Pasta salads are a must at a BBQ or picnic. Don’t get stuck in a rut when it comes to them - make this vegetable packed Greek Pasta Salad that’s a real crowd pleaser, so easy to make and basically summer in a bowl. Chunky pasta, a zesty dressing and plenty of feta and olives. The leftovers are a great salad to pack and take to work too.
Pasta salad is normally the centre of any BBQ or picnic as it’s easy to make, usually pretty cheap and good to feed a crowd. No need to make a separate Greek salad and pasta salad, as you can just combine them in this delicious Greek Pasta Salad. All your favourite Greek flavours in a filling healthy pasta salad dish.
A Greek salad is one of the greatest salads there is. It’s crunchy, it’s creamy and it’s salty. It really has it all. But it’s not overly filling, which is why it’s usually a side dish. It’s pretty much just vegetables and cheese, which is why we mixed in some pasta to make it a filling meal or healthy BBQ side.
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Why should I try it?
- An amazing BBQ side dish
- Easy to adapt, so a great fridge raid meal
- Lots of different textures
- Vegetable packed
- Vegan option
- Can be made in advance
What you will need
- Pasta - This is the bulk of the dish. You can use any pasta you like, or even a mixture of a few if you have lots of little bits in your cupboard.
- Bell pepper - We used a diced green pepper, but any colour could work. Red bell peppers add a little sweetness. You could even used roasted red pepper for lots of extra flavour.
- Onion - Red onion adds a nice pop of colour. Some people find raw red onion hard to digest, so you could cook it a little first, or swap it for diced shallots.
- Cucumber - We just used a standard English cucumber.
- Tomato - An easy way to add a pop of colour. We used cherry tomatoes, but you could dice larger tomatoes if you prefer.
- Olives - It wouldn't be a Greek dish without olives, right? You can use any olives you like, but we really like kalamata. Add some extra flavour by using garlic or chilli stuffed olives.
- Feta - Feta makes everything better, right?! Feta is a must on any kind of Greek dish and it adds a lovely creamy, salty flavour to the pasta salad.
- Oil - Try to use the best quality olive oil that you can, as you really will be able to taste the difference.
- Vinegar - We used red wine vinegar in the dressing as it has such a rich flavour. You could swap it for apple cider vinegar if you prefer.
- Lemon - An easy way to really lighten up the whole dish and give it a lovely fresh flavour. Freshly squeezed is always best.
- Garlic - This really adds a punch of flavour. Fresh is always best, but you could use ready chopped garlic from a jar if you prefer.
- Herbs - We used a mixture of dried oregano and then loads of fresh dill as it really lightens up the whole dish. Dill always reminds me of Greek flavours too.
Step by step
One: Add the pasta to a pan of lightly salted boiling water and simmer for 12 minutes and the drain.
Two: Put everything, apart from the feta, in to a large bowl and mix well.
Three: Crumble the feta on top just before serving.
What pasta to use
We have used a spiral pasta because the dressing clings to it really well and it's easy for toddlers to pick up as well, so we always have some in the cupboard. You could use any pasta that you have though, and we often use Fusilli, penne or conchiglie instead.
Feel free to adapt this recipe to use what you already have, rather than buying new ingredients. It works with orzo too if you want something smaller.
Salad dressing
We always say that it's the dressing that makes a salad, but we have kept this nice and simple and used a red wine vinaigrette. It allows the main focus to be on all the delicious Greek flavours, rather than having an over-powering dressing.
We just mixed together some olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice and zest, garlic and salt and pepper and it really brings all the flavours together. It's a dressing you can make from ingredients you probably already have in your cupboard.
How to adapt
We kept this pasta salad vegetarian and you get lots of texture from the crunchy cucumber and juicy tomatoes. Not to mention the olive and cheese too. But you could always add chicken, salmon, prawns or tuna if you wanted to, or chickpeas for a vegetarian option. But this really isn't missing meat.
This salad is bursting with chunky vegetables, but there is always room for more. Other ways we have made this in the past include using chopped up roasted red peppers and artichokes. Feel free to use anything you have that needs using up.
We crumbled feta on top of this, because feta is life in Greek food. But if you are not a fan, you could add some chunks of grilled halloumi instead.
