This is the Best Caprese Pasta Salad, combining all the classic flavors of a Caprese Salad with pasta! Perfect as a simple family side dish or when feeding a crowd, this make-ahead recipe delivers a burst of flavor everyone will love.
Looking for more pasta salads? I love Mediterranean Pasta Salad, Creamy Tomato Cucumber Salad, and Spaghetti Salad!
In This Post
Everyone loves pasta salad! Whether you serve it as a side dish, take it with you on a picnic, or share it at a potluck or covered dish supper, it’s always one of the first foods to disappear. Recently, I decided to give one of my most popular recipes on A Southern Soul twist. I’ve turned my Simple Caprese Salad recipe into a pasta salad. The result? Outstanding!
What Is A Caprese Salad?
A classic Caprese Salad, or Insalata Caprese, is an Italian salad most often served in the summer. It’s made with ripe tomatoes layered between slices of fresh mozzarella basil leaves, then drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It’s light, refreshing, and delicious.
Ingredients For This Recipe
- Grape Tomatoes – sliced in half or quartered
- Mozzarella Pearls – tiny balls of cheese found at the deli counter
- Fresh Basil – sliced into ribbons
- Pasta – you can use any shape you like
- Homemade Vinaigrette – olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper
Additions And Substitutions
- Add avocado, sliced peppers, or onions.
- Toss in leftover chicken for a salad main dish.
- Tuna makes a great add-in, along with some black or green olives.
How To Make Caprese Pasta Salad
- Make the balsamic dressing – Add olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper to a small bowl or jar with a lid. Whisk or shake until all ingredients are incorporated. Set aside.
- Cook the pasta – Make it according to the package directions in a large pot of salted water. Drain and rinse with cold water.
- Prep The Salad – To a large bowl, add cooked pasta, tomatoes, mozzarella pearls, and basil.
- Toss everything together – Drizzle with vinaigrette dressing and toss. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve immediately.
Donya’s Success Tip
Caprese Pasta Salad is best served at room temperature. If you’ve stored it in the fridge, place it on the counter for 10-15 minutes before serving.
Often Asked Questions
You bet. I like to make the salad the night before serving it. I drizzle on about ¾ of the dressing, toss all the ingredients together, and store the pasta salad and remaining dressing in an airtight container in the fridge. Before serving, I drizzle on the remaining dressing, toss, and serve.
If you’re lucky enough to have some of this salad left over, you can store it in covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
What To Serve With Fresh Caprese Pasta Salad
- I serve it with Grilled Pork Tenderloin, Balsamic Chicken Thighs, or Marinated London Broil for a family dinner or Sunday supper.
- For game day with Air Fryer Chicken Wings, or Hot Dogs
- At a summer cookout with Grilled Sausages, BBQ Chicken Legs, Or Grilled Flank Steak.
More Great Pasta Salad Recipes You’ll Love!
If you tried this Caprese Pasta Salad Recipe or any other recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks!
Equipment
Ingredients
Vinaigrette Dressing
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 -3 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 clove minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Caprese Pasta Salad
- ½ pound dried pasta (farfalle or other small pasta works best)
- 8 ounces mozzarella pearls (or cubed fresh mozzarella)
- 2 cups grape tomatoes sliced in half
- ¼ cup fresh basil leaves thinly sliced
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- To a small bowl or jar with a lid, add olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Whisk or shake until all ingredients are incorporated. Set aside.
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water.
- To a large bowl add cooked pasta, tomatoes, mozzarella pearls, and basil. Drizzle with vinaigrette dressing and toss. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Cathy
I made it today! I can’t wait to try it.
Donya
Hey there Cathy!
Thank you so much for giving this recipe a try, I really hope you enjoyed the recipe! This pasta salad makes a terrific side dish for so many different occasions. I really appreciate your support, if you ever have any questions about a recipe please don’t hesitate to ask!
~Donya
Heather
Made this for a neighborhood Memorial Day kickoff and it was a huge hit!! I doubled the recipe and had some garlic infused olive oil. So I used 1/4 c. olive oil and 1/4 c. garlic olive oil. Everyone loved it! Thank you!
