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Home » Blog » Recipes » Salads

Italian Pasta Salad

by Donya Mullins February 27, 2018 5 Comments This post may contain affiliate links.

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I’m not sure what I like best about this salad. Is it the pasta, tossed in an olive oil, herb and garlic vinaigrette? Or is it all the meats, cheese, olives, artichokes and pepperoncini added in? It really doesn’t matter because it’s all just so crazy good together. This salad has so many fantastic layers of flavors that you’ll be wishing for more after just one bite.italian pasta salad with cheese and meat and homemade dressing and olives

Jam packed with tons of delicious, chopped ingredients, this pasta dish is more like a meal than a salad and I actually planned it that way. My plan was to have a hearty salad that would give me all the fuel I needed during a busy day along with maximum flavor. Well…I hit the nail on the head. Not only is this salad loaded with classic Italian ingredients, but the olive oil dressing is also what totally makes this salad. italian pasta salad with olives, salami, ham, onion, artichokes and peppers

Since I was making this salad just for me, well, not really, I shared with several friends, I put in all the things I like from my favorite Italian deli. Smokey ham, salami, briny olives, which of course I had to have both green and black ones were my first picks. I also added in some thinly sliced onion, marinated artichokes, and slightly hot pepperoncini. See, I’m the only one in this house that likes anything pickled, so when Mr. travels, I go hog wild with ingredients of my liking.italian pasta salad, ham, olives, onion, salami and olive oil dressingThe whole salad takes just a few minutes to make since you are just chopping a few ingredients, shaking the dressing and cooking the pasta. Once all the yummy ingredients are chopped and while the pasta was cooking, I made the dressing.  It’s incredibly simple with everything coming together in a mason jar. Olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice are flavored with lots of herbs, salt, and pepper. Once your salad is tossed together, just pour on the dressing and let all that pasta soak up the flavor. Here’s how I enjoy it ~ I load up mason jars with my salad, toss in a few leaves of butter lettuce, screw on the lid and store in the fridge. When I’m on the go or working from home, I just open up my “salad jar” and dig in!

italian pasta salad with meats and cheese and olive oil dressing

italian pasta salad with meats and cheese and olive oil dressing
4.75 from 4 votes

Italian Pasta Salad

Author: Donya Mullins
Course: Pasta, Salad
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes minutes
Servings: 12
Print Pin Rate
This pasta salad is loaded with meats, cheese, olives and artichokes then tossed in an olive oil dressing that's full of classic Italian flavors. One bite and you'll be begging for more!

Ingredients

  • 1 lb (box) pasta
  • 1 cup marinated artichokes
  • 1 cup black olives
  • 1 cup stuffed green olives
  • 1 cup pepperocini
  • 1 cup ham
  • 1 cup salami
  • 1 cup onion - thinly sliced
  • 1 cup Parmesan cheese - grated
  • ½ cup fresh parsley - chopped

Dressing

  • ¾ cup olive oil
  • ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
  • ¼ cup lemon-juice
  • 1 teaspoon garlic - minced
  • ½ teaspoon onion powder
  • ½ teaspoon dried oregano
  • ½ teaspoon dried basil
  • ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  • In a large pot filled with water, cook pasta according to package directions. While water comes to a boil, roughly chop the artichokes, olives, pepperocini, ham and salami. 
  • In a jar fitted with a lid, add olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, herbs, salt and pepper. Screw on lid and shake jar until all ingredients are emulsified.  
  • When pasta is cooked, drain and rinse, then add back to pasta pot. Add in all chopped ingredients and gently mix. Pour on half of dressing and toss. Sprinkle on parsley and cheese, add remaining dressing and toss to combine. Spoon onto platter or large bowl to serve immediately or store in refrigerator in an airtight container.
italian pasta salad with meats and cheese and olive oil dressing
Did you make my Italian Pasta Salad?I'd love to see! Share on Instagram, tag @asouthernsoul, and use the hashtag #asouthernsoul!
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italian pasta salad with olive oil dressing with ham, salami, olives, cheese, artichokes and onions.

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    Recipe Rating




  1. George Moy

    June 11, 2023 at 5:51 pm

    The Italian said looks good, but I wonder, if you don’t have any regular noodles,penne,ziti or macaroni (as shown in photo)can you substitute spaghetti,instead?Also do you have any recipes for a spaghetti salad?

    Reply
    • Donya Mullins

      June 17, 2023 at 2:23 pm

      I have all kinds of pasta recipes including spaghetti salad. Just go to the homepage and type in pasta in the search bar. Thanks for the great rating!
      ~Donya

      Reply
  2. Alannia Felix

    February 15, 2021 at 5:47 pm

    This was delicious!

    Reply
  3. Karen

    March 11, 2018 at 11:57 pm

    I make this with a dijon vinaigrette and call it muffaletta salad. Delicious. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Mariah

      August 23, 2020 at 9:11 pm

      I was looking for a nice dressing for pasta salad, I didn’t want to use just some random italian. And this was a really delicious dressing. Perfect for a pasta salad. I didn’t have any rice wine vinegar on hand, so I just used white vinegar and it still tuned out perfectly!

      Reply

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