This easy Tortellini Pasta Salad features tender cheese tortellini in a bright and zesty sun-dried tomato vinaigrette with all your favorite Italian mix-ins like salami, mozzarella pearls, olives, roasted tomatoes, and fresh basil. This is the perfect potluck pasta salad recipe when you don’t want a heavy mayo-based dressing!
Table of Contents
Summer Pasta Salads Don’t Get Better Than This!
When it comes to a backyard BBQ, I am all about the sides! I love a main like grilled tri-tip or a classic cheeseburger, but I’m really here to pile my plate sky high with side dishes.
Whether it’s my mom’s classic potato salad, baked beans, or an Italian pasta salad, I just can’t help myself!
That being said, I’m not always in the mood for a heavier mayo-based dressing and that’s where this Italian tortellini pasta salad recipe comes in! It’s zesty and bright thanks to the sun-dried tomato vinaigrette and is layered with crunchy veggies and fresh ingredients — truly the epitome of summer.
You’re going to love how quickly and easily this recipe comes together. You’ll be the star of any potluck or picnic!
Tools Needed
Grab These Key Ingredients
- Tortellini. You can really use your favorite store-bought tortellini here with just about any filling variation! I opted for simple cheese tortellini, but you can use whatever you like.
- Baby mozzarella. I love the little ciliegine mozzarella balls, but you can also use fresh mozzarella cut up into bite-sized pieces.
- Salami. Look for the little logs of hard salami (my favorite brand is Olli or Columbus) so that they’re easy to dice.
- Roasted red peppers. I love buying these in the jar for ease, but you can also roast and peel your own red bell peppers here.
- Castelvetrano olives. These are my absolute favorite olives because they have the best texture and flavor. You could swap in a different variety, if desired. Whatever olives you use, just make sure they’re pitted.
- Fresh basil and srugula. I love the fresh element that these add to the pasta salad, but you could omit either if you’re not a fan.
- Sun-dried tomato vinaigrette. We’re making our own dressing here with sun-dried tomatoes, dried herbs, white balsamic, olive oil, lemon zest, dijon mustard, and lemon juice. It’s so fresh and bright! You could also swap in just about any Italian vinaigrette recipe, store-bought or homemade.
How to Make Pasta Salad with Cheese Tortellini
- Cook the tortellini. Just follow the package directions here. I suggest rinsing the tortellini with cold water to prevent them from overcooking in their own carry-over heat.
- Make the vinaigrette. Whenever I’m making a vinaigrette at home, I almost exclusively use a wide-mouth pint jar and an immersion blender. I love this method because you just dump all the ingredients into the mason jar and blend them up–no streaming in the olive oil or adding the ingredients in stages. Not only that, but once you’re finished blending the dressing, it’s already housed in its storage container. This works for just about any vinaigrette you can think of!
- Assemble the tortellini pasta salad. Add everything to a big bowl and gently toss to combine (do your best not to crush any of the tortellini!).
Jenny’s Tip: Pasta salad of any kind always tastes best after it’s chilled in the fridge for an hour or two. This gives the tortellini and veggies time to soak up some of the flavorful sun-dried tomato dressing.
What to Serve with This Pasta Salad
This is truly a hearty and delicious side dish that could work as a main, but it’s so great as a summer side dish for a picnic, potluck, or BBQ. Here are some of my favorite mains to serve alongside this tortellini pasta salad:
Jenny’s Tips for Making This Recipe
Fresh tortellini delivers the best texture. You can use the dried tortellini sold on the shelf, but using fresh tortellini from the refrigerated section has the best flavor and texture, in my opinion.
Salt the pasta water. Just like you do when cooking regular pasta, you want to liberally salt the water used to boil the tortellini so that every bite of this pasta salad is well seasoned.
Dice the mix-ins into even sized pieces. You want to be able to fit as many of the ingredients onto your fork as possible so that each bite is bursting with textures and flavors.
If you do give this recipe a try, be sure to let me know! Leave a comment with a star rating below. Be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter and never miss a new recipe! You can also snap a photo & tag @JENNYGOYCOCHEA on Instagram. I LOVE hearing about & seeing your SMF creations!
More Summer Pasta Salad Recipes
- Italian Grinder Pasta Salad
- Grilled Veggie Pasta Salad
- Hawaiian-Style Mac Salad
- BLT Pasta Salad
- Creamy Pesto Pasta Salad
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Tortellini Pasta Salad
Ingredients
Tortellini Pasta Salad
- 24 oz bag cheese tortellini
- 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- 8 oz fresh mozzarella ciliegine, drained
- 2 roasted red bell peppers, diced
- 1 cup pitted castelvetrano olives, halved
- 8 oz hard salami, diced
- 2 cups baby arugula
- 20 fresh basil leaves, torn
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette
- 3 tablespoons chopped sundried tomatoes
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2/3 cup olive oil
Instructions
- Cook the tortellini. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the tortellini according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water until the pasta is cool to the touch.
- Make the vinaigrette. In a wide-mouthed pint-size mason jar, combine the dressing ingredients. Use an immersion blender to blend the ingredients until they’re very smooth and emulsified. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside. Alternatively, you can blend the ingredients in a blender or food processor.
- Assemble. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooked tortellini, red onion, roasted bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, olives, salami, and mozzarella. Toss with enough dressing to coat and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Chill before serving. Refrigerate the pasta salad for 1-2 hours, until chilled. Right before serving, toss the pasta salad with the fresh basil and arugula.
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