Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Hacks & How-to's
  3. Evergreens

Class up your backyard barbecue with this one simple addition

By
Add as a preferred source on Google

When you’re looking to spruce up your lunch, wake up your ho-hum side salads, or have the most popular recipe at the next neighborhood barbecue, you may want to consider a Mediterranean pasta salad. Inspired by the Mediterranean diet and packed with fresh produce, satisfying pasta, crumbled feta cheese, and delicious homemade dressing, these nutritious, tasty salads eat more like a meal than a starter.

With briny olives, creamy crumbles of feta cheese, and the juicy goodness of vine-ripe tomatoes, these mouthwatering salads provide a refreshing new way to eat pasta on a warm summer day. Forget boring potato salad or mayo-loaded macaroni salads—Mediterranean pasta salad is the light, delicious addition that will elevate any outdoor get-together.

What goes in a Mediterranean pasta salad?

You can get creative and use the fresh produce and ingredients that you have on hand. For authentic Mediterranean flair for your pasta salad, be sure to include something salty, some crunchy veggies, and the sweet juiciness of ripe tomatoes.

Related

Here’s a basic list of ingredients to consider for your Mediterranean pasta salad:

  • Pasta: Rotini pasta is the best choice for pasta salads. It has a compact corkscrew shape that’s ideal for holding salad dressing. If you don’t have any rotini in your pantry, you can use shells, penne, elbows, bowties, or even tortellini. 
  • Veggies: It’s best to use vegetables that are fresh from the garden and bursting with summer flavor. Pile your salad high with crisp cucumbers, juicy red tomatoes, and thinly sliced red onions.
  • Olives: Green or black, it makes no difference, because olives have a briny, salty goodness that brings out the flavor of your fresh veggies. For salads, always be sure to get pitted olives.
  • Cheese: Whether mozzarella or feta, cheese adds a creamy texture to your salad without mayo or creamy dressing.
  • Fresh herbs: Adding parsley, basil, cilantro, and other fresh herbs helps to wake up the flavor of all of the other ingredients.
  • Arugula: The slightly peppery taste of arugula adds flavor dimension to any salad.
  • Salami: Cubed salami really adds an extra something to salads. If you’re taking your salad to a party or barbecue, you may want to put the salami cubes in a separate container for people to add—or not—based on their dietary preferences.

Pasta salads can be made in advance, which is a bonus on super hot days, since you can boil the pasta in the cooler mornings or the night before. For best results, cook your pasta until just al dente, particularly if it will be sitting in the fridge for a while after you put on the dressing. After you drain your pasta, run it under cold water to cool it down quickly (particularly if you will be serving it soon). 

In the meantime, whisk your salad dressing in the same bowl you plan to toss and serve your pasta salad. Your dressing can be a bottled vinaigrette, but making a fresh dressing gives your salad so much more flavor. We love this lemon-dijon dressing because it’s so tasty and yet so easy to make—just whisk the ingredients together and then add the salad and pasta and toss. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence or dried Italian seasoning
  • ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • ¾ teaspoon sea salt

Mediterranean pasta salad FAQs

What is Mediterranean pasta made of?

Classic Mediterranean pasta is made from unleavened dough of a durum or semolina wheat flour mixed with water or egg. You can also find whole-grain and chickpea pastas as part of a typical Mediterranean diet.

How long can you store Mediterranean salad after it’s made?

In an airtight container, pasta salad should stay fresh for four to five days. Keep a separate container of dressing in the fridge to add to the salad in case it dries out in the fridge.

Are Mediterranean pasta salads better than mayo-based pasta salads?

Having mayo-based salads at a hot summer party can be risky at best. Bowls of potato salad, pasta salad, and coleslaw sitting in the sun for an hour or two could lead to bacteria growth and some very unhappy barbecue guests. On top of food safety concerns, mayo-based salads are higher in fat and calories than the Mediterranean-style pasta salads.

What is a Mediterranean chopped salad?

Mediterranean salads are colorful salads featuring chopped veggies such as romaine lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, chickpeas, and Kalamata olives, along with some crumbled feta cheese. For a low-carb option, skip the pasta and just top the salad with a classic red wine vinaigrette, then enjoy!

With summer here, we’ll definitely be eating more salads. Adding a few Mediterranean pasta salads to your summer menu will have the whole family eating their veggies and asking for seconds! 

Topics

Editors’ Recommendations

The Easiest Way to Set the Table
Cutlery, Fork, Spoon

Have you ever wondered why the fork sits on the left and the knife on the right? Or why Europeans eat “Continental style,” holding the fork in their left hand and the knife in their right, while Americans cut, switch hands, and then eat? It turns out there’s a reason for all of it, and once you understand the history, setting the table suddenly feels far less mysterious. Before beautifully layered place settings and Pinterest-worthy tablescapes, dining was far more practical. Medieval feasts were less about etiquette and more about survival. Plates were often shared, forks were nonexistent, and eating with your hands was the normal standard. Tables were filled with trenchers (pieces of bread used as plates), and the idea of “proper placement” simply didn’t exist.

By the mid-to-late 1800s (around 1860–1870), European dining evolved again as meals began to be served in courses. This shift introduced what became known as the Russian style of dining, where utensils were laid out intentionally and used from the outside in. The fork stayed in the left hand, the knife in the right, and the table itself began to reflect structure, rhythm, and order. This approach eventually became the “Continental style” still used across much of Europe today.

Read more
5 tips to de-clutter your kitchen for the holidays
kitchen holiday

'Tis the season for holiday gatherings, which means your kitchen needs to be organized to avoid unnecessary stress. Here are some handy tips to follow.

1. Refresh your fridge and freezer

Read more
Color Drenching: The bold hue movement that is sticking around in 2026
Green living room walls with velvet green sofas

What is color drenching?Color drenching is an interior design trend where a single color is used on every surface in a room. This includes walls, trim, doors, and even the ceiling, creating a cohesive and immersive atmosphere. The technique can make a small room feel larger or a spacious room feel cozier, and it often extends to furniture, radiators, and cabinetry for a bold, unified effect.

While the term color drenching is relatively new, the concept has deep roots in design history. The look can be traced to historic European interiors where monochromatic schemes added depth and luxury. Even in the Victorian era, richly saturated jewel tones were often used in grand spaces such as libraries and parlors. It reappeared during the 1960's and 1970's as well. Designers have long understood that a single, enveloping hue can create a striking sense of mood and continuity.

Read more