One of our favorite ways to use up a lot of fresh produce quickly is to chop it up and toss it with some pasta and a favorite salad dressing and the possibilities are kind of endless. This particular pasta salad, though, is one of my all-time favorites. You can use whatever kind of pasta you like, and it’s mixed with some cool crunchy veggies and tangy salty bites and all tossed together with a fantastic homemade Greek salad dressing. This Greek Pasta Salad makes a great pot-luck or party dish, but is also a nice option for family dinner, or make-ahead lunches during the week.
Ingredients Needed for the Dressing and Marinade
You’ll need to start with this incredible Greek Salad Dressing! To really amp up the flavors in this salad, you can choose to marinate your chicken in some of it before grilling, or, reserve it all as the dressing for the salad. Either way, this dressing will quickly become a new favorite that you’ll be coming back to time and time again!
Here are the ingredients you’ll need for the dressing/marinade:
- Freshly squeezed lemon juice
- White vinegar
- Granulated sugar
- Kosher salt
- Seasoning salt
- Red pepper flakes
- Black pepper
- Fresh garlic
- Oil – Any neutral oil will do. If using as a marinade I wouldn’t use a nice, expensive oil. Save that for use on salads!
- Feta cheese
- Greek or Italian seasoning
- Oregano
Ingredients Needed for the Salad
Creativity is welcome, and you can pick and choose ingredients based on your personal preference, but in addition to the obvious pasta, here are some of our favorite ingredients to add to this salad:
- Cucumber
- Bell Pepper
- Red Onion
- Cherry or Grape Tomatoes
- Olives
- Pepperoncini
- Chopped salami
- Grilled chicken (marinated in Greek dressing)
- Feta cheese
How to Make Greek Pasta Salad
- Make the dressing as outlined in the recipe. We recommend setting some dressing aside, especially if you are expecting leftovers; the salad tends to soak up the dressing as it sits, so adding some just before serving a day or two later is a good idea.
- If you want to add chicken to your salad, marinate the chicken in about 1/2 cup dressing for at least 4 hours, preferably longer. When done marinating, grill the chicken over medium-high heat for about 7 minutes on each side. You’ll be aiming for an internal temperature of 165 degrees. When it reaches temperature, remove from heat and cover with foil for 5-10 minutes before chopping into bite-sized pieces (or you can just serve it along side as a full meal).
- Combine everything in a large bowl, and drizzle with dressing to toss. It’s okay to eyeball your ingredients, this recipe is very flexible! I usually use about 1 cup, but add dressing to your liking. After pasta salad chills for a while to absorb all of the flavors, I find it often needs an extra drizzle, as the pasta soaks up a lot of that.
- Chill before serving. Pasta salads taste best after chilling, I recommend anywhere from 2-6 hours for best results.
Storage and Other Tips
- When stored in an airtight container, this pasta salad will stay fresh for 3-5 days. Ingredients such as cured meats can lose their color after 2 days, but will still be flavorful and fine for consumption. Since the recipe as written doesn’t contain cheese or mayonnaise, it has a longer shelf life than dairy-based pasta salads.
- Give the salad a quick toss before serving, as some of the dressing will have settled to the bottom. Add more dressing if desired; it may need more depending on how long it was chilled.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can use any type of pasta you want! Spirals and Bowties are obvious choices, and one of our favorites (featured in the photos here) is Trottole. We love the nooks and crannies that help soak up the sauce. Make sure you salt you water when you cook pasta, especially for pasta salad. You’ll want that flavor in your noodles!
Yes, in fact, you should! Pasta salads need to chill and let the flavors come together for best results. We recommend a minimum of two hours chill time for this particular salad, but longer is better.
We always recommend the other ingredients are cut to approximately the same size as your cooked pasta; it creates the best overall mouth texture and feel.
Greek Pasta Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
Dressing
- ¼ cup lemon juice freshly squeezed
- ¼ cup white vinegar
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon seasoning salt
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes this will not make the dressing spicy, just flavorful
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
- 4 cloves garlic, fresh smashed and peeled
- 1 cup oil I recommend a neutral oil
- ¾ teaspoon Greek or Italian seasoning
- ½ cup feta cheese crumbled
- ¼ teaspoon oregano, dry
Salad
- 8 ounces pasta your choice
- 1 cucumber, medium peeled, seeded, and sliced or chopped
- ½ red onion, medium sliced or minced
- 1 red bell pepper seeded and sliced or chopped
- 15 ounces kalamata olives
- 1 cup grape tomatoes rinsed
- ⅔ cup feta cheese crumbled
Optional Add-Ins
- pepperoncini
- salami chopped
- oregano or basil, fresh chopped
- romaine lettuce
- ¾ – 1 pound chicken breasts, marinated, grilled see post and/or recipe for more details
Instructions
Dressing
- In the jar of a blender, combine the lemon juice, vinegar, salt seasoning salt, sugar, pepper, red pepper, and garlic. Blend until smooth.
