This is the best Mediterranean pasta salad recipe! It's essentially like the perfect antipasti platter in a bowl - except with pasta! I've used a few different pasta shapes for extra texture, seasonal vegetables, prosciutto cotto (cooked Italian ham), baby shrimp, and fresh mozzarella, plus a few of our favorite pickled and cured ingredients to round it all out. And it couldn't be more delicious (or easier to make)!
Keep reading to learn my pasta salad secret for adding even more flavor to your next pasta salad.
This is the best Mediterranean pasta salad to eat any time of year as a side dish or a complete no-fuss healthy meal. But it's especially rewarding during the summer months.
I like to make a batch of pasta salad on Sundays and get a few meals (and/or sides) out of it throughout the week without ever having to heat up the kitchen (or lift a finger to get dinner on the table lightening fast).
So, my secret for making the best pasta salad is to use a combination of pan-seared and/or blanched vegetables while leaving some raw for extra crunch.
I like to use at least one or two proteins along with some cured olives, artichokes, sun-dried cherry tomatoes, and something pickled.
As with most pasta salad recipes, this one can be customized with any ingredients you already have on hand, need to use up, or with ingredients your family loves.
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What's Pasta Fredda (Mediterranean Pasta Salad)?
In Italy, we have 'pasta fredda' which translates as "cold pasta" - it's the original Mediterranean salad. Much like American pasta salad, it has many different variations, but can be distinguished from its American pasta salad counterpart as it's most often made without any vinegar. Opting instead for a simple seasoning of fresh herbs, extra virgin olive oil, and salt (which allows the high-quality ingredients to shine through).
Luca much prefers the pasta fredda he grew up with to what he thinks is often an overly vinegary American-style pasta salad, so I created this recipe to be right in between pasta salad and Italian pasta fredda. In other words, it's the Goldilocks of pasta salad recipes!
It has just enough acidity to brighten up the pasta salad without being overwhelmingly vinegary. But this is a very versatile pasta salad, and you can customize it by adding more or less acidity as you prefer.
Why You'll Love This Mediterranean Pasta Salad Recipe
- It has both fresh and sautéed veggies in it for even more flavor and texture
- It has 3 different pasta shapes for the best texture
- It's a kid-friendly recipe and easy to make
- It travels well and is perfect for summer BBQs and cookouts
- Tastes great eaten cold or at room temperature
- It makes a wholesome meal you can take to work
Mediterranean Pasta Salad Ingredients
Making pasta salad is a great way to use up leftover pasta, vegetables, cured meats, cheeses, pickles, you name it! For us, the key to a great pasta salad is using ingredients that complement one another in both flavor and texture.
- 3 types of pasta (trottole, mini farfalle, orecchiete, mini pipe rigata pasta) Three different pasta shapes add extra texture, but you can substitute your favorite pasta shape.
- asparagus
- carrot
- cucumber
- celery
- cornichon pickles
- frozen or fresh sweet peas
- red bell pepper
- shallot
- artichokes in oil
- prosciutto cotto or deli ham
- pitted black olives
- sun-dried cherry tomatoes
- mini shrimp *sub regular shrimp
- fresh mozzarella
Simple Red Wine Vinaigrette Pasta Salad Dressing
- red wine vinegar *sub champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
- extra virgin olive oil
- freshly squeezed lemon juice
- fresh oregano *sub dried Italian spice blend to taste
- salt
- freshly cracked black pepper (optional)
Note: This dressing provides just enough acidity to the pasta salad without it being overwhelmingly vinegary. The lemon juice helps to brighten everything up and complements the vegetables. If you love a super vinegary pasta salad, feel free to increase the vinegar amount to suit your taste.
You can find the full recipe measurements in the recipe card below.
How to Make Mediterranean Pasta Salad with Shrimp
If you're using multiple types of pasta instead of one single type, be sure to first add the pasta that takes the longest time to cook to the boiling water, then add the remaining noodles to the water in the order and time it takes for them to all cook.
For instance, with this recipe, I drop the artisanal orecchiette first (which takes 15 minutes to cook), then after 7 minutes, I dropped the trottele (which takes 8 minutes to cook), then the mini farfalle, etc.
I'll be updating this step-by-step section with photos soon!
Step 1. Pan-sear the asparagus and carrots:
Step 2. Pan-sear the shrimp:
Step 3. Make the red wine vinaigrette dressing:
Step 4. Assemble the pasta salad:
Find the complete instructions in the recipe card below.
More Mediterranean Recipes to Try
If you enjoy authentic Italian food or are looking for healthy recipes, below are a few of our favorites you may also want to try.
