Kale Caesar Pasta Salad

Name: Kale Caesar Pasta Salad
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 1 pound farfalle pasta; 1 pint small tomatoes such as grape or cherry; 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil; Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper; 1 bunch kale (, stemmed and chopped); 1 16 ounce bottle Creamy Caesar Dressing; 4 ounces Parmesan cheese (, grated)

by Heidi Published: May 22, 2019 Updated: May 17, 2022

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This 5-ingredient pasta salad recipe has all of the flavors of traditional Caesar salad with the addition of kale and sweet roasted cherry tomatoes for an easy and healthy potluck pasta salad.

In This Post

Most often you’ll hear me professing my love of making and using homemade dressings. I make a lot of them. Why? Because they’re easy and healthy and I know exactly what’s in them.

But sometimes, I need a pasta salad recipe in a hurry, something I can throw together quick. That’s when I turn to my pantry and the impromptu creating begins.

Since nobody-never-ever says no to a quick and simple healthy-ish pasta salad, having this potluck salad recipe with store-bought dressing on hand is my golden unicorn.

How to Make Caesar Pasta Salad with Kale

This pasta salad blends two of my go-to party menu favorites into one: Caesar salad with quick-roasted tomatoes, and a classic pasta salad.

What makes this recipe even easier than either of those on their own is simple, quality ingredients I always have on hand.

Pasta Salad Ingredients

Caesar salad with pasta is one of the recipes on my entertaining short list. Because this recipe has just 5 ingredients, quality is key.

Pasta noodles give this salad girth and take it from a side dish to a main meal if you like. For this kale Caesar salad, I chose my favorite bowtie noodles for the salad. Use any short shape of pasta for the dressing to cling through and enjoy with each forkful.

Kale is a stand-out addition to this pasta salad because it doesn’t limp out like other greens might when dressed and paired with the pasta. Use any type of kale you like, with bagged varieties saving even more time in the kitchen.

Roasted tomatoes in the oven make these little jewels even sweeter. What I love most about roasted tomatoes is how jammy and sweet the red orbs become after a stint in the oven.

In this recipe I speed things up and roast smaller cherry tomatoes quickly for a pop with sweetness and are the #1 reason I’ll eat a tomato that isn’t yet in season. Just 15 minutes in a 400°F oven does the trick.

A quality Parmesan cheese is essential. Don’t wimp out and use the pre-shredded version because flavor is what counts for the best bite of salty nuttiness.

I usually make my own salad dressings. I’m a bit of a master at simple herb infused vinaigrettes and make a mean blue cheese dressing. But when I’m in a time crunch, it’s time to pull out a bottle of store bought dressing from the pantry makes to make a life a little easier.

Store-bought Caesar salad dressing makes this pasta salad quick to make and evades the time-you-don’t-have-task of coddling eggs and dealing with anchovies. Use creamy or the classic vinaigrette version.

The pasta salad should be refrigerated for the flavors to mix and mingle and will keep for at least two days and can be refreshed with fresh kale leaves.

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If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram or Twitter with #foodiecrusheats.

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