Tortellini Pasta Salad is easily customizable with endless options for veggie add-ins! This salad starts with cooked tortellini- which you can find fresh, dry, or frozen, incorporates some fresh flavorful vegetables, and is tossed together with a tangy and flavorful Ground Mustard and Garlic Vinaigrette. The homemade dressing really elevates the flavor profile, making this bright and fresh salad perfect for parties, make-ahead lunches, or a weeknight dinner.
Ingredient Notes
- Tortellini – I’ve used both plain cheese tortellini and also spinach-cheese tortellini and both are geat. You can use fresh tortellini, which is found in the refrigerated cases near the deli in most grocery stores, or a dry – found in the regular pasta aisle. Frozen tortellini would work as well. For all options, just follow the cooking instructions on the package!
- Cucumber – I prefer to use English cucumbers in most of my recipes. They have thin skins and few seeds so they work particularly well in salads, but a standard garden variety cucumber works just fine as well.
- Tomato – this recipe calls for cherry or grape tomatoes, but you could also dice up some larger tomatoes, if that’s what’s available to you.
- Olives – The olives are optional. If you love them, use large pitted olives. If not, this salad is delicious without them as well! You will not see olives in the photos, because I’m actually not an olive fan! But many people are, especially in a pasta salad, so I’ve included them as optional.
- Onion – I suggest using red onion for both flavor and color in this salad.
- Mustard – You’ll use mustard in the salad dressing. Use coarse grain or stone ground mustard, available near the other yellow mustard at the store. This is the mustard with visible seeds. You can also use Dijon, just keep in mind Dijon has a very distinct flavor that will come through in the final flavor profile.
Instructions
- First, you’ll cook a package of tortellini according to the package directions.
- While the tortellini is cooking, mix up your dressing. Lemon juice, white wine vinegar, green onions, garlic, salt, pepper, honey, and course grained mustard all get whizzed up in the blender. Then, with the blender running, you’ll drizzle in some neutral flavored oil and the dressing is done. If you have time to make the dressing ahead of time so it can sit for a couple hours before using, even better.
- Next, combine some thinly sliced red onions, halved cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumber, and black olives (if desired).
- When the tortellini is done cooking, drain and rinse with cool water. When it has cooled, toss it with the veggies and dressing until everything is combined. Season with additional salt and pepper if needed. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving, and up to a few hours.
Tips & Serving Suggestions
- This makes a great side to bring along to a potluck or BBQ, or even as a prep ahead meal for easy lunches during the week. Add some Lemon-Garlic Herb Rubbed Chicken for some extra protein!
- This salad keeps well for 3 – 4 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container. You may need to add additional dressing just before eating; it’s helpful to reserve a small amount of dressing if you anticipate leftovers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Of course! Pasta salads in general are best once the flavors have had a chance to blend and intensify. Feel free to make this a day ahead and store, tightly covered, in the refrigerator until ready to serve. You could also do portions ahead of time like preparing the dressing or chopping your veggies.
Rinsing the pasta after cooking is recommended to stop the cooking process, cool it down quickly, and prevent it from becoming mushy or sticky. For best results, cook the pasta to just under the “al dente” phase. Overcooked pasta will absorb more liquid, so aim for a firm texture.
This salad is very flexible and would do well with any of the following: chicken, feta, chick peas, bell peppers, sun dried tomatoes, fresh parmesan, capers, jicama, celery, or chopped salami.
You don’t have to use tortellini, but keep in mind that pasta shape significantly impacts the texture and flavor experience of any pasta salad. Short, textured shapes like fusilli, rotini, farfalle (bowtie), and cavatappi are preferred because they hold dressing and other ingredients better than smooth, long shapes. The nooks and crannies of these shapes allow for a more even distribution of flavor in each bite.
Tortellini Pasta Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
Salad
- 2 12 ounce boxes dry tortellini* mixed cheese or spinach; see notes
- ½ red onion, medium thinly sliced, add as much as you like!
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 english cucumber chopped
- 1 cup whole pitted black olives, large halved, optional
Dressing
- ¼ cup lemon juice freshly squeezed
- ¼ cup white wine vinegar or rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons green onions sliced; use the firm white parts
- 3-5 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon sugar or honey
- 2 tablespoons coarse grain mustard
- 1 cup canola oil
Instructions
- Prepare the dressing first. In the jar of your blender, combine all the ingredients except for the oil. Blend on high. While the blender is running, slowly add the oil in a steady stream. Refrigerate.
- Cook the tortellini according to package directions. Meanwhile, combine the onions, tomatoes, cucumber, and olives, if using, in a large salad bowl.
- When the pasta is done cooking, drain and rinse in cold water. When the pasta has cooled, toss it with the combined ingredients and then add the salad dressing a little at a time, and toss until combined. I generally use the whole batch of dressing, but you can start with some and go from there.
- If possible, refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.
Questions & Reviews
What a fantastic recipe! As a restaurant owner, I’m always excited to see new and creative dishes like this.
This is easy and delicious! Thank you for posting it.
Lovely recipe!
I’m so thankful this recipe is back on the site, it’s been one of our family favorites for years. It’s great in the summer, or anytime we have extra fresh veggies that need to be used up. It tastes great for days, and the dressing is out of this world.
Forgive my ignorance…is the “firm part” of a green onion the white end? This looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it!
Not ignorant! See the photo for reference- basically cut off the little root end and then chop up the onion until you get to the floppy green ends. It’s about where the green parts come out of the main stem and separate.