Summer Pesto Pasta Salad
Summer Pesto Pasta Salad Recipe
Summer Pesto Pasta Salad - only 5 ingredients! The perfect side dish for all your cookouts and potlucks! Rigatoni pasta, pesto, frozen peas, feta cheese, and pecans. Can make ahead of time and refrigerate until ready to serve. Add grilled chicken or shrimp to make this a main dish!
Easy Pesto Pasta Salad with Peas & Feta
This Summer Pesto Pasta Salad is a staple in our house this time of year. It is super easy to make and goes great with just about anything. Perfect for all your summer cookouts! You can make this easy pesto pasta salad in advance and refrigerate it until you are ready to serve. This Summer Pesto Pasta Salad is my go-to potluck recipe this year. SO good!
How to Make Summer Pesto Pasta Salad
This Summer Pesto Pasta Salad is incredibly easy to make with only 5 simple ingredients. Boil the pasta and toss it with pesto, frozen peas, pecans, and feta cheese. Refrigerate the pasta salad for a couple of hours before serving. The hardest part of the whole recipe is boiling the pasta!
I used jarred pesto sauce in this Summer Pesto Pasta Salad. Feel free to make your own pesto. I always have an overabundance of fresh basil in our herb garden. It is perfect for making fresh pesto. To make pesto, place 2 cups of fresh basil, 2 Tbsp pine nuts, 2 garlic cloves in a food processor. Pulse the mixture a few times and then start drizzling 1/2 cup of olive into the food processor. Process until the mixture is smooth. Stir in 1/2 cup of grated parmesan and refrigerate or freeze.
I love feta cheese in pasta salads. If you aren't a fan of feta, feel free to swap it for goat cheese. I used rigatoni pasta, but any pasta shape will work fine. You can also swap the pecans for walnuts, pine nuts, or sunflower seeds.
What Can I Add to Summer Pesto Pasta Salad?
OMG! You can add SO many things to this pesto pasta salad! Sometimes I will add sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, grape tomatoes, bacon, or asparagus. You could even add some grilled chicken or shrimp and turn this into a yummy main dish.
What to Serve with Summer Pesto Pasta Salad
This Summer Pesto Pasta Salad is great for all your cookouts and potlucks. It really goes with just about anything - grilled chicken, burgers, steaks, pork chops, pork tenderloin. Here are a few of our favorite recipes to serve with this yummy Summer Pesto Pasta Salad:- Steakhouse Pork Chops
- The Best Grilled Chicken
- Ginger Ale Pork Tenderloin
- Cola Burgers
- Jack's Ultimate Steak Marinade
quick, easy, simple, make-ahead
Side Dish
American
Yield: serves 8 to 10
Summer Pesto Pasta Salad Recipe
prep time: 10 minscook time: 10 minstotal time: 20 mins
Summer Pesto Pasta Salad - only 5 ingredients! The perfect side dish for all your cookouts and potlucks! Rigatoni pasta, pesto, frozen peas, feta cheese, and pecans. Can make ahead of time and refrigerate until ready to serve. Add grilled chicken or shrimp to make this a main dish! #pesto #pastasalad #sidedish #pasta
ingredients:
- 1 (16-oz) box rigatoni pasta
- 3/4 cup prepared basil pesto
- 1cup frozen peas
- 1 cup crumbled feta
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
instructions:
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.
- Mix together cooked pasta, pesto, frozen peas, feta, and chopped pecans.
- Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.
NOTES:
Can use any pasta shape you prefer - bowtie, elbow, orecchiette.
Can add sun-dried tomatoes, asparagus, grape tomatoes, bacon or artichoke hearts.
Add grilled chicken or shrimp to make this a main dish.
All images and text ©Plain Chicken, Inc.
MORE SIDE DISH RECIPES:
Buttermilk Pasta Salad
Grilled Fruit Pizza
Macaroni Coleslaw
Greek Pasta Salad
Grilled Pasta Salad
RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS:
Stainless Mixing Bowls
Salad Bowl
Flexible Measuring Cups
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