12 Easy Pasta Salad Recipes for Summer Meal

Veggie loaded, easy and delicious Pasta salads without overload of creams and mayo but lite and healthy vinaigrette based dressings.
12 Easy Pasta Salad Recipes for Summer Meal

15 Loaded, lite, and easy Pasta Salads to serve for summer meals this season. Serve on the side or as a complete meal, these pasta salads work perfect either way. 

In my home, May marks beginning of grilling, potlucks, and outdoors. One thing that makes me happy about this season is - time to enjoy lots of salads! Today, when I was sifting through my favorite pasta salad recipes to serve on side of Grilled Lamb... I decided to also share this collection with you. So bookmark this collection and get ready to enjoy lite summer meals which have pasta but no heavy creamy dressings! Add a serving of protein of your choice, and meal is ready!

All of these recipes are perfect when just out of the refrigerator or at room temperature. Also, due to lite oil-based dressings, these salads don't get thick and dense like cream-based pasta salads. So, you can pack'em for lunch, carry'em to potlucks. Best of all, these can be prepared as quickly as boiling the pasta! Which is amazing when I'm serving food at moment's notice! :)

TIP: When serving cold pasta salads for gatherings, I setup a two-tier bowl, with bottom one filled with ice, top one with pasta salad. This way salad remains chilled without getting in any water or ice drippings.

Enjoy!

-Savita

Ultimate Greek Pasta Salad

You guys, this Greek Pasta Salad is flavor bomb! With marinated sweet-sour red onions, crunchy cucumber and creamy feta, it will be your most-favorite pasta salad ever. Every cook and foodie should have a Greek pasta salad card in their personal recipe repertoire.. Don't you think? If you are looking for y...

Caesar Pasta Salad

Caesar Pasta Salad, a creamy summer pasta salad inspired from Caesar Salad with crunchy romaine lettuce, bow-tie pasta, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and a delicious Caesar salad dressing. With crunch of croutons and buttery parmesan cheese.. this summer pasta salad is dream-come-true for Caesar salad and sum...

Mexican Tortellini Salad

Lite and zesty take on Tortellini Salad with mango, avocado, lime dressing and spicy taco shrimp. Spicy lime mango and avocado compliment rich cheese Tortellini so well.. I call this a Mexican Tortellini Salad. Forget creamy salads, I guarantee, this will become your new favorite way to Tortellini Salad....

Ramen Noodle Salad with Miso Peanut Dressing

Ramen Noodle Salad with creamy, sweet and spicy Miso-Peanut Butter and Sriracha Salad Dressing. Every fork-full of this refreshing Asian Salad has something delicious to offer - crunchy cabbage, carrots, bell pepper, Ramen noodles coated in sweet and spicy peanut buttery dressing, and roasted peanuts for s...

Greek Orzo Pasta Salad with Grilled Shrimp

This Greek Orzo Pasta Salad with grilled Za'atar Shrimp is bursting with Mediterranean flavors of Greek feta, olives, cucumber, dill and a zesty fragrant Greek Salad dressing. Every ingredient in this salad brings something delicious to fork. Serving of protein makes it perfect for salad-for-dinner weeknig...

Italian Chicken Pasta Salad

In this Chicken Pasta Salad, every fork full will have something delicious to offer. Crunch cucumber, tomatoes and hidden surprise of roasted bell peppers, with chicken and top it all of the tangy Red Wine Salad Dressing is a party of flavors. If you are fan of deli-style pasta salads, this salad will be y...

Deviled Egg Pasta Salad with Avocado

Put leftover Easter eggs to delicious use with this easy Deviled Egg Pasta Salad! In this egg pasta salad creamy avocados, sweet cherry tomatoes, crunchy cucumber, leftover/boiled eggs meet a zesty lemony dressing.. for a scrumptious after-Easter lunch or dinner! After festivity and enjoying holiday food.....

Mango Avocado Pasta Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing

Healthy fresh take on pasta salad with creamy avocado, sweet mangoes and zesty flavorful cilantro-lime dressing. Every fork-full of this pasta salad has something delicious to enjoy - lime-soaking creamy avocados, juicy mangoes, farfalle pasta, and crunchy pine nuts. This is one avocado salad which you can...

Roasted Cauliflower with Couscous Salad

Harissa marinated oven roasted Cauliflower with sweet and lemony sumac Couscous Salad. This lite and delicious salad has all flavors you want from a delicious and healthy vegetarian Mediterranean-inspired meal - roasted spicy cauliflower (low in oil and bursting with flavor), lite lemony couscous, feta che...