What to serve it with
This is the ultimate BBQ side dish. Easy to bulk out all the main meals and you can easily make double or triple if you have a few guests round. If you are looking for some BBQ mains to serve it with, then we have some suggestions for you:
- Greek Chicken Skewers
- Honey and Lime Chicken
- Greek Turkey Burgers
- Vegetable and Halloumi Kebabs
- Peri Peri Chicken
- Cajun Chicken Burgers
- Mexican Bean Burger
- Vegan Carrot Hot Dogs
- Pork and Apple Burgers
FAQs
As far as pasta salads go, this is a pretty healthy one. It is packed with vegetables and we have used and oil and vinegar based dressing, rather than a heavy creamy one.
This will keep in an air-tight container for around 3 - 5 days, so it's a good pasta salad to make a day or so ahead if you are having a big BBQ or to store in the fridge for your work lunches for the week. Ours never lasts that long though, as we keep eating it. You won't be able to stop yourself with this delicious pasta salad.
You can easily make a vegan version of this by either leaving out the feta or using a vegan alternative.
Extra tips
- If you are not a fan of feta, you could use chunks of cheddar or parmesan instead or even grilled halloumi.
- If you want to give this salad a bit of a protein boost, add some slices of grilled chicken or a salmon fillet on top.
- Turn this in to a creamy pasta salad by using a creamy salad dressing instead. A ranch or caesar would work well.
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Recipe
Greek Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 300 g Pasta shapes
- 1 Green pepper diced
- 0.5 Cucumber diced
- 0.5 Red onion thinly sliced
- 8 Cherry tomatoes halved
- 12 Mixed olives
- 60 g Feta crumbled
- 3 tbsp Olive oil
- 2 tbsp Red wine vinegar
- 1 Lemon (Juice and zest only)
- 1 Pinch Sea salt and black pepper
- 2 Garlic cloves crushed
- 0.5 cup Fresh dill finely chopped
- 1 tbsp Dried oregano
Instructions
- Add the pasta to a pan of lightly salted boiling water and simmer for 12 minutes and the drain.
- Put everything, apart from the feta, in to a large bowl and mix well.
- Crumble the feta on top just before serving.
Notes
- If you are not a fan of feta, you could use chunks of cheddar or parmesan instead. But it wouldn't be a Greek pasta salad then.
- If you want to give this salad a bit of a protein boost, add some slices of grilled chicken or a salmon fillet on top.
- Turn this in to a creamy pasta salad by using a creamy salad dressing instead. A ranch or caesar would work well.
Janice
I'm completely hooked on pasta salads at the moment, this looks super delicious.
Manuel Bennett
WoW! This is indeed one of the healthiest, yum pasta. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Dannii
I am glad you enjoyed it :)
Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry
This is such a tasty looking pasta salad - I could do with a bowlful right now. I've been loving salads for the past few weeks.
Fritha Quinn
oh I LOVE the look of this salad, the perfect summer meal and it looks so fresh and healthy too x
Jemma
I love Greek Salad anything and this looks so fresh and delicious. Yum!
Heidy L. McCallum
Good afternoon,
This salad looks wonderful, I love all the textures, flavors, and ingredients you have used to make your Greek Salad. Feta cheese is one of my favorites, as long as it's a good feta. When you used the mixed olives did you use pitted or? I like both, but was thinking I wanted it closer to what you have here.
Definitely a recipe I will be printing.
Edyta at Eating European
For me there's nothing better than Greek food. I love feta and olives and all the flavors. I will be making this salad for dinner very soon.
Jenni LeBaron
Yum! This pasta salad has all of my favorite things in it. I would definitely be the person at the bbq gobbling this all up myself!
Jessie
This Pasta Salad looks awesome, and just in time for a family BBQ this weekend! I love all the colors and flavors! Thank you
Emily Leary
We love pasta salads in our house and have them on a regular basis. Your Greek Salad looks so attractive and delicious!
Yaya
I'm currently on a keto diet with my husband and my mum in law, but those around me that aren't would definitely appreciate it if I made this for our next BBQ!
Nichola - Globalmouse
h yum this looks so good, I adore Greek Salad and also love pasta salads at picnics so a sombination of the two sounds heavenly!!
Jessica Formicola
This looks like the perfect pasta salad for summer! I love all of those ingredients!
Alexis
Oh, this is absolutely going on our meal plan next week. I love pasta salads and greek flavors are my favorite. Love that you've found a way to combine both.
Jamie Young
What a delicious pasta salad that would be different on the potluck table. I'm not a super big fan of olives, so I like that you kept them whole for folks like to pick them out easily. Delicious!
Morgan Eisenberg
I just made my own version of greek pasta salad with ingredients I happened to have laying around the other day. If I was to create an ideal version, yours would be it. Next time I'll have to do it this way!