This Crispy Greek Pasta Salad takes everything we love about a classic Greek pasta salad—crisp vegetables, salty feta, briny olives, and a tangy homemade dressing—and adds crispy air-fried pasta for the most incredible crunch. I’m absolutely obsessed! It’s fresh, flavorful, and honestly one of the best pasta salads I’ve made in a long time.

If you’ve been anywhere near social media lately, you’ve probably seen the viral crispy pasta salad trend taking over. And while I love trying a viral recipe, I wanted to make a version I’d actually crave again and again so I used our popular Greek pasta salad as a starting point.

The first time I made it, I couldn’t stop sneaking bites straight from the bowl. The crispy pasta completely changes the texture and somehow makes an already great pasta salad even better.

Ingredients You’ll Need

This crispy Greek pasta salad uses many of the same ingredients as our traditional Greek pasta salad, but with one game-changing addition: crispy air-fried pasta. The combination of fresh vegetables, tangy dressing, salty feta, and crunchy pasta creates the perfect balance of flavors and textures.

For the Greek Dressing:

• Olive Oil: Creates a rich, flavorful base for the dressing.
• Red Wine Vinegar: Adds the classic tangy Greek flavor.
• Garlic: Brings bold savory flavor.
• Tzatziki: Makes the dressing creamy while adding fresh cucumber and herb flavor.
• Lemon Zest: Brightens every bite.
• Dried Oregano: A classic Greek seasoning.
• Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper: Enhances all the flavors.

For the Pasta Salad:

• Rotini Pasta: The spirals hold onto the dressing while crisping beautifully in the air fryer.
• Pesto: Adds fresh herb flavor and helps the pasta crisp up.
• Parmesan Cheese: Creates extra savory flavor and helps develop crispy edges.
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Helps the pasta

This pea salad recipe is creamy, cheesy, and topped with crispy bacon, a classic side dish that’s perfect for any occasion. Take it to a potluck, serve it at a BBQ, or make it for a quick and flavorful side for dinner! This salad comes together in minutes and delivers big flavor.

It’s the perfect side dish for Easter, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, or Christmas. I don’t know where English pea salad originated from, or why it’s so dang good considering it’s the world’s shortest list of ingredients, but I do know that any time someone shares a photo of a potluck or church spread, there’s that pea salad!

Last Fourth of July, we had Cade’s mom, brother, and his family and a friend over for a fun day of swimming and eating. Yes, I did wear a red bathing suit. Yes, I did get mistaken for the lifeguard 100 times. We swam, the kids became exhausted, and we headed back to the house where we cooked up classic burgers and a selection of our favorite summer salads including this English pea salad and our tomato cucumber salad. We finished the night off with our gooey Rice Krispie treats! God Bless America!

Ingredients for Pea Salad

• Mayonnaise: Provides a creamy, rich base that binds all the flavors together.
• Sour Cream: Adds tanginess and smooth texture for the perfect balance.
• Cheddar Cheese: Sharp, cubed cheddar adds bold flavor and bite to the salad.
• Red Onion: Gives a mild crunch and subtle sweetness for extra depth.
• Sugar: Balances the tangy dressing and enhances the peas’ natural sweetness.
• Apple Cider Vinegar: Adds a bright, tangy note to the creamy dressing.
• Salt: Enhances all the flavors in the salad.
• Bacon: Crispy, crumbled bacon adds smoky, savory flavor and crunch.
• Frozen Peas: Sweet and tender peas form the heart of this classic salad.

Pasta salad is the ultimate potluck hero! It’s easy to make ahead, endlessly customizable, and guaranteed to disappear fast. We’ve rounded up 15 of our favorite easy pasta salad recipes. Whether you’re heading to a backyard barbecue, a neighborhood block party, or a holiday gathering, a big bowl of pasta salad is always a welcome addition to the table.

Classic & Crowd Favorites

Every great potluck spread needs at least one of these. The recipes in this section are the classics, the ones people have been making and loving for decades, and for very good reason. If you are feeding a big group and need something guaranteed to disappear fast, start right here.

You know those recipes you make once and then suddenly they’re requested at everything? This is one of those. This pesto pasta salad is fresh, simple, and packed with flavor, and it comes together with just a handful of ingredients.

It’s the perfect side for summer BBQs, easy lunches, or honestly just eating straight out of the bowl in the fridge.

I loooove pesto and grow as much basil as I can to make it and freeze it for winter. You can read all about pesto in our how to make and store pesto post. With summer creeping in, I knew it was high time we created a cold pesto pasta salad for all of your backyard gatherings and this one is over the top.

Ingredients You’ll Need

This easy pesto pasta salad keeps things simple with a handful of fresh, flavorful ingredients that really shine together. Here is what you need:

• Pasta Spirals: Perfect for holding onto all that pesto sauce in every little twist and turn.
• Pesto: Fresh, herby, and packed with flavor, homemade or store-bought both work great.
• Mayonnaise: The secret to keeping the pasta salad creamy and never dry without overpowering the pesto. (I prefer Dukes!)
• Marinated Bocconcini Mozzarella: Soft, creamy cheese with extra flavor from the marinade.
• Cherry Tomatoes: Juicy and sweet, they add freshness and a pop of color.
• Sun Dried Tomatoes: Rich, slightly tangy, and full of concentrated tomato flavor.
• Pine Nuts: Add a buttery crunch that takes the texture to the next level.
• Arugula: A little peppery b

Easy Italian Pasta Salad [+ Video]

This easy Italian Pasta Salad is a crowd-pleasing dish perfect for summer picnics or potlucks. Packed with fresh vegetables, cheese, pepperoni and dressed with a zesty homemade Italian dressing, this salad is sure to be a hit. Plus, check out the recipe video for step-by-step instructions!

Have you made our Greek Pasta Salad? It’s really good and one of the most popular recipes on our site. Here’s the thing though, not everyone is a fan of feta cheese, so we felt like we had no choice but to bust out an amazingly easy pasta salad recipe complete with mozzarella cheese, fresh and flavorful homemade Italian dressing, and meat and colorful vegetables galore.

There’s something about pasta salad recipes and summertime that just make the world happy. I get almost giddy the closer we get to summer just thinking about dusting off the BBQ and pulling out the lawn chairs for outdoor cookouts with friends. Make some grilled chicken and grilled corn on the cob with this pasta salad with Italian dressing, and you have yourself the perfect summer dinner!

What’s in Italian Pasta Salad?

I’ll be honest with you — our kids totally pick out some of the ingredients in this homemade pasta salad. Two of our kids love straight up cold pepperoni. So Cade and I are left to eat whatever’s leftover from this pasta salad with pepperoni. The joys of parenthood!

To make this pasta salad recipe, you’ll need:

• Rotini Pasta: Any short, sturdy pasta works great like penne, farfalle, fusilli, macaroni, etc.
• Pepperoni
• Salami
• Black Olives
• Mozzarella Cheese: Fresh mozzarella balls are preferred.
• Parmesan Cheese: freshly grated
• Bell Pepper: I prefer a red, yellow or orange bell pepper.
• Tomatoes: Grape or cherry tomatoes work great.
• Red Onion
• Italian Salad Dressing: You can grab some at the grocery store or make it at home with the recipe we’ve included below.

The measurements needed for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.

How to Make Italian Pasta Salad

Don’t let all the mix-ins fool you, this Italian pasta salad with pepperoni is as easy as it gets! It’s just a matter of cooking the pasta, choppi