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This Italian Pasta Salad is a family favorite and filled with pasta, pepperoni, and veggies! It is super easy to throw together for your next get together or summer picnic!
Did you know this recipe isn't even Italian? It's actually American. It gets it's name from the dressing. I also was told by my full blooded Italian grandma that she called it Italian Pasta Salad because the salad was the colors of the Italian flag. That was just her reasoning, it really is because the salad is made with Italian dressing and a few classic Italian ingredients: pasta, tomatoes and mozzarella.
How to Make Italian Pasta Salad
What You Will Need
- 16 oz (1 lb) of rotini pasta or tri-color rotini pasta, cooked according to package directions and rinsed with cold water
- 1 cup diced English cucumbers
- 2 cups chopped broccoli
- 1-½ cups quartered pepperoni or mini pepperonis
- 2 cups whole grape tomatoes
- 1 cups whole black olives
- 8 oz cubed mozzarella cheese
- 1-½ cups Italian dressing, either store bought or homemade
Note*** I leave my tomatoes and olives whole because I have children who have different likes. For example: one loves tomatoes, two hate them, one loves olives, the rest of us dislike them. Leaving them whole helps make it easier for certain individuals to leave them bigger pieces in the bowl, untouched.
Let's Make the Pasta Salad
In a very large bowl, combine all the ingredients and stir it all together. Seriously, that's all you do! So simple!
This salad is very versatile too, if you don't like broccoli you can omit it or replace it with another vegetable. You can also split the pepperoni and use half salami. So good!
If you like Italian Pasta Salad you might enjoy some of these other salads!
Let me know what you think about this Italian Pasta Salad recipe in the comments below. Pictures encouraged on Instagram with the hashtag #heathershomemadekitchen You can also follow me on Social Media to see what other crazy things my family and I are doing!
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Italian Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 16 oz rotini or tri-color rotini pasta
- 1 cup diced English cucumbers
- 2 cups chopped broccoli
- 1-½ cups quartered pepperoni or mini pepperonis
- 2 cups whole grape tomatoes
- 1 cup whole black olives
- 8 oz cubed mozzarella cheese
- 1-½ cups Italian dressing, store bought or homemade
Instructions
- Prepare the pasta according to package directions and rinse with cold water.
- In a very large bowl, combine all ingredients and stir together.
- Chill until ready to eat!
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