Caprese Pasta Salad Recipe – Love and Lemons

This Caprese pasta salad recipe is ideal for summer season picnics! It is tremendous shiny and recent, full of tomatoes, basil, and a lightweight balsamic dressing.

This Caprese pasta salad recipe is virtually summer season in a bowl! As you may most likely inform from its identify, it’s a scrumptious fusion of two summer season favorites: pasta salad and Italian Caprese salad.

If you happen to ask me, it’s a match made in heaven. A basic Caprese salad is bursting with recent summer season taste, because of the well-known mixture of creamy mozzarella, juicy tomatoes, and fragrant basil. Nevertheless it isn’t as packable as pasta salad, a staple at picnics and potlucks.

This straightforward Caprese pasta salad recipe combines one of the best of each. You get all of the recent taste of a Caprese salad in a picnic-friendly pasta salad type. And it’s not simply good for picnics and cookouts—I additionally love meal prepping this salad for a recent summer season lunch!

Methods to Make Caprese Pasta Salad

Yow will discover the whole Caprese pasta salad recipe with measurements on the backside of this submit. For now, right here’s a fast overview of the way it goes:

Caprese Pasta Salad Substances

• Unsurprisingly, this Caprese pasta salad begins with tomatoes, basil, and recent mozzarella—the star substances in a basic Caprese salad. Cherry or grape tomatoes are finest on this salad—they maintain their form and have a scrumptious super-sweet taste. They go effectively with “ciliegine,” or cherry-size, mozzarella balls.
• I additionally use pink onion and pecorino cheese within the salad. They add good savory depth.
• I spherical it out with pasta (in fact!). I believe screw-shaped cavatappi are actually enjoyable right here, however one other brief pasta like fusilli or rotini would work effectively too.
• A easy dressing ties all of it all collectively. Made with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and lemon juice, it provides shiny, tangy taste to the salad.

Discover the whole recipe with measurements beneath.

To make the salad, begin by cooking the pasta. Two large ideas right here:

1. Cook dinner the pasta till it’s barely previous al dente. I’ll at all times inform you to cook dinner your pasta simply till al dente if you’re making a sizzling pasta dish. However for a chilly pasta salad, it’s higher for the pasta to be just a little softer. That manner, it would keep tender as soon as it cools. (Al dente pasta would harden!)
2. After cooking, permit the pasta to chill. If you happen to toss the recent pasta with the opposite salad substances straight away, the recent basil and onion will wilt.

Whereas the pasta cools, make the salad dressing. Whisk collectively the olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic, grated pecorino, garlic, salt, and pepper in a big bowl.

Subsequent, assemble the salad. Add the cooled pasta and toss to coat within the dressing, then add the cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, pink onion, and basil and toss once more. High with shaved pecorino and gently toss.

Earlier than serving, season to style and garnish with extra basil.

Take pleasure in!

What to Serve with Caprese Pasta Salad

This Caprese pasta salad is a superb aspect dish for summer season cookouts and picnics. Serve it with veggie burgers or black bean burgers and different summery sides like grilled corn, potato salad, and coleslaw.

I additionally adore it for lunch. It pairs completely with a aspect of recent fruit!

• Tip: Make this a heartier lunch salad by including chickpeas for plant-based protein.

Extra Pasta Salad Recipes to Strive

If you happen to love this recipe, strive one in every of these recent pasta salads subsequent:

Caprese Pasta Salad

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook dinner Time: 15 minutes minutes

Complete Time: 30 minutes minutes

Serves 6

This Caprese pasta salad recipe is simple, recent, and scrumptious! An ideal summer season aspect dish, it is full of cherry tomatoes, basil, creamy mozzarella, and a lightweight balsamic French dressing. Discover make-ahead ideas within the weblog submit above!

Cook dinner ModeStop your display from going darkish

• Convey a big pot of salted water to a boil. Put together the pasta in line with the bundle directions, cooking till barely previous al dente. Drain, toss with a drizzle of olive oil to forestall sticking, and unfold on a big plate or baking sheet to chill.

• In a big bowl, whisk collectively the olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, grated pecorino, garlic, salt, and several other grinds of pepper. Add the cooled pasta and toss to coat, then add the cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, pink onion, and basil and toss once more. Add the shaved pecorino and gently toss.

• Season to style, garnish with extra basil, and serve.