My Mediterranean Pasta Salad is a light healthy recipe perfect as a side or main meal. It's also great to prepare in advance as meal prep.

Pasta salads are great to have on a picnic, BBQ lunch, or as a side dish for any main meal. My Mediterranean Pasta Salad is a healthier version without using any mayonnaise or nasty’s but not missing on any flavour!

Without any cooking at all besides cooking the pasta, it can be made in 15 minutes. All you need to do is dice the beautiful ingredients, combine it all together with your dressing and give it a good toss together and you’re done!

If you love pasta salads, then you must try my orzo salad and healthy Italian pasta salad which was inspired by my travels in Italy.

You can also add your favourite protein of choice to make it more of a main meal like beans, chickpeas, or even grilled chicken. This is a light recipe which will taste amazing with anything. It's also a great salad to make in advance and keeps for days, so can be made to take to work or pack for kids school lunches.

Table of Contents

Ingredients to Make Mediterranean Pasta Salad
Important Tips
More Pasta Salads
Recipe
Comments

Ingredients to Make Mediterranean Pasta Salad

Pasta, I've used Fusilli but any other short pasta will do the trick
Cherry tomatoes, for this salad I prefer the tomatoes to be a little ripe as they are juicier and sweeter
Kalamata olives bring a punch of saltiness to this salad
Red onion for its sweetness but you could use shallots as a substitute
Parsley brings this salad together. I use 2 decent bunches chopped finely that is used to coat the pasta in it's dressing before all the other ingredients are added in
Feta cheese is just perfect for salads and this is no exception. I like to crumble over just before serving.

Important Tips

Don’t overcook the pasta as it will become soft and mushy. You want it to keep some texture
It’s best to toss the cooked pasta into the dressing while it’s still hot so it absorbs all the flavours and dressing.
Then let the pasta cool down for 5-10 minutes before adding the remaining ingredients
I always add the feta cheese after all other ingredients have been mixed in together so its at the top before serving. That way it doesn’t all get lost and too crumbly and stuck at the bottom of the bowl

More Pasta Salads

I love seeing your creations and remakes, so be sure to tag @cookingwithayeh and share a photo on Instagram so I can share the love.

Recipe

Mediterranean Pasta Salad

4.75 from 8 votes

This Mediterranean Pasta Salad is a light healthy recipe perfect as a side or main meal. It's also great to prepare in advance as meal prep

Author: Ayeh Manfre

Course: Salad

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Servings:

Calories: 382kcal

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Total Time20

Ingredients

▢ 500 g short pasta (I’ve used Fusilli)
▢ 500 g cherry tomatoes
▢ 180 g kalamata pitted olives
▢ 1 red onion
▢ 2 bunches parsley leaves chopped finely
▢ 50 g feta cheese

Dressing

▢ 1 lemon squeezed
▢ ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
▢ Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Dice onion into small cubes and slice cherry tomatoes along with kalamata olives into halves
Boil pasta to al dente in heavily salted water (refer to instructions on packet for the timing). Note don't overcook the pasta as it will become mushy
While the pasta is cooking, pour dressing ingredients into a large bowl and whisk until combined. Remember not to add too much salt as the olives and feta are quite salty.
Add half of the chopped parsley to the dressing
Once pasta is cooked, strain and add straight to the big bowl with the dressing while its still hot. Mix well so the dressing coats all the pasta
Let stand for 5-10 minutes until it has cooled, then add all ingredients except for the feta. Mix until well combined
Crumble over the feta upon serving alongside your favourite protein or enjoy on it’s own. This salad also works great as a side dish for a barbecue or picnic salad