Pasta Salad
Pasta salad, an age old traditional side dish and everyone has their own favorite. Some like a creamy sauce, others prefer theirs with more of an oil and vinegar style of dressing, and in today’s day and age, many people consider it too much work to make so the only time they have it, it is a generally sub-satisfactory version when they pick up an order of fried chicken. At Tasty Kitchen Creations, we want to bring this back home to you. It’s really a very simple dish to make, but getting the right spice blend is often where people struggle, resulting in a dish that is bland so they give up. That’s where we come in. We’ve created a spice blend that makes this part really easy. Simply add our spice blend to some mayonnaise, salad dressing or Greek yogurt, whichever you prefer, add our spice blend and add the cooked pasta.
Cooking pasta generally takes 8 - 15 minutes (depending on the pasta of choice) once you add it to boiling water. Drain the cooked pasta. At this point I recommend popping the drained pasta into some ice water for about 15 minutes. This stops the cooking process so your pasta doesn’t get mushy and chills it quickly. While its chilling you can prepare the dressing and other items you like in your pasta salad. I can safely say, no two of my salads are exactly the same, but they usually follow a similar trend. My kids love cooked peas, hard boiled eggs and small chunks of cheese, but we often will add things like slightly blanched broccoli or asparagus heads, sliced radish and cucumbers, shredded carrots, etc. so feel free to experiment. My family will not touch olives, however they are also a popular choice for pasta salads. My only recommendation would be to select items that will stay a bit firmer when is a dressing type mixture rather than those that might tend to go mushy, like tomatoes (unless you use something like whole grape type tomatoes). Your prepared pasta will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days so it can be made ahead of time for a weekend barbecue or picnic.
**Remember, you will want to ensure you keep this chilled if its going to sit outside for a while so place it in a thermos type serving dish or can be placed on ice for everyone’s food health safety.
If you’re interested in our delicious Potato & Pasta Sauce Mix, check out our shopping page for the Potato & Pasta Sauce Mix.
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
12 - 15 mins
Cooling Time
60 mins.
Total Time
10 mins
Servings
4 - 6
INGREDIENTS
2 cups spiral pasta (or other short cut pasta of choice)
3/4 cup whipped salad dressing or mayonnaise (Greek Yogurt, 50%/50% sour cream/mayo)
3 TBSP Tasty Kitchen Creations Potato & Pasta Sauce Mix seasoning
3 TBSP liquid (sweet pickle juice, white vinegar, buttermilk, etc.)
2 cups vegetables and condiments of choice (limited only to your creative taste preferences and imagination) such as hard boiled eggs, green peas, diced peppers, shredded carrots, sliced cucumber, blanched asparagus tips, broccoli, cauliflower, small cubes of cheddar cheese, olives, etc.)
INSTRUCTIONS
Cook pasta as per package directions. Pasta is best at al dente (cooked so as to be still firm when bitten).
Drain pasta. Place in ice water for approximately 15 minutes.
Prepare vegetables and other condiments.
Stir together salad dressing, Tasty Kitchen Creations Potato & Pasta Sauce Mix seasoning and liquid.
Pour dressing mixture over pasta and stir well to ensure well mixed.
Add vegetables and other condiments you have selected and toss again.
Place pasta salad in fridge to chill. (If you have chilled the pasta, you can serve the pasta salad immediately, however it will taste a bit better if it has a little while for the flavours to blend a bit so I try to give it at least 30 minutes).
Salad can be prepared in the morning for evening however if you are putting cheese in the salad I would add that just before serving.
