Whip up this Greek pasta salad with feta cheese, vegetables and store bought Greek salad dressing (shhh – our little secret!). It’s an easy-to-make-ahead Greek-inspired recipe for a crowd or side dish. Let’s make it!
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Table of Contents
Why this Greek pasta salad recipe is a favorite…
- Make it ahead. Whip it up the day before serving serving as a game day party recipe.
- It’s a vegetable-filled pasta salad recipe with feta (a pretty healthy cheese).
- Busy cooks – I got you! I’ll teach you how to “cheat” and make this recipe faster by using store bought Greek dressing.
- Use up veggies from the fridge – see my list of ingredient ideas to make it your own!
- Newer home chefs: see my step by step video for beginners (scroll to bottom of page).
Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make this seriously easy Greek pasta salad.
Main Greek pasta salad ingredients
- Pasta, any curly shape like rigatoni (I used Vesuvio shaped pasta)
- Olive oil
- Garlic
- Onion
- Salt and pepper
- Red wine vinegar
- Asparagus (see how to sous vide asparagus)
- Carrots
- Greek dressing (store bought, I’ll show you how to “add to it”)
- Feta crumbles
Additional ingredients to try in this Greek pasta dish
- Kalamata olives
- Cherry or grape tomatoes
- Red onions
- Pan grilled chicken
- Persian cucumbers
- Bell pepper (see how to cut bell peppers)
- Dried spices or fresh herbs like oregano, dill, parsley
How to make this recipe for Greek pasta salad
Now I’ll walk you through it…
Quick look at how to whip it up…
- Boil the pasta.
- Sauté garlic and onion (to make my special “Greek pasta salad dressing starter”).
- Blanch asparagus quickly (to soften it up).
- Assemble ingredients for Greek pasta salad with vegetables, feta cheese, and store bought Greek dressing.
Here’s a detailed look at how to make it…
- Boil the pasta. Fill a large pot (for the pasta) with water. Place it on a burner on high heat and add some salt (about 1 tsp) to it, to bring it to a boil. You can move on to the next steps, cooking the vegetables for this Greek pasta salad, but remember to cook the pasta in boiling salted water and until noodles are al dente. Once done, drain and set aside (no need to rinse the pasta under water).
- Sauté “extra” dressing ingredients. While water boils, add a small sauté pan or small sauce bowl to a burner on medium heat. Add olive oil, garlic, and onion. Sauté about 5 minutes, stirring regularly, so the garlic doesn’t burn. Turn off burner and remove pan from heat once garlic becomes translucent, and before it turns brown. The onion will be softened, but it cooks slower than garlic so it may not be full translucent. That’s fine.
- Mix Greek dressing starter. Once garlic and onion olive oil mixture cools a bit, transfer it to a medium sized bowl. This is going to “amp up” the store bought greek dressing you’re using with a punch of extra flavor. Add salt, pepper, and red wine vinegar. Stir to combine and leave on counter.
- Cook asparagus (aka blanch it). Put the pan the garlic and onion was cooked in back on a burner. Add asparagus and enough water to cover it so it cooks evenly. Turn the burner to medium-high heat. Cook asparagus until it’s easily pierced with a fork (but before it gets mushy). Immediately drain asparagus and drain it in cold water to make it bright green and stop it from cooking.
- Put together the Greek pasta salad with feta cheese. In a large bowl, assemble the Greek pasta salad. Add the cooled pasta, cooked asparagus, diced carrots, olive oil mixture, any additional ingredients you’d like, and the Greek dressing. (remember to add more Greek vinaigrette dressing to account for the additional veggies). Stir to combine and top with feta crumbles. Enjoy!
If this recipe gives you foodie cravings, I have a few more you’ll love. Check out my peppercorn sauce, these incredible smoked chicken wings, and appetizer labneh dip.
For another family pasta dish favorite, whip up something like this angel hair pasta with chicken.
FAQs
I found Vesuvio pasta at Central Market in the Dallas, Texas area. It’s made in the shape of Mt. Vesuvius – the volcano that erupted over Pompeii. You can use any pasta shape you’d like – if it’s curly and filled with crevices, it will do a good job holding all the tasty bits of garlic, onion, and feta cheese crumbles. Yum!
I usually add a little more dressing to pasta salad, because it can dry out a bit in the fridge. If you make it the day ahead, give it a good stir and see if it needs a little more store bought Greek dressing.
See one of my favorite Traeger recipes for smoked asparagus…
New recipes and foodie guides….
- Tri tip (it’s so good!)
