Classic Italian flavors make this super easy spaghetti pasta salad with pepperoni, veggies, and homemade Italian dressing a potluck favorite everyone will love.
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“I have made this recipe several times, it’s always a hit if made for my family or a larger function, there are never any leftovers! If making for a large function take a few copies of the recipe with you, because I always get asked for the recipe.” ~Debra, FoodieCrush reader
My Favorite Picky Eater-Approved Pasta Salad
I made this spaghetti salad along with this easy broccoli salad for a potluck dinner a few weeks ago. I knew there were picky eaters in the crowd, and I knew there was a very slim chance those eaters were going to be partaking of broccoli, especially in a salad.
This was my offering for them. A crowd pleaser was in the house.
This pasta salad has all the flavors of a classic Italian pasta salad, but with the crunch of cucumbers, red bell pepper, and slither of spaghetti topped with salty Parmesan cheese. This dish comes together quickly and easily and is a snap to make for even the most novice of home cooks.
Sure, there’s a bit of chopping to be done, but once you’ve wielded your way through the cucumbers, onion, red bell pepper, and halved a few tomatoes, all that’s left is shaking your groove thing. For the dressing, that is.
Enjoy! Heidi
My Tips for Spaghetti Salad Success
- Rinse the pasta. Once the spaghetti is done cooking, drain it and then rinse in cold water to rinse off the gluten that can make the pasta salad gummy.
- Make the homemade dressing in a jar. Using a jar to make salad dressing might be the easiest shortcut you’ll make this week. (You could easily double this dressing and keep it on hand for green salads throughout the week, too.)
- This spaghetti salad lasts for days! Forget making this salad for the masses and make it for yourself to eat for lunch for the week. With this ingredient list, it will hold up well for several days on end.
What You’ll Need for the Salad and Dressing
The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.
Pasta
Grab a box of thin spaghetti, if you can find it. Otherwise regular spaghetti will work, and, yes, whole wheat or gluten-free varieties may be used.
Veggies and Mix-Ins
Spaghetti pasta salad can be made with any Italian-ish veggies you have on hand. I used cucumber, bell pepper, red onion, and tomatoes, but use what you’ve got.
As for mix-ins, we love pepperoni (any kind!) and sliced black olives.
Italian Dressing
Italian dressing from scratch is best — and it’s so easy to make! My favorite homemade Italian dressing recipe has been re-shared in the recipe card below, but you’re welcome to use your favorite store-bought brand instead if you’re short on time.
The 3 Easy Steps to Making This Spaghetti Salad
- Boil the spaghetti just until al dente. And don’t forget to generously salt the pasta water! The key to good pasta is to cook it in water that has been heavily seasoned with salt. That’s where the flavor starts.
- Combine the spaghetti, veggies, and mix-ins. Keep the veggies crisp by allowing time for the pasta to cool before tossing it with the vegetables.
- Toss with the Italian dressing. If possible, let the spaghetti salad chill in the fridge for 30ish minutes before serving so the noodles have time to soak up some of the dressing. This pasta salad is best served cold!
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below, leave a comment to tell us what you think, and tag me on Instagram @foodiecrush.
Spaghetti Pasta Salad Recipe
Ingredients
Spaghetti Salad:
- 1 pound thin spaghetti
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 2 cucumbers , quartered and sliced
- 1 red bell pepper , seeded and chopped
- ½ red onion , thinly sliced
- 10 ounces cherry tomatoes , halved
- 8 ounces mini pepperoni*
- 1 4- ounce can sliced black olives , drained
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese (or pecorino romano)
Italian Dressing:
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 clove garlic , pressed or finely minced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Cook the spaghetti according to the package directions in boiling water seasoned with 2 tablespoons of kosher salt. Drain, rinse and cool.1 pound thin spaghetti, 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- Add the spaghetti to a large bowl with the cucumbers, red bell pepper, red onion, cherry tomatoes, mini pepperoni, black olives and parmesan cheese.2 cucumbers, 1 red bell pepper, ½ red onion, 10 ounces cherry tomatoes, 8 ounces mini pepperoni*, ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, 1 4- ounce can sliced black olives
- In a pint jar with a lid, add the olive oil, red wine vinegar, Italian seasoning, sugar, garlic clove, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Shake well and pour over the spaghetti mixture and toss to coat.1 cup extra virgin olive oil, ½ cup red wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning, 2 teaspoons granulated sugar, 1 clove garlic, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Add more parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Chill for 30 minutes up to overnight.
Notes
Nutrition
Easy Swaps or Additions
- Add toasted pine nuts for flavor and texture
- Replace the Italian dressing with Greek dressing for a different flavor profile
- Swap the pepperoni with chicken, shrimp, or another fave protein
- Use chopped green onion instead of red
- Roast your tomatoes instead of adding them raw
- Add marinated artichoke hearts, just because
Make It a Meal with One of These Mains
More Italian-Inspired Pasta Salads You’ll Love
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Judy Harris Betts
This is the greatest spaghetti salad I have ever had!!! This is the third time I have made it and its for July 4th tomorrow…..what makes this so great I think is the dressing….so many recipes call for bottled dressing and thats bad….so light and tasty….
Hayley
Thank you for sharing, Judy! We’re so happy you love this!
Marcy
Yum, this is really amazing!! Made it for meal prep and so glad I did.
I agree Marcy, it’s a great one to meal prep and eat thru the week. Thanks for the comment and 5-star rating.
Bobbi
Can you use glutin free pasta with this recipe?
Hayley
Yes, you definitely can!
Brenda
Great recipe, dressing is refreshing! Very tasty even after 5 days! Definitely a keeper.
