This Caprese pasta salad recipe is ideal for summer time picnics! It is tremendous vivid and recent, stuffed with tomatoes, basil, and a light-weight balsamic dressing.

This Caprese pasta salad recipe is virtually summer time in a bowl! As you’ll be able to most likely inform from its identify, it’s a scrumptious fusion of two summer time favorites: pasta salad and Italian Caprese salad.

Should you ask me, it’s a match made in heaven. A basic Caprese salad is bursting with recent summer time taste, because of the well-known mixture of creamy mozzarella, juicy tomatoes, and fragrant basil. But it surely isn’t as packable as pasta salad, a staple at picnics and potlucks.

This straightforward Caprese pasta salad recipe combines the very best of each. You get all of the recent taste of a Caprese salad in a picnic-friendly pasta salad kind. And it’s not simply good for picnics and cookouts—I additionally love meal prepping this salad for a recent summer time lunch!

Tips on how to Make Caprese Pasta Salad

You could find the entire Caprese pasta salad recipe with measurements on the backside of this put up. For now, right here’s a fast overview of the way it goes:

Caprese Pasta Salad Substances

• Unsurprisingly, this Caprese pasta salad begins with tomatoes, basil, and recent mozzarella—the star components in a basic Caprese salad. Cherry or grape tomatoes are greatest on this salad—they maintain their form and have a scrumptious super-sweet taste. They go effectively with “ciliegine,” or cherry-size, mozzarella balls.
• I additionally use purple onion and pecorino cheese within the salad. They add good savory depth.
• I spherical it out with pasta (after all!). I believe screw-shaped cavatappi are actually enjoyable right here, however one other brief pasta like fusilli or rotini would work effectively too.
• A easy dressing ties all of it all collectively. Made with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and lemon juice, it provides vivid, tangy taste to the salad.

Discover the entire recipe with measurements under.

To make the salad, begin by cooking the pasta. Two large suggestions right here:

1. Cook dinner the pasta till it’s barely previous al dente. I’ll all the time inform you to prepare dinner your pasta simply till al dente once you’re making a sizzling pasta dish. However for a chilly pasta salad, it’s higher for the pasta to be slightly softer. That method, it would keep tender as soon as it cools. (Al dente pasta would harden!)
2. After cooking, enable the pasta to chill. Should you toss the recent pasta with the opposite salad components immediately, the recent basil and onion will wilt.

Whereas the pasta cools, make the salad dressing. Whisk collectively the olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic, grated pecorino, garlic, salt, and pepper in a big bowl.

Subsequent, assemble the salad. Add the cooled pasta and toss to coat within the dressing, then add the cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, purple onion, and basil and toss once more. High with shaved pecorino and gently toss.

Earlier than serving, season to style and garnish with extra basil.

Get pleasure from!

What to Serve with Caprese Pasta Salad

This Caprese pasta salad is a good aspect dish for summer time cookouts and picnics. Serve it with veggie burgers or black bean burgers and different summery sides like grilled corn, potato salad, and coleslaw.

I additionally adore it for lunch. It pairs completely with a aspect of recent fruit!

• Tip: Make this a heartier lunch salad by including chickpeas for plant-based protein.

Extra Pasta Salad Recipes to Strive

Should you love this recipe, strive considered one of these recent pasta salads subsequent:

Caprese Pasta Salad

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook dinner Time: 15 minutes minutes

Whole Time: 30 minutes minutes

Serves 6

This Caprese pasta salad recipe is simple, recent, and scrumptious! An ideal summer time aspect dish, it is stuffed with cherry tomatoes, basil, creamy mozzarella, and a light-weight balsamic French dressing. Discover make-ahead suggestions within the weblog put up above!

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• Deliver a big pot of salted water to a boil. Put together the pasta based on the package deal directions, cooking till barely previous al dente. Drain, toss with a drizzle of olive oil to forestall sticking, and unfold on a big plate or baking sheet to chill.

• In a big bowl, whisk collectively the olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, grated pecorino, garlic, salt, and a number of other grinds of pepper. Add the cooled pasta and toss to coat, then add the cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, purple onion, and basil and toss once more. Add the shaved pecorino and gently toss.

• Season to style, garnish with extra basil, and serve.