Tomato Pesto Pasta Salad (Easy Cold Side Dish) Recipe | Sip Bite Go
In ~20 minutes, you can have an Italian style tomato pesto pasta salad ready to eat. It’s an easy cold side dish for a potluck or party. And a simple recipe for a weeknight. Enjoy it as a make ahead salad for steak dinners or pizza nights. Let’s nom!
Prep Time5 minutesmins
Cook Time10 minutesmins
Finish Time5 minutesmins
Total Time20 minutesmins
Course: Appetizer, Side Dish
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: Easy cold side dish, Italian pasta salad, summer pesto pasta salad, tomato pasta salad recipe, tomato pesto pasta salad
Boil water on medium high and cook pasta according to directions until al dente. While pasta is cooking, prepare the dressing.
Make the pesto pasta salad dressing by whisking the pesto and champagne vinegar together in a bowl. Set aside.
When pasta is done cooking, add pasta and vegetables to a large bowl. Add pesto pasta salad dressing and mix together. Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese, basil, and a fresh crack of pepper. Store in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
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Notes
Remove the inside of tomatoes and seeds if desired. Usually I roughly chop them and take out the gooey inside if it comes out easily. Otherwise, a little bit of tomato goop and seeds in the salad is fine.
If you don't have ready made pesto in your fridge, you can also make this basil pesto pasta salad with Italian dressing.
There are so many types of tomatoes to choose from, you really can’t go wrong. Substitute grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes sliced in half.
This Italian style tomato pesto pasta salad will last in the fridge for up to 3 days. To add freshness to pasta salad that’s been in the fridge for a couple days (since pasta salad can dry out over time), add a little more pesto and champagne vinegar dressing to the pasta salad before serving.