Cold spaghetti salad is quick and easy to make. It’s the perfect dish for feeding a crowd! Boasting a variety of crisp garden veggies, this pasta salad is packed with beautiful colors, flavors and textures. Delicious spaghetti salad is ideal for picnics, potlucks, and summer entertaining.
INGREDIENTS FOR COLD SPAGHETTI SALAD
These are the ingredients for this easy pasta salad recipe:
- Thin spaghetti
- Grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes
- Zucchini
- Green bell pepper
- Red onions
- Fresh parsley
- Black olives
- Grated Parmesan cheese
- Homemade Italian dressing
HOW TO MAKE PASTA SALAD
These are the simple instructions for making pasta salad:
- Prepare a pasta pot with heavily salted water.
- Boil spaghetti al dente according to package instructions.
- Drain the pasta in a colander.
- Toss the spaghetti with olive oil.
- To cool the pasta, spread it in an even layer on a baking tray. This is how professional food stylists prep pasta for food photography!
PASTA SALAD RECIPE
How to make pasta salad step by step:
- Slice red onions in thin strips.
- Cut grape tomatoes and black olives in half.
- Slice zucchini into rounds. Slice the rounds into fourths.
- Chop the bell peppers and parsley.
HOW DO YOU MAKE ITALIAN DRESSING?
For this pasta salad recipe you can use a bottle of Italian dressing, or use my quick homemade salad dressing recipe. Here’s how to make Italian dressing from scratch:
5-MINUTE RECIPE: ITALIAN SALAD DRESSING
SPAGHETTI SALAD RECIPE
Here’s how to complete this easy pasta salad recipe:
- Add the cooled pasta to a large mixing bowl.
- Add the veggies, Parmesan cheese, and parsley to the bowl.
- Fold them into the spaghetti.
- Drizzle the Italian dressing over the top of the spaghetti salad.
- Toss the pasta salad. Add more salt and pepper, if desired. To brighten the flavor of your spaghetti salad, sprinkle red wine vinegar on top and mix it in.
HOW TO GARNISH COLD SPAGHETTI SALAD
For a spectacular-looking pasta salad, add beautiful garnishes!
- Garnish spaghetti salad with additional freshly-ground black pepper and more Parmesan cheese. You can never add too much cheese!
- Place a beautiful sprig of parsley leaves in the middle.
- Your delicious pasta salad is ready to serve and enjoy!
EXPERT TIPS FOR ITALIAN PASTA SALAD
- Boil spaghetti for pasta salad in heavily salted water. The water should taste like the ocean! Cold pasta recipes taste much different than hot pasta dishes. Salt gives cold spaghetti salad a fabulous boost of flavor!
- When prepping pasta salad in advance, boil the pasta just beyond al dente. This will help the noodles stay soft and keep their great texture. Cover and refrigerate pasta salad until serving time.
- Add Italian dressing to spaghetti salad while it’s still warm. The noodles will absorb more of the beautiful flavor!
MORE PASTA RECIPES
The Chunky Chef: TORTELLINI PASTA CARBONARA
Simply Delicious Food: CREAMY MUSHROOM PASTA BAKE
Half Baked Harvest: BASIL CHICKEN FLORENTINE PASTA
KITCHEN TOOLS FOR PASTA SALAD
These handy kitchen tools are perfect for making this easy pasta salad!
Cold Spaghetti Salad
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 5 Servings 1x
Description
Cold spaghetti salad is a quick easy dish you can make in a flash! This yummy pasta salad is perfect for feeding a crowd. Its crisp colorful veggies make it super festive! This spaghetti salad recipe is the ideal choice for picnics, potlucks and parties.
Ingredients
- 1 pound thin spaghetti
- 1 6-ounce can black olives, sliced
- 12 ounces grape tomatoes, sliced in half
- 1 large zucchini, sliced and cut into quarters
- 1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 large green bell pepper, chopped
- 3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped or minced
- 1 cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese (plus more for garnishing)
- 1 + 1/2 cups store-bought or homemade Italian dressing, cold (refrigerated)
- Sea salt, to taste
- Freshly-ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Boil the pasta in heavily salted water until it’s al dente. Drain the spaghetti in a colander. Do not rinse it under cold water. Instead, drizzle olive oil over the noodles. Toss the spaghetti, and then spread it in an even layer on a cookie sheet to cool. This is a food styling trick that keeps your pasta looking picture perfect!