Debra D Parks
I have made this recipe several times, it’s always a hit if made for my family or a larger function, there are never any leftovers! If making for a large function take a few copies of the recipe with you, because I always get ask for the recipe.
Patti
This salad looks superb. I’m defiantly going to fix this.
Claire
I meal prepped this for lunch this week and WOW it’s so good! I love that you can still taste the dressing even a few days after mixing together the pasta salad. (Also love that there’s not tons of sugar in the Italian dressing). I’ll definitely be making this again!
Gary
How many people does this recipe serve? (need to know in order to scale up or down, depending on number of people I want to make this for)
Ashley @ Foodie Crush
As a side dish this makes 4-6 servings. Thanks Gary
Sue Hucke
They call it easy, but it took me over an hour to make this, even though I had a chopper to do the red peppers and a slicer to do the onions. Of course I had to slice my olives, because I only had whole ones and then slice the tomatoes. Used grape ones because I couldn’t find cherry. It’s a little difficult getting the veggies incorporated into all that spaghetti.
Wanda
Made mine Keto with zoodles, walnut oil, coconut vinegar and monk fruit sugar, LUV it.
Antonella
You can make everything you want…but don’t call it italian recipe!
Danielle
Sounds perfect…except …sugar??? SUGAR in salad dressing?????NOPE!!! Not doing that…no way!!! OMG !! Seems like sacrilege!…Ok…deep breath…I’m OK… ;0D
Danielle Stockdale
Sounds perfect…except …sugar??? SUGAR in salad dressing?????NOPE!!! Not doing that…no way!!! OMG !! Seems like sacrilege!…Ok…deep breath…I’m OK… ;0D
JoAnne Heersink
I made this minus the pasta for my low carb diet. It was fantastic!!!
Gail W
My husband and I love this recipe!! I use gluten free spaghetti and pepperoni without additives and sodium nitrate.
markhenrich
Thanks………..
Chief papers
I am looking for a recipe for a pasta salad. It would be nice if it was diabetic friendly, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be. I also need to know about how many people it is going to feed so I can adjust it accordingly (for a party that I am going to)
David G.
I made this tonight for my wife. She must have liked it, because she had seconds and thirds. Making your own salad dressing was so much healthier than buying something and not being able to see where the ingredients came from. All fresh to include the olives and all the seasonings. Absolutely will do this again.
Ellen
Delicious! Do you know how may calories per serving on original recipe?
Linda
Recipe for vegetable pasta salad looks yummy!! Will have to try making it for my family. Would love to join your website.
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Debra
I made this salad pretty close to the original recipe but used less than half the amount of dressing. even my uber picky husband ate it :) I liked the dressing so much that I just made a second jar full. Now I have delicious home-made Italian dressing to last a while.
Linda
Do you have nutritional values for this recipe, as written? We love it, but are supposed to be dieting. I’m not sure how to count the pasta, and all the other ingredients. Thank you.
Anna Hornsby
I found this recipe very helpful .I liked the video also but it was to fast to keep up with Now I have not only the recipe but the tips also. Can’t wait to try it.I believe my family will love it to
Brooke
I also add mild peppers! Yum! Sometimes broccoli:)) whatever you prefer add to your liking.
Rebecca
I just made this salad and it tastes great already but I will wait a couple hours and I’m sure it will be even better..I added Green and Red Peppers and Marinated Artichokes.. Yummy..
Rosco
There is no excuse for canned olives. Use green olives, nicois, Greek, black cured, jarred Italian, Spanish, California, Whatever- anything other that what’s shown would be infinitely better. Everywhere in the US has real olives available – not just cities and towns.
daddy
It tasted like your mom
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jennifer
Great recipe. I was eat it some days ago very testy .
Darcy Jorgensen
I made this recipe for us this week. It turned out awesome, and we can’t stop eating it! It’s a great side to pretty much anything. Thanks!
Thanks Darcy, so glad you’re enjoying it!
Shar o
Made this salad last night absolutely fantastic. The dressing is great. Enjoyed for two days.
Linda
Hi, I wanted to let you know that I made this last night. Hubs could not get enough and proclaimed that we need to have it at least once a week in perpetuity. It was really delicious. I added celery and a small handful of blanched broccoli. Forgot the red onions, but we love them, so…next time. I had a beef summer sausage but left it out bc he’d already had it with crackers for lunch. Next time I’ll stir in some fresh spinach and maybe a little feta. Love how versatile it is according to personal tastes and that it’s a great way to get lots of veggies in. Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed this Linda and your husband too. I love your ideas for adapting the recipe, I’m always doing the same thing depending on what’s in the fridge!
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Joyce
Italian spaghetti pasta salad . I was eat it some days ago very testy .
Mandy
I made this today to take to a Labor Day cookout. I realized too late that I only had white wine vinegar but it still tastes delicious! I also used baby red and orange bell peppers and used turkey pepperoni. I can totally see this as a meal!
Thanks for the suggestions Mandy, happy to see you made it work with what you had on hand.
max
What a gorgeous, colorful,Already got print of this page.
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Hey..This looks awesome..Just one question – can pappardelle be added in stead of spaghetti??
Ellen
I’m going to use penne or shells just because I think it would be easier to handle. If it’s pasta anything works I would think!
Cleo
I’ve used tri colored rotini, shells, & elbows. They worked just fine. I’ve even used bottled Italian dressing.
Alma @ Vorrei
I’ve used a similar recipe for years. I usually mix the Italian dressing in with the cooked pasta the night before and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight before adding the vegetables.
Kate Tracton
I made this for dinner tonight as it is HOT outside. What a delicious, easy recipe. Thank you!
Christine @ WRY TOAST
my husband dave HATES olives, have you ever heard of such a thing?! pick eaters man…. lol
this looks so perfect for a quick meal or side – pinning!! xo