- Homemade pizza
- Smoked wings
- Traeger pizza
- Pan grilled chicken
- Potato side dishes
- Pasta side dishes
- Baked brisket
- Sous vide frozen steak
- Cooked chicken temp guide
- Jalapeno ranch sauce
- Sous vide pork chops
- Coulotte steak
- GUIDE: How to make hamburger patties
- GUIDE: Aerogarden
- Best restaurants in Portland
Grill and smoker recipes…
- Grilled chicken wings
- Smoked pizza
- Smoked chicken
- Smoked tri tip
- Traeger pulled pork
- Smoked turkey breast
- Smoked chicken wings
- Smoked ham
- Flank steak marinade
- Skirt steak marinade
- Smoked mac and cheese
- Smoked chicken breast
- Grilled broccoli
Meat thermometer recommendations
Every home chef needs a reliable meat thermometer to cook food perfectly.
On Sip Bite Go, you’ll often see me using:
- Meater thermometer – a fancy wireless thermometer that connects to a phone app – gifted to me from a Traeger partnership.
- ThermoPro digital thermometer – which has a wire that connects the thermometer to a display box outside the oven/grill.
It’s like being psychic! The great thing about either of the thermometers above is that I don’t have to take the food out of the oven to know the temperature.
How to use ‘em… What I do is stick the digital thermometer in steak, pork, chicken, whatever… Then put the food in the oven, on the smoker, or grill.
While the meat cooks, it reads the temperature so I know exactly what temp meat is as it’s cooking. Without having to take it out and check. It’s really difficult to overcook food when you know exactly what temp it is inside!
Are you a foodie, too?
Hey home chefs, hope that answers all your questions about making a Greek feta pasta salad.
I’m not saying it’s the most authentic Greek salad in the world – but it does hit all the notes when you’re craving feta with veggies. It’s now one of my favorite ways to use Greek dressing WHILE getting in a bunch of vegetables.
I mean, there is a whole pound of asparagus in there! Hope you love it as much as we do!
If you don’t follow me on instagram you totally should @sipbitego. And for more deliciousness, subscribe to the Sip Bite Go channel and see the Sip Bite Go recipe collection.
Greek Pasta Salad With Feta Cheese Recipe | Sip Bite Go
Ingredients
Main Greek pasta salad ingredients
- ¾ LB pasta any curly shape like rigatoni
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- ½ medium onion diced
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 LB asparagus white ends discarded, then diced
- 2 medium carrots diced
- ½ cup Greek dressing
- ¼ cup feta crumbles
Additional ingredients to try in this Greek pasta dish
- ¼ cup olives pitted kalamata
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, halved
- ¼ cup red onions diced
- ½ cup grilled chicken diced
- ½ cup cucumbers Persian
- ½ cup Bell pepper
- ¼ tsp oregano dried
- 1 tsp dill fresh chopped
- 1 tsp parsley fresh chopped
Instructions
- Boil the pasta. Fill a large pot (for the pasta) with water. Place it on a burner on high heat and add some salt (about 1 tsp) to it, to bring it to a boil. You can move on to the next steps, cooking the vegetables for this Greek pasta salad, but remember to cook the pasta in boiling salted water and until noodles are al dente. Once done, drain and set aside (no need to rinse the pasta under water).
- Sauté dressing ingredients. While water boils, add a small sauté pan or small sauce bowl to a burner on medium heat. Add olive oil, garlic, and onion. Sauté about 5 minutes, stirring regularly, so the garlic doesn’t burn. Turn off burner and remove pan from heat once garlic becomes translucent, and before it turns brown. The onion will be softened, but it cooks slower than garlic so it may not be full translucent. That’s fine.
- Mix Greek dressing starter. Once garlic and onion olive oil mixture cools a bit, transfer it to a medium sized bowl. This is going to “amp up” the store bought greek dressing you’re using with a punch of extra flavor. Add salt, pepper, and red wine vinegar. Stir to combine and leave on counter.
- Cook asparagus (aka blanch it). Put the pan the garlic and onion was cooked in back on a burner. Add asparagus and enough water to cover it so it cooks evenly. Turn the burner to medium-high heat. Cook asparagus until it’s easily pierced with a fork (but before it gets mushy). Immediately drain asparagus and drain it in cold water to make it bright green and stop it from cooking.
- Put together the Greek pasta salad with feta cheese. In a large bowl, assemble the Greek pasta salad. Add the cooled pasta, cooked asparagus, diced carrots, olive oil mixture, any additional ingredients you’d like, and the Greek dressing. (remember to add more Greek vinaigrette dressing to account for the additional veggies). Stir to combine and top with feta crumbles. Enjoy!
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