- Transfer the cooled pasta to a large mixing bowl. Add the veggies and parsley and mix well. Add the Parmesan cheese and the cold Italian dressing and fold them in. Do a taste test and add salt and pepper as needed. If your salad needs just a touch of brightening, you can sprinkle a bit of red wine vinegar on top and mix it in.
- Garnish your spaghetti salad with a couple more twists of freshly-ground black pepper, more grated Parmesan cheese, and a lovely fresh sprig of Parsley. Your delicious summer salad is ready to enjoy!
Notes
EXPERT TIPS FOR ITALIAN PASTA SALAD
- Boil spaghetti for pasta salad in heavily salted water. The water should taste like the ocean! Cold pasta recipes taste much different than hot pasta dishes. Salt gives cold spaghetti salad a fabulous boost of flavor!
- When prepping pasta salad in advance, boil the pasta just beyond al dente. This will help the noodles stay soft and keep their great texture. Cover and refrigerate pasta salad until serving time.
- Add Italian dressing to spaghetti salad while it’s still warm. The noodles will absorb more of the beautiful flavor!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Lunch, Snack, Dinner, Potluck
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian, American
Keywords: spaghetti salad, cold spaghetti salad, spaghetti salad recipe
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SUMMER SALADS
If you enjoyed this delicious pasta salad, you’ll want to make these salads too!
BROCCOLI SALAD with bacon is a healthy choice for lunch or dinner.
CLASSIC MACARONI SALAD is a scrumptious picnic favorite that is perfect for summertime enjoyment!
Yummy TROPICAL FRUIT SALAD with agave-lime dressing is an easy healthy recipe that will have your family coming back for seconds!
SPAGHETTI SALAD > JOIN THE CONVERSATION!
What are your favorite pasta salads? What do you think about this cold spaghetti salad recipe? Join the conversation in the comments below.
We tripled the recipe for my niece’s baby shower! (Having never tried it!). It was a hit! Had so many guests request the recipe!!!!! The only modification we made was adding a heaping spoonful of red pepper flakes, because that’s how the family rolls.
Just made another batch for a side to our grilled chicken tonight!
★★★★★
Lorri, you’ve just made my day! I’m so happy to hear that you and your family are enjoying this delicious recipe. Across the miles, I send sweet wishes to your niece and her baby.
Hi, I wanted to look up a recipe and was sent to your site. When I came here, the site automatically subscribed me, and I have no idea how to unsubscribe. I get a message on my phone every time you upload something new. It’s very annoying.
How do I undo this?
Good morning Mathilda. Thank you so much for reaching out to me about this. Sites often invite their users/guests to receive automatic alerts when new content is published. This is through a little drop down invite at the top of the screen that will say “Allow” or “Block”. So each individual user controls the push notifications that they subscribe to, and which they unsubscribe to as well. Here is how to unsubscribe from notifications on this blog as well as on other sites: https://documentation.onesignal.com/docs/unsubscribe-from-notifications (cut and paste the link into your browser). Happy holidays to you and your family!
This was the perfect spin on pasta salad for an outdoor BBQ I hosted last weekend! Thanks for the awesome recipe Denay!
★★★★★
Hi Whitney, it really is the perfect salad for a BBQ. I really hope everyone loves it.
I absolutely love pasta salads but have never done it with spaghetti. I’m making this for a crowd this weekend. Thanks so much!
★★★★★
Hi Ginny, your crowd will love this spaghetti recipe. Its going to be a hit.
Cold spaghetti is perfect for summer weather! Heck, I could eat it for breakfast! ????
★★★★★
That sounds perfect. You could literally eat this spaghetti anytime of the day!
Looks absolutely delicious. Can’t wait to try this recipe.
★★★★★
Hi Kerrie, you will absolutely love this spaghetti recipe.
Easy and delicious! The best kind of recipes and beautiful pictures. Thanks for sharing!
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Thank for so much for stopping by, Christina. I hope you have a great weekend.
This looks really delicious. I bet the flavors will develop even more if you let it sit.
Thank you Luci. Youre so right, i bet this spaghetti would be better if you let it sit longer.
This cold spaghetti salad looks delicious, the perfect meal for a hot summer day, will definitely have to try!
~xo Sheree
★★★★★
Thank you Sheree! I’m excited that this yummy spaghetti salad is now on your radar. Enjoy!
Yummy!! Looks like an awesome lunch for me. I will be making this one. Thanks
★★★★★
Hello Kelly. You’re absolutely right! Spaghetti salad is a fantastic choice for lunch. I know you’ll love this delicious recipe!