This tortellini pasta salad with a Mediterranean twist is the perfect side dish for any potluck and is ready in only 30 minutes. Make this easy tortellini salad with just a few ingredients and in no time!
Pasta salads are easy and quick to make. You can customize them to your liking and they're perfect for parties and potlucks. Some of our favorite pasta salads are shrimp pasta salad and caprese pasta salad. Today I'm going to show you how to make this 5-star Mediterranean style tortellini salad that's ready in no time!
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About this recipe
This delicious tortellini pasta salad is full of fresh and tasty summer vegetables and is perfect for potlucks and barbecue parties. I love that it's so easy and simple to put together and it has so much flavor thanks to all the delicious ingredients.
I love bringing this tortellini salad to parties because it has a flavor combination that is new to many yet it's tasty and people would always ask for seconds and then ask me for the recipe! It's always so good to see everyone loving a dish that's inspired by the flavors that I love and admire.
Ingredients
- Tortellini: You can use both dry or fresh tortellini in this pasta salad. Fresh tortellini is in the refrigerated section and dry tortellini is in the pasta section of most supermarkets. As for the flavor, I used cheese tortellini here but you can use spinach and cheese as well.
- Vegetables: I use a combination of tomatoes, red onions, parsley and marinated vegetables such as artichokes and kalamata olives.
- Dressing: Since all the ingredients are already very flavorful, you can go with a simple dressing made with olive oil, lemon juice, paprika, salt and pepper.
Instructions
- Cook the tortellini (dry or fresh) according to the packaging and let it cool completely. You can do this a day in advance.
- While the pasta is cooling, chop the vegetables and prepare the dressing.
- To the cold pasta add the chopped red onion, marinated artichokes, tomatoes, olives and chopped parsley. Combine using two large spoons.
- Drizzle the dressing over the pasta salad and mix well. If time permits, chill the tortellini salad in the fridge for one hour before serving.
Variations
You can always add more ingredients to this easy tortellini salad to make it even more exciting:
- Feta cheese: for a little bit of saltiness and creaminess.
- Cucumber: an instant freshness for your pasta salad.
- Sun dried tomatoes: they always add so much flavor to any dish. Make sure to chop them up.
- Grilled chicken or shrimp: turn your Mediterranean pasta salad into a full meal by adding some protein to it.
Serving suggestions
You can serve this Mediterranean tortellini pasta salad on its own as lunch or dinner. It would also make a wonderful side for grilled dishes such as grilled spatchcock chicken, Greek grilled chicken, shrimp kabobs, salmon kabobs or beef shish kabob.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. You can can make this salad one day ahead of time, but my suggestion is to add the tomatoes right before serving so they don't release their juice into the salad.
Store the leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
Yes, you can find gluten free tortellini in supermarkets and use it instead of regular tortellini.
More salad recipes
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Step-by-Step Recipe
Tortellini Pasta Salad Mediterranean Style
Ingredients
- 20 oz cheese tortellini
- 1 ½ cup kalamata olives pittled and halved
- 14 oz artichoke hearts canned
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 cup red onion diced
- ½ cup fresh parsley chopped
- ½ cup parmesan cheese
Vinaigrette:
- ¼ cup olive oil extra virgin
- 1 lemon juice of
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp smoked paprika
Instructions
- Cook cheese tortellini according to the packaging. Set aside and let cool completely. (This step can be done ahead of time)
- In a large bowl, mix tortellini. kalamata olives, artichoke hearts, campari tomatoes and red onion. Set aside.
- In another bowl, mix all the vinaigrette ingredients and pour it over the tortellini pasta salad.
- Stir well so all the ingredients are smothered with the vinaigrette.
- Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.
- Sprinkle chopped parsley and parmesan cheese on top right before serving.
Catherine
What a beautiful summer dish. I haven't had tortellini in a while but this is such a wonderful dish for weeknights! Looks delicious!
Shadi HasanzadeNemati
Thanks Catherine!
Claudia Lamascolo
I love all the fresh ingredients this is looking b the photos this is a must make mouth watering recipe!
Shadi HasanzadeNemati
thank you!
Renee @ The Good Hearted Woman
This looks like a delicious summer meal - full of flavor and light on effort.
Shadi HasanzadeNemati
It's perfect for summer!
Linda
What a truly versatile salad and it looks so tasty! This would make a nice hearty dinner salad with the heavier tortellini and I'd top it with chicken & a sprinkle of feta. I also love the addition of the artichoke and the bright flavors that a lemon dressing would add to the mix.
Shadi HasanzadeNemati
Thank you Linda! I love the idea of chicken and feta!
Chris Collins
I love a tortellini pasta salad and your version looks DELISH!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Shadi HasanzadeNemati
Hope you give it a try!
Vicky
This looks like the perfect refreshing summer meal! I love how it takes advantage of in season veggies and is so easy to put together.
Shadi HasanzadeNemati
Yes! Easy and delicious!