Donya
Hey there Heather!
Wow! I am so happy to hear that everyone enjoyed this recipe, adding in garlic infused olive sounds absolutely delicious, I’ll have to try that! Thank you so much for your kind words and your fantastic rating, I really appreciate your support!
~Donya
Jackie
This takes my husband’s favorite salad to new heights! We both love this!
Donya
Hey there Jackie!
My goodness, I am thrilled to hear that y’all enjoyed this recipe! I’ve always been a huge caprese fan as well, and I completely agree that adding pasta just takes it to a whole new level. If you liked this pasta salad, you should check out my Mediterranean Pasta Salad, it’s just as easy to make and it’s burst with bright fresh flavors. Thank you so much for your kind words and phenomenal rating, I really appreciate your support!
~Donya
Michelle
I just made this pasta salad for the first time and it’s delicious! One quick question: did you use white balsamic vinegar? I used regular, and love the taste but the pasta looks a bit brownish.
Donya
Hey there Michelle!
I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe, it’s a perfect dish for this time of year! I usually use regular balsamic vinegar, it does change the color of the pasta a bit but it has a terrific flavor. That being said, if you want to use white balsamic so that the pasta doesn’t change color you definitely should, make the recipe your own, white balsamic would still taste delicious it’s really up to you. I hope this is helpful, thank you so much for your kind words! If you ever have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out!
~Donya
Jess
I’m loving this recipe and saw it serves 6. I need a salad for 60ppl for a wedding rehearsal dinner this weekend. Thoughts? Do I really need to multiply this recipe 10x?
Donya
Hey there Jess!
Thank you so much for your interest in this recipe, I think it would be perfect to serve to a crowd! I don’t think you need to multiply the recipe by 10, a “serving” looks different to different people, and usually when it’s a small group people serve themselves more. I would quadruple the recipe if I were you, I think 3 or 4 full bowls of this salad would feed 60 people. I hope this helps, thank you so much for your support!
Best,
~Donya
Mari-Ann L
OOOOH my gosh. My family loves Caprese salad and this looked interesting. Tried it to and it’s definitely a five star recipe. Everything about it was amazing. My entire family, including grandkids LOVED it. Made it exactly as written.
Dayna, I will be trying a lot more of your recipes!
THANK YOU!!
Donya
Hey there Mari-Ann!
Wow! It truly warms my heart to read such a sweet comment like this one. I am absolutely thrilled to hear y’all enjoyed this recipe, it’s definitely a favorite in my house too. Thank you so much for your phenomenal rating, if you ever have any questions about my recipes just leave me a comment, I’ll be happy to answer! Thank you for your support!
~Donya
Sharon
Can you make it the day before serving?
Donya
Hey there!
That’s a great question! Yes ma’am you sure can, I would just make sure to refrigerate it in an airtight container overnight. In my opinion, this salad is best served cold anyway, so making it the night before you serve it is a great idea! I hope you enjoy, thank you for your support!
~Donya
Diane
So good!!
So, I didnt have enough mozz balls but added blue cheese crumbles to help with the cheese ratio. Yum! I might also add toasted pine nuts next time for a crunch. But amazing recipe- thank you.
Donya
Hey Diane!
I am so thrilled you enjoyed the recipe, thank you for your rating! Toasting the pine nuts sounds so good, I will have to try that. Thank you for your support, I hope you have a great day!
~Donya
Diane Knudson
Love the Caprese Salad, this will be my go to for the summer.
Diane
Donya
Hey Diane!
Thank you so much for your fantastic rating and comment! I’m thrilled you like the salad, I agree that its a perfect fresh salad for this summer. I hope you enjoy!
~Donya
I love your caprese salad and now I can’t wait to make this one. I’m heading to the store for the ingredients, now!
Donya
Hey Judy!
Thank you so much for your terrific rating and lovely comment! I am so glad you’re liking this Caprese Pasta salad, its one of my favorite flavor combinations. Let me know how it turned out! Have a great day!
~Donya