Greek Pasta Salad
Updated
Updated
I’ve taken crunchy vegetables, summer sausage, and salty feta, and combined them with cooked pasta, and then drizzled it all with homemade dressing in this easy and delicious Greek Pasta Salad. I like to make it for summer potlucks, but it tastes great all year round and hearty enough for a simple dinner!
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5 STAR REVIEW
Greek Pasta Salad Recipe
I absolutely love pasta salad – it’s up there with cookies in my book. That might sound crazy, but the versatility, different textures and flavors, and the ability to feed a crowd always make it a winner. This Greek Pasta Salad is another one of our favorites.
I still love a pasta salad with a creamy mayo dressing, like in my chicken broccoli pasta salad (so good!), but a light, fresh vinaigrette is also wonderful and perfectly suited for a hot summer day.
Helpful Tips and Variations
- Salt the pasta water and cook al dente: Generously salt the boiling water while the pasta cooks, so the pasta has flavor, and cook al dente, so it doesn’t get soggy.
- Change the pasta shape. I recommend something small with curves or ridges, which allows the dressing to cling to each noodle, like rotini, fusilli, and radiatori are all great choices. Orzo also works, as does tortellini.
- Change the protein. Sometimes I swap the summer sausage with grilled chicken for a change of pace.
Greek Pasta Salad
Ingredients
For the Dressing
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- ½ tbsp honey
- ¾ tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
For the Salad
- 1 lb. rotini pasta
- 8 oz. summer sausage, cut into ½ inch pieces
- 1 small red bell pepper, or any color, seeds and ribs removed, cut into ½ inch pieces
- 1 English cucumber, cut into ½ inch pieces
- ⅓ cup thinly sliced red onion, cut into ½ inch pieces
- 2 oz. can sliced black olives, drained
- 4 oz. crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
- Make the dressing: Place all ingredients into a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake vigorously until well-blended and emulsified. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding more salt and pepper if necessary.
- Cook pasta according to package directions, al dente. Drain and rinse under cold water.
- In the meantime, combine all other salad ingredients in a large bowl. Add cooked pasta.
- Drizzle the Greek dressing over the top and mix well until everything is coated.
- Serve and enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and any changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are very important to you, I would recommend calculating them yourself.
Did you make this? Leave a rating below!How to Make Greek Pasta Salad Step by Step
Gather the ingredients.
Make the dressing: In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, place ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, ¼ cup red wine vinegar, 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice, ½ tbsp honey, ¾ tsp Dijon mustard, 2 cloves garlic, finely minced, 1 tsp dried oregano, ½ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp ground black pepper. Shake the jar vigorously until the dressing is well mixed and emulsified. Taste and adjust, and add more salt or pepper according to your tastes.
Cook the pasta: Cook 1 lb. of rotini pasta according to the package directions, al dente. Drain the pasta and rinse under cold water so it stops cooking.
Combine the salad ingredients: Into a large bowl, place 8 oz. summer sausage, cut into ½ inch pieces, 1 small red bell pepper, seeds and ribs removed, cut into ½ inch pieces, 1 English cucumber, cut into ½ inch pieces, ⅓ cup thinly sliced red onion, cut into ½ inch pieces, 2 oz. can sliced black olives, drained, and 4 oz. crumbled feta cheese. Stir in the cooked pasta.
Dress and enjoy: Drizzle the Greek dressing over the salad and mix well until everything is coated. Serve and enjoy!
What to Serve With Greek Pasta Salad
I find this pasta salad eats like a meal, but a few dolmas on the side also go well with this Greek salad, and baklava for dessert rounds out the Greek theme.
Storing Greek Pasta Salad
The homemade salad dressing can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. I usually make it in advance, so the day I assemble the salad, it goes even quicker. If you’re assembling the salad the day before serving, it should be refrigerated until you serve it.
Leftover pasta salad should be stored, tightly covered, in the refrigerator and will keep for up to 3 days. However, the longer it sits, the longer the pasta soaks up the dressing and can become soggy.
More Pasta Salads To Enjoy
- This crowd-pleasing Cowboy Pasta Salad features bacon, ground beef, cheese, and hot sauce
- This Simple Italian Pasta Salad is sweet, tangy, and light and makes for a simple, delicious dish.
- This Easy Spaghetti Salad is one of my all-time favorites, loaded with slices of pepperoni, cubes of provolone cheese, and lots of veggies.
I hope you love this delicious and easy recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
It’s a wonderful recipe!! Perfect for a summer day!
Excellent!! I used ham, since it was what I had and it was still good. But the dressing…. So yummy!
Make this ALL the time! Love your recipes!
Made for a Bbq !! No leftovers. Only the bowl!!
I don’t like dijon mustard can I use regular?
An awesome substitute for the rotini pasta is tortellini (I use both meat and cheese ones together.) This is very tasty – there’s never any leftovers!
This pasta is divine. It has all the right flavors and textures – we loved the dressing! Delectable.
Made it last night–vegetarian. Could have eaten the entire bowl it was so good. Thank you!
I really love the looks of this….it reminds me so much of the one I make that is similar. Okay, so now I’m hungry all over again!
Made this last night and even my picky kids ate it!
You have a great blog. Glad I found it!
Beautiful summer salad
The dressing on this is what makes it. I could drink it, it’s so delicious. I added garden fresh tomatoes, but otherwise didn’t change anything. Keeper!
Love this because I needed something with rotini pasta and a customer gave me a Texas summer sausage and I used cube cheddar because thats what I had
My husband is Requesting this over and over
That looks like one of my ideal lunches.
I went in search of this for lunch, but nothing even remotely presented itself. I ended up with the most boring turkey sandwich ever. Sigh.
This is pretty versatile, using different things you have on hand. I replaced the summer sausage with cubed ham and also added tomatoes. Was GREAT.
“The salad dressing pointed her toward the refrigerator, which included bell pepper, cucumber, and feta cheese.” ….Amy, I need your help. My fridge contains tonic water, a lime, a tub of tofu and a lone Belgian beer.
I love cold pasta salads if they’re not drowning in mayo. This one is pretty healthy and very light with the vinaigrette dressing. Make it for lunch today, minus the summer sausage. It was so delicious!
I just wish we could find a way to make everything lead to cheese and bacon.
Cheese. Bacon.
Cheese. And. Bacon.
This salad looks great – I’m a huge fan of feta cheese. I buy the big tubs at Costco and it doesn’t last long.
Refreshing and tasty!
Thanks for sharing this gorgeous summery salad – brought it to a potluck and everyone loved it and asked for the recipe.
So I went to Greek restaurant last week and had their Greek salad, which was good, but needed something. So last night we had company and I served this Greek pasta salad and nice grilled chicken slices on top….alas, I forgot to take a picture…but this is evidently my new favorite Greek salad.