Prepare the dressing – In a small bowl, add light mayonnaise, white wine vinegar, dijon mustard, salt, pepper, honey & combine. I used jalapeno sauce to spice up the dish. If it isn’t available, red chili flakes do the job well.

Pour the dressing over the pasta and vegetables and gently fold in until well combined and everything is evenly coated.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 15 mins before serving. Longer the better.

Your valuable feedback is appreciated. If you try this recipe, leave a comment below, rate it, or tag a photo #eateriesdelightful on Instagram 🙂

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Creamy Pasta Salad

A perfect creamy summer salad

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time15 mins

Total Time25 mins

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American-Inspired

Keyword: Creamy Pasta Salad

Servings: 2

Author: Eateries Delightful

Ingredients

Salad

• 8- ounce package elbow pasta or whatever pasta you have
• 1/2 cup broccoli florets chopped
• 1/2 cup asparagus chopped
• 1/2 small red onion minced
• 1/3 cup red bell pepper minced
• 1/3 cup cucumber diced
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 cup carrots chopped frozen or fresh
• 1/4 cup celery sticks
• dried herbs (dill or mint) for topping

Dressing

• 1/2 cup mayo // refer notes for substitution options
• 2 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tbsp jalapeno sauce optional
• 2 tsp honey // add only if you like the salad sweeter
• Salt & pepper to taste
• Red chilli flakes to taste

Instructions

• In a large pot pan, bring water and salt to boil. Add pasta and cook until soft. A minute or two before the cooking is done, confirm if pasta is cooked just right, if yes rinse immediately in cold water.
• When pasta is being cooked, chop the veggies and keep them ready. I recommend using broccoli and/or asparagus in the recipe. Steam or cook the broccoli, asparagus in the microwave just enough to soften the crunch and brighten up the color.
• Prepare the dressing – In a small bowl, add light mayonnaise, white wine vinegar, dijon mustard, salt, pepper, honey & combine. I used jalapeno sauce to spice up the dish. If it isn’t available, red chili flakes do the job.
• Pour the dressing over the pasta and vegetables and gently fold in until well combined and everything is evenly coated.
• Cover and refrigerate for at least 15 mins before serving. Longer the better.

Notes

Cover and refrigerate the pasta salad for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

Mayo Substitution –

1/2 cup sour cream 

OR

1/4 cup sour cream + 1/4 cup light mayo

OR

1/2 cup greek yogurt. This would result in a tangier salad. Skip Vinegar if you are using this as an option

 

Did you make this recipe?

Please let me know how it turned out for you. Leave a comment below or share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #eateriesdelightful

Happy cooking!