- Authentic Lasagna Bolognese (Lasagne alla Bolognese +Video)
- Quick and Easy Crab Linguine (Linguine Nero di Seppia al Granchio Blu)
- Paccheri Pasta (With Shrimp and Zucchini Sugo)
- Best Thin-Crust 00 Flour Pizza Dough Recipe (+Video)
- Asparagus Risotto w/Pan-Seared Scallops & Crispy Speck
- Easy Creamy Pioppini Mushroom Pasta (Pasta con Funghi e Panna)
- Italian Diver Scallops au Gratin (Capesante Gratinate)
- Mama A's Eggplant & Zucchini Parmigiana (Pinterest & Food52 Golden Recipe Grand Prize Winner)
Looking For More Salad Recipes?
These are a few of our favorite healthy salad recipes for sides or as entrees.
Let's get started!
Print📖 Recipe
Best Mediterranean Pasta Salad
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 to 12 people depending hunger level 1x
Description
This easy pasta salad recipe uses some of our favorite pasta shapes and seasonal vegetables -- a variety of both raw and pan-seared vegetables (for extra flavor), meats, and shrimp for a perfect midweek lunch or dinner. This is also makes a great pasta salad to bring to summer BBQs and picnics. As with most pasta salad recipes, this one can be customized with any ingredients you already have on hand, or with ingredients your family loves.
Ingredients
- 10 ounces pasta (trottole, mini farfalle, orecchiete, mini pipe rigata pasta) (285g)
- 6 ounces fresh asparagus (8 spears), washed and trimmed (170g)
- 1 large carrot, julienned (3 ½ ounces) (100g)
- 1 cucumber, peeled, cut in half, seeds scooped out and sliced (5 ounces) (150g)
- 1 stalk of celery, washed and diced
- 5 cornichons pickles, diced
- ½ cup frozen or fresh sweet peas (150g)
- ⅓ cup red bell pepper, diced (about ½ of a bell pepper) (85g)
- 1 shallot, diced (or scallions) (30g)
- ⅓ cup artichokes in oil, sliced into quarters (85g)
- ½ cup prosciutto cotto or deli ham, diced (4 ounces) (125g)
- ⅓ cup pitted black olives (3 ounces) (85g)
- 1 ounce sun-dried cherry tomatoes, sliced (about 2 tablespoons) (30g)
- ½ cup mini shrimp (or other shrimp), shells removed and deveined (125g)
- 1 ball of fresh mozzarella, cubed (½ cup) (100g)
- 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar, champagne vinegar, or white wine vinegar (8g)*
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (30g)
- freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste
- 6 to 8 sprigs of fresh oregano, or dried Italian spice blend to taste
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or more or less to taste (4g)
- freshly cracked black pepper to taste (optional)
Instructions
- Pan-sear the asparagus and carrots. Working in batches, heat a skillet to medium-high heat, drizzle a little olive oil in it, and just before it begins to smoke, add the asparagus in a single layer, season with salt, and cook without moving the spears until golden brown (about 3 minutes). Turn the spears over, add salt to taste, and cook until golden brown on the second side and bright green (about 3 to 4 minutes). Remove the spears to a plate. Drizzle the skillet with a little more olive oil and add the carrots in a single layer and cook until golden brown on the first side (about 2 minutes), toss them, cook for another 2 minutes and add them to the plate with the asparagus.
- Pan-sear the shrimp. To the same hot skillet with a little olive oil drizzled in it, add the shrimp in a single layer and cook for about 2 minutes, or just until cooked through. Remove shrimp to the plate with the asparagus and carrots to cool.
- Make the simple dressing. Add the vinegar, lemon juice, and salt to a small bowl and stir to dissolve the salt. Add the olive oil and set aside. There's no need to whisk or emulsify the dressing because it all gets tossed into the salad anyway, so save yourself the work.
- Cook the pasta and the peas. To a pot of lightly salted boiling water, add the pasta and cook according to the package directions. During the last 4 minutes of cooking time, add the peas and cook until bright green and tender. Strain the pasta and peas and run them under cold tap water to cool them off and keep them from cooking further and add them to a large bowl.
- Assemble the pasta salad. Add all of the remaining ingredients to the bowl with the pasta and toss everything well to combine. You may serve it immediately, or allow it to chill in the refrigerator for a few hours and up to overnight, Enjoy!
Notes
- Add up to ¼ cup grated Grana Padano or Parm cheese (25g), for even more flavor. I like to add it to pasta salad sometimes, but this version is so good on its own that I didn't even think to add it.
- Store pasta salad covered in the refrigerator and consume within a couple of days (because of the shrimp). If you're not adding shrimp to the recipe, you may store the salad for a few more days.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American & Italian Combo
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
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