Deli Style Pasta Salad with Kale

In this deli-style pasta salad, every fork full will have something delicious to keep digging for more. If you are fan of deli-style pasta salads, this vegetarian pasta salad will be your new favorite! I promise!Specially great to pack for potlucks or family trips, ingredients in this pasta salad are robus...

Mezze Penne Caprese Pasta Salad with Pesto Vinaigrette

This pasta salad combines few of my favorite, seasonal foodie-love-affairs, in one! I mean, who will say no to deliciously fresh Mozzarella and Tomato Caprese Salad, Pasta Salad, and a rich and fragrant Basil Pesto Vinaigrette?! All-in-one!! Anyone? Even saying "Caprese Pasta Salad with Pesto" makes me hun...

Summer Pasta Salad with Tomato, Feta and Orange Dressing

Sharing with you easy pasta salad recipe with sweet grape tomatoes, feta cheese in lite orange dressing. An easy side salad which you can ready in minutes. Among wide variety of pasta salads, cold salads with lite and lemony dressing are my favorite in summers. Other than serving pool side parties, chilled...

Lemon Orzo Pasta Salad with Olives and Tomatoes

Summers scream for lite and healthy flavors and this orzo salad marks the start of eating lite at my home. This rice-shaped pasta is common in soups, but is also great for a variety of main courses or side dishes. My family loves orzo either ways. Perhaps, its our love for rice which makes this rice-shaped...

Vegan Orzo Pasta Salad with Arugula and Meyer Lemon Dressing

Sharing with you a lite and fit vegan orzo pasta and wild arugula salad dressed in a simple meyer lemon dressing!Meyer lemon is one of my favorite citrus and I love grabbing some whenever these are in season. Their sweet and sour taste is really unique, kinda combination of navel orange and lemon. No kiddi...

Roasted Fennel and Artichoke Pasta Salad

Roasted Fennel and Artichoke Pasta Salad - Sweet roasted buttery fennels coated parmesan cheese, with meaty artichokes, and orecchiette pasta dressed in a lite and lemony thyme dressing! This festive salad is perfect side for a festive Holiday Family dinner Or a weekday dinner with some protein on the side...

Asian Vegetarian Banh Mi Salad

A delicious, healthy and gluten free take on Asian Classic - Bánh mì. This salad is loaded with fresh crunchy vegetables, lite and gluten free Buckwheat Soba Noodle with Sweet and Spicy Chili-Garlic Dressing! I call it: an Asian Bánh mì experience in a delightful summer salad bowl! I'm telling you, this sa...

Israeli Couscous Salad with Crunchy Celery and Sweet Grapes

My great grandma always made hand-rolled wholewheat and semolina pasta (small noodles like pasta) at home. Whenever I eat Israeli Couscous, it reminds me of those delicious noddles. We often ate that pasta in dessert, simmered in milk, sugar and nuts low and slow. Super yummy!! Nothing can match that taste...

Grilled Chimichurri Shrimp and Couscous Salad

Crowd-pleasing potluck salad with lite and clean grilled shrimp, nutty couscous pasta, grilled asparagus, bell peppers and lots of zesty tangy chimmichurri sauce... Friends, I call it a salad.. but it indeed is a complete lite dinner or lunch with portion of lean protein, lots of veggies, herbs as well as...

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11 Responses

  1. These all look delicious! I made the ultimate greek pasta salad, its so easy to make. one of my favorites any time of year, but especially in the summer.
  2. I gotta try the cauliflower couscous salad asap! THe tortellini one looks great too, that would be perfect for warmer weather.
  3. Oooh, that Greek orza pasta salad looks amazing! So do all the others. Cant wait to make my way through this list!
  4. Such an amazing recipes, contains a wide variety of flavors, definitely trying each one out and enjoy it for myself!
  5. I love a pasta salad anytime of the year. Ever single recipe on this list looks like something I would love. Saving this post to try some of these asap!
  6. Thanks for all the healthier Salad options. Pasta is one of my family favorite Dinner any day. Thanks for sharing.
  7. I made the Roasted Fennel and Artichoke Pasta Salad and it was so good! Love all the unique ideas here and definitely going to make more!
  8. Wow, so many great pasta salad ideas in one place. I hope to make my way through all of them this summer. Thank you!
  9. Such a good collection of recipes! Can you believe that I have never made a pasta salad? This needs to change! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe :)
    I hope you get chance to try a few soon! Happy cooking.
  10. This is an amazing collection of pasta salad recipes. I want to make them all!