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Making this cold Spaghetti Salad has been one of my favorite recipes to make. It is so simple, packed with good-for-you ingredients, and so flavorful. Easy to make and ready in just 30 minutes.
Love Salads? You will love my caprese pasta salad, lentil salad, wedge salad, and my Italian Pasta Salad.
This dish is one of my favorites 😍 I could eat it every day! I love salads and I love pasta/spaghetti so I wanted to combine them both! I love Olives in salads too so that means this spaghetti salad is over-the-top good. You can add some grilled chicken to it like this Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken for some added protein and serve it as a main dish.
Serve this salad as a side dish with protein like this Cilantro Lime Grilled Salmon or this Balsamic Chicken Breast.
Ingredients you will need
- Pasta: I used whole wheat spaghetti pasta
- Red onion, finely diced
- Vine tomatoes, diced
- English cucumber, chopped
- Yellow bell pepper, finely diced
- Sliced green or black olives
- Chopped fresh parsley
- Grated Parmesan cheese
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Garlic clove, peeled
- White wine vinegar
- Dijon mustard
- Kosher salt and ground pepper
See a full list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card below!
Substitutions
- Pasta: Use any pasta of your choice. The choices out there are endless these days.
- Veggies: Add any veggies of your choice. It doesn’t have to be the exact same ones I used even though mine came out pretty tasty! 😋
- Oil: Extra-virgin olive oil is always my go-to for salads, but you can also use avocado oil.
- Tomato: Stick to cherry or grape tomatoes. Vine-ripe will taste great too.
How to make Spaghetti Salad
Step 1: Cook the spaghetti in salted water according to the timing from the box. Run
under cold water, drain well and set aside in a large bowl. Chop all the veggies and set aside.
Step 2: Add the dressing ingredients to a small blender and process until
smooth.
Step 3: Pour the dressing over the spaghetti and toss to combine.
Step 4: Add all the chopped veggies over the spaghetti in a bowl. Toss to combine and serve!
My Pro Tip
Recipe Tip
- Do not over cook the pasta. Try to cook it just al dente.
- Rinse out the pasta to cool it off and remove all the excess starch so pasta doesn’t stick to each other.
- Allow the salad to cool before serving. It is supposed to be served cold.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. I highly recommend you rinse your pasta for pasta salad. This not only helps cool it off but it will remove that starchy pasta liquid to prevent the pasta from sticking to each other.
Most pasta salads are meant to be served cold and not warm. At least they should be cooled down to be at room temperature.
You can drain the pasta in a colander and run it under cold water for a few minutes or add the pasta to a bowl of cold water bath and let it sit for a few minutes or until the pasts is cool.
More Pasta Salad Recipes
- Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad
- Greek Chicken Pasta Salad
- Crab Pasta Salad
- Chicken Pasta Salad
- Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad
If you try a recipe and you like it, leave me some feedback in the comment section below, and don’t forget to rate it! I would love it if you shared it with friends and family.
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Cold Spaghetti Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound whole wheat spaghetti pasta
- 1 red onion, finely diced
- 1 pound vine tomatoes, diced
- 1 English cucumber, chopped
- 1 large yellow bell pepper, finely diced
- 1 cup sliced green or black olives
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Dressing:
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, peeled
- 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
Instructions
- Cook the spaghetti in salted water according to the timing from the box. Run under cold water, drain well, and set aside in a large bowl.
- While the pasta cooks, Add the dressing ingredients to a small blender and process until smooth. Toss the pasta with the dressing.
- Prepare all the vegetables for the salad and place them to the bowl with the pasta.
- Toss to combine and serve!
Video
Notes
- Use any pasta of your choice
- You may use red or orange bell peppers instead of yellow.
- Allow the pasta to cool before making the salad.
- Store leftovers in a container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- You can add protein to this salad like grilled chicken or shrimp.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
So so so yummy