Italian Pasta Salad Just the Way Mom Used to Make
This yummy pasta salad is just the way my mom used to make it, I think I even remember asking her to make it for my birthday one time when I was younger :).
This recipe is an easy classic that might bring back memories of your own childhood and the picnics, pot lucks, and family gatherings you went to as a kid. It has all the vegetables you love in a tangy Italian Dressing which makes it a crowd-pleaser no matter the age!
Why You Will Love This Italian Pasta Salad
- This salad is just full of flavor, the Italian dressing adds the perfect zip to the vegetables and really brings the pasta to life.
- It is loaded with fresh vegetables. This is great for two reasons:
- Make it your own – add the vegetables you have in your fridge to your salad, this will hep reduce food waste and make sure you have veggies in it you love.
- Not only do you get a little bit of noodles with your veggies but this salad is full of fiber and so many vitamins and minerals your body is going to thank you for making it!
- It is a great side dish for meal prep. This salad pairs perfectly with so many types of proteins read below for meal prep ideas. It also tastes better the longer it sits. As it chills in the fridge the veggies and the noodles take on the extra dressing making it taste oh soooooo good!
- It is an easy side dish to make for any barbeques you are planning on going to or brings some summer fun to the middle of winter when you meal prep it!
Storage and Meal Prep Tips
Remember to portion this out into your single servings as you are making it. You can easily do this using your favorit glass contaiers with air tight lids.
Food is best eaten in about 4 days. This makes sure the quality of the food is there and that there isn’t any interesting germies growing on it.
Meal prep this with a grilled burger, smoked or grilled chicken, poached and diced chicken bites, or some smoked tofu!
Ingredients
Method
- Boil a pot of water, add some salt for flavor.
- Dump in 2 cups of uncooked pasta.
- Boil until the noodles are cooked to al dente texture
- While the noodles are cooking chop up all of the vegetables. Place in large bowl. Add the cooked noodles (use package instructions to cook these). Cover with about half the bottle of Italian dressing.
- The noodles soak up the dressing so you may want to add more if you are serving it later or eating it as leftovers.