40 Best Pasta Salad Recipes

These pasta salad recipes look amazing! I had no idea there were so many different variations, but they all look delicious! Pasta salad is always such an awesome thing to take to a pot luck or barbecue. It’s easy to put together, it travels really well, and most people seem to really like it!

When I was growing up, one of my family’s favourite calorie splurging dinners was Kentucky Fried Chicken. I LOVED the macaroni salad. I could eat a whole container of that stuff. I probably still could if I wasn’t worried about all the calories. Yum! Since we were so happy with the KFC macaroni salad, my family really never experimented with other pasta salads. And I have no idea why on earth not!? Because I’m looking through these recipes and I’m drooling. They look SO GOOD!

After I got married, my husband introduced me to homemade pasta salad. (How ridiculous is it that I never thought of making it myself!?) His was a simple recipe with cheese and peas and a few other vegetables, and it was delicious! We’d make a giant bowl of it and keep it in the fridge all week to have an easy side dish to go with our dinners.

Those were the easy days before we had our three kids picky little eaters. And you know, before my husband decided to go gluten and dairy free. That kind of put a damper on the pasta salads in our house. I wonder if I can make these with gluten free noodles? I should definitely try, because it was amazing to always have a side dish in the fridge ready to go with dinner!

40 Best Pasta Salad Recipes

I never would have thought of all of these variations. You can make a regular vegetable salad and throw in some noodles for a mostly veggie pasta salad. Or you can make it all about the noodles with the tried and true creamy cheddar macaroni salad.

You can pretty much take any of your favourite flavours, and turn them into a pasta salad. I had no idea. Chicken Ceasar Pasta Salad or Taco Pasta Salad or even Spinach and Artichoke Pasta Salad. They all look AMAZING! Which would you try first?

Summer Vegetable Salad via Budget Bytes

Avocado Pasta Salad via Cook Crave Inspire

Easy Mediterranean Pasta Salad via Gimme Some Oven

Creamy Cheddar and Dill Macaroni Salad via Life Made Simple

Black Bean and Corn Pasta Salad via Simple Delicious Southern Food

Autumn Crunch Pasta Salad via Chelsea’s Messy Apron

Mandarin Pasta Spinach Salad with Teriyaki Dressing via Creme de la Crumb

Shrimp Pasta Salad via Cook Crave Inspire

Mediterranean Pasta Salad via Little Spice Jar

Greek Tortellini Salad via Two Peas & Their Pod

Creamy Cheddar Macaroni Salad via A Pretty Life

Pasta Salad with Roasted Vegetables via Better Homes and Gardens

Pesto Pasta Salad via Tastes Better From Scratch

Orzo Pasta Salad via The Recipe Critic

Perfect Pasta Salad via Love Grows Wild

Hawaiian Macaroni Salad via The Recipe Critic

Caprese Pasta Salad via Pip and Ebby

Spinach and Tortellini Salad via 3 Boys Unprocessed

Lemon Pasta Salad via Create by Diane

Crab Pasta Salad via Wine and Glue

Brushetta Pasta Salad via A Pretty Life

Greek Pasta Salad via Baker by Nature

Strawberry Avocado Pasta Salad with Balsamic Glaze via Diethood

Pasta Salad via Iowa Girl Eats

Italian Tortellini Salad via Will Cook For Smiles

Creamy Summer Pasta Salad via Barefeet in the Kitchen

Mango Avocado Pasta Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing via Chef de Home

Italian Pasta Salad via Creole Contessa

Spaghetti Salad via Six Sisters’ Stuff

Taco Pasta Salad via Old El Paso

Pizza Pasta Salad via The Girl Who Ate Everything

Broccoli Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad via Julia’s Album

Southern Macaroni Salad via Add A Pinch

Avocado BLT Pasta Salad via Closet Cooking

Creamy Cheddar Pasta Salad via Center Cut Cook

Pesto Pasta with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Roasted Asparagus via Damn Delicious

Easy Italian Pasta Salad via Cupcake Diaries

Spinach Artichoke Pasta Salad via Cook Crave Inspire

20-Minute BLT Pasta Salad via Baker by Nature

BLT Pasta Salad via Life in the Lofthouse

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Before you go, check out these 25 Meal Sized Loaded Salads. They look sooooooo good! I’m always worried that I won’t be full after eating a salad for dinner, but these salads have it all!