With just four ingredients, our Caprese Pasta Salad is a light and fresh tasting pasta salad that’s easy to make too. Mozzarella, tomatoes and a basil pesto, the flavors of Caprese, combine with pasta for a true summer pasta salad that will become a staple at your summertime gatherings.
Summer Pasta Salad
Summer and salad go hand in hand. And an easy Italian pasta salad bursting with the fresh flavors of summer sure does fit the bill.
An easy to make side dish, this recipe requires only four ingredients. Pasta, tomatoes, bocconcini and pesto combine for the best pasta salad of the season.
Feel free to make an easy homemade pesto recipe, you know that's my choice, or take it easy and just buy a ready made pesto at your grocery store. If you have a choice between a jarred pesto and a refrigerated pesto, I'd go with the refrigerated pesto. Just saying.
I guarantee that this bowtie pasta salad with pesto will quickly become your go-to summer side dish.
Make it a meal to serve four and top with cooked chicken, beef or shrimp. It will be a delicious summer main dish too!
Love Asian flavors too? Then you'll love our easy ramen noodle salad recipe for sure! And no cooking is required.
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How to make a pasta salad
Scroll down for the full recipe instructions and ingredient amounts in the recipe card below
- Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and run under cold water to cool.
- In serving bowl, combine cooled pasta, bocconcini, tomatoes and pesto, tossing until evenly coated.
Swirls of Flavor Recipe Tips
- Use your favorite pasta shape
- Make it creamy. Just stir in Greek yogurt, sour cream or mayonnaise
- Drizzle with a balsamic glaze
- Make with grape tomatoes
- Add chopped fresh basil for a punch of fresh flavor
- Add one or any combination of these stir-ins:
- Artichoke hearts
- Chopped celery
- Chopped red onion
- Crispy bacon
- Olives
- Pepperoncini
- Pepperoni
- Roasted red peppers
- Sundried tomatoes
Ingredients for a pasta salad
- bowtie pasta - fun pasta shape
- bocconcini - creamy italian mozzarella cheese
- cherry tomatoes - juicy and flavorful
- pesto - use your favorite homemade pesto or a store bought pesto
With salad dressing so easy to make you’ll want to check out my my Ultimate Guide To Making Homemade Salad Dressings! Making a Homemade Salad Dressing is so easy and takes just minutes. Made with simple real food ingredients, your salad dressing from scratch is not just better than store bought, it’s better for you and oh so delicious too!
Summer Salad Recipes
The BLT Sandwich, an all-American classic, is transformed into a Chopped BLT Salad With Creamy Dill Dressing. All the flavors of a BLT, bacon, lettuce and tomatoes in my homemade mayonnaise salad dressing, are in every bite of this refreshing and easy chopped salad recipe.
An Italian Chopped Salad will be a welcome addition to your dinner menu on warm summer evenings. Bursting with the flavors of antipasto, our classic chopped salad is filled with salami, provolone, tomatoes, olives, artichoke hearts, pepperoncini and red onion and drizzled with a homemade lemon oregano vinaigrette.
Pesto Tomato Salad is an easy 4 ingredient recipe that will be the star on your table. Garden fresh tomatoes and red onion are tossed in a homemade pesto transforming juicy tomatoes into a recipe that’s bursting with fresh flavor and summertime goodness.
Everyone needs a Cobb Salad Recipe in their summer menu lineup. Brimming with all the traditional ingredients, our chicken cobb salad is flavored with a homemade Dijon red wine vinaigrette with chives, a perfect main dish salad.
Caprese Pasta Salad
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Ingredients
- 8 ounces bowtie pasta
- 1 container bocconcini ,drained and halved
- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes ,halved
- 6 Tbs. homemade pesto or store bought pesto
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Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and run under cold water to cool.
- In serving bowl, combine cooled pasta, bocconcini, tomatoes and pesto, tossing until evenly coated.
- Serve at room temperature or chilled.
Notes
Season to taste recommendation: I used ½ tsp. kosher salt and ¼ tsp. pepper and it was a perfect balance of flavors! Make it a main dish! Make it a meal, serving four, and top with cooked chicken, beef or shrimp. It will be a delicious summer main dish too!
Wow! This pasta salad looks really yummy! I'm pinning this to try really soon! Thanks for sharing at the Snickerdoodle Create Bake Make Link Party! Have a lovely week!!!
Thanks for stopping by Swirls! I hope you enjoy this recipe when you make it. Savor The Moments, Gwynn