- While the blender is running, add the oil in a steady stream. Turn off the blender and add the feta and pulse the blender a few times (more if you want a creamier consistency).
- Whisk in the herbs. If possible, refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. Use as a marinade for chicken, lamb, or flank steak or drizzle over a Greek salad. Store finished dressing in an airtight container in the refrigerator and enjoy within 3-4 days for best results. Just give it a good shake before using.
Salad
- To add chicken: if you want to add chicken to your salad, marinate the chicken in about ½ cup dressing for at least 4 hours, preferably longer. When done marinating, grill the chicken over medium-high heat for 7 minutes on each side. Allow to stand 5-10 minutes before chopping into bite-sized pieces.
- To make the salad: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. When boiling, add the pasta and cook al dente. Drain, rinse with cool water, and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the cucumber, onion, bell pepper, olives, tomatoes, and feta cheese and any other ingredients you're including. Add the chicken if using, and toss to combine. Add the cooked pasta and about 1 cup of the Greek salad dressing and toss to distribute evenly, add more dressing if needed.
- Chill for at least 4 hours before serving.
Questions & Reviews
This salad is delicious, and the dressing is SOOO GOOD!! Wish I had tried it a long time ago!
yum. making this right now. never too early to get ready for lunch, right?
We tried this recipe last week and it was amazing! I’ve made 3 batches of the dressing to marinate chicken, and even turn the Greek salad into wraps. Thank you!
W.O.W.
Thank you!
😀
wow really delicious, i like it this type of pasta salad, i think it’s very healthful,i appreciate for this post.thanks for sharing
Made this tonight w/ kalamata olives but w/o chicken and I loved it! However, my husband thought it would be better as a side instead of an entree…and it was too spicy for the kids. I also used whole wheat linguine. I’m going to make this for a church picnic…and the husband can eat hamburgers. 🙂 Thanks!
Brianna, what’s funny is that when I saw the small picture, I thought initially that the feta WAS artichoke hearts! Totally adding that to mine as well! Great suggestion and delicious looking summer salad.
This is such a creative dinner idea!
YAY! I’ve been wanting a greek pasta salad recipe!
This looks amazing! I bet you could add artichoke hearts too and it would be lovely 🙂
While this salad looks wonderful, and I’d love to try it, I am commenting on something completely unrelated!
On Memorial Day I decided to bake a cherry pie using our cherries from our tree. I’ve never done that before. I used the Food Network’s cherry pie filling recipe, and on there they said, ‘use your favorite pie crust recipe’. The only pie crust recipe I have that I like is one that makes five pie crusts! I didn’t want to make five pie crusts, so where did I turn? To the ‘experts’…you guys! I made your pie crust, and I have to tell you, that it is hands down the best pie crust I’ve ever made! (and I am 57 years old!) It is so light and flaky, and well, just plain wonderful. Thank you so much for not only giving me a great go-to pie crust recipe now, but also for the way you taught how to make that pie crust.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
P.S. I think I will actually write about it on my grateful blog – making good food is something to be grateful for!
I’m so glad you loved the pie crust Sandy! And I agree, good food is definitely something to be grateful for!
Delicious! My husband would love this; he loves Greek food!
I have a very similar salad which is one of my go-to summer salads. Mine calls for sun dried tomatoes instead of red bell pepper. Mine also has garlic (a must!), but I noticed your dressing has garlic in it. This salad is always a hit at summer get-togethers, and I invariably get asked for the recipe. I think the addition of kalamata olives would only add to the deliciousness!
http://www.fransfavs.com/2011/09/orzo-pasta-salad-with-sun-dried-tomatoes-and-feta/
Yum – except I am def going for the kalamata olives!!!!
This is my kind of salad! YUM!
I love a good pasta salad! Yum!
I once made a big bowl of really good macaroni salad for a family dinner. My hubby took a big heaping spoonful because he typically loves my cooking. But then when he took a bite he about started gagging and couldn’t eat the rest of it. Apparently cold pasta salads don’t suite him. It was a sad day when I figured that out! I now don’t make them as often and I miss them.
I cooked this last week. Delicious!
This would also be really good with tuna. (Tuna steaks marinated in dressing, cooked, and flaked. Or good quality canned white tuna.)