Greek Pasta Salad Recipe – Rachel Cooks®

You may at all times depend on Greek meals to ship within the fresh-ingredient-and-big-bold-flavor division.

This Greek pasta salad with feta is a spin off from my Greek chopped salad, one other favourite of mine. The dressing is an easy French dressing that’s good on nearly any kind of salad. It’s very easy—purple wine vinegar, olive oil, and many oregano. Canned garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas) contribute protein and a chewy textural aspect, however you may be happy to change issues up as you see match. I share some concepts later!

About This Greek Pasta Salad

A lot taste. With olives, tomatoes, feta cheese, and a zippy French dressing, this salad is bursting with taste. It’s the proper stability of salty and tangy.

A lightweight and recent pasta salad. This isn’t a pasta salad that’s weighed down with gobs and gobs of mayo. As a substitute, a lightweight French dressing brings the whole lot collectively.

Good for picnics and yard get-togethers. One other wonderful thing about this Greek pasta salad not being mayo-based is that you just don’t have to fret fairly as a lot about it spoiling if it sits out at room temperature. That’s at all times a plus once you’re consuming al fresco!

Customizable. As talked about earlier than, you may simply change up the elements on this Greek pasta salad to your liking. Be happy to swap in various kinds of greens based mostly on what you may have readily available. This salad is hearty sufficient to serve by itself for lunch or a lightweight dinner, however you may also make it a fundamental course by including grilled Greek rooster.  

Ingredient Notes

• Rotini pasta: You possibly can use one other form should you’d like, however I believe rotini is right for this Greek pasta salad as a result of it has loads of nooks and crannies to catch the dressing.
• Purple onion: I at all times mellow the flavour of onions by soaking the lower onions in ice water for 10 minutes. It actually makes a distinction! You don’t need the sharp taste of onions to overpower the remainder of the salad.
• English cucumber: I just like the tender-skinned cucumbers for salad since you don’t should peel them. As well as, the pores and skin has plenty of additional vitamins. You should use a backyard cucumber as an alternative, however you’ll must halve it lengthwise and scoop out the pulpy seeds to maintain your salad from getting soggy.
• Grape tomatoes: For salads like this one, I choose grape or cherry tomatoes fairly than diced tomatoes as a result of they don’t launch as a lot liquid. Nonetheless, when you have garden-ripe tomatoes, be happy to make use of them as an alternative.
• Feta cheese: Though this isn’t a creamy Greek pasta salad per se, the feta will break down within the dressing a bit, including plenty of richness.
• Kalamata olives: You should use one other number of Greek olive, however I take advantage of kalamata as a result of I like their taste they usually’re broadly out there.
• Garbanzo beans: Rinse and drain the beans nicely. For those who’re not a fan, white beans are substitute. They’re slightly bit softer, although, and gained’t maintain their form as nicely.
• Dressing: An excellent extra-virgin olive oil, purple wine vinegar, and a seasoning mixture of oregano, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

How one can Make Greek Pasta Salad

Prepare dinner the pasta. Observe the directions on the bundle and make sure to salt the water nicely. This seasons the pasta from the within because it absorbs the water. Drain and rinse with chilly water, and drain once more. Rinsing the pasta with chilly water stops it from cooking extra, cools it down for the salad, and removes the surplus starch.

Assemble the salad. Mix the cooked pasta, onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, feta, olives, and garbanzo beans in a big bowl that provides you ample room for tossing.

Make the dressing. Whisk collectively the vinegar, olive oil, and seasonings till the combination is emulsified. Placing the whole lot in a jar, closing it, and shaking could make this simpler. For those who occur to have oregano rising in your backyard, you may substitute it for the dry oregano. Use extra as a result of dry herbs are stronger than recent.

End. Add the dressing to the salad and toss to coat. Examine the seasoning of the salad earlier than you serve it; add extra salt and pepper if wanted. Serve the Greek pasta salad straight away or refrigerate for as much as a day earlier than serving.

Ideas and Variations

• Take a shortcut. You should use store-bought Greek dressing as an alternative of constructing it should you’d like. I like to recommend dressing the salad and tasting it earlier than deciding so as to add salt and pepper as a result of business salad dressing could be pretty salty.
• Add extra protein. Further chickpeas or beans, or Instantaneous Pot shredded rooster, will take this Greek pasta salad from facet dish to meal. Cooked shrimp goes nicely, too (or attempt my Greek orzo salad with shrimp).
• Make it forward of time. This Greek pasta salad could be made forward of time and saved within the fridge for as much as a day earlier than serving. Simply ensure that to present it toss earlier than serving. For greatest outcomes, I extremely advocate storing the salad and dressing individually, then dressing the salad simply earlier than you serve it.
• Get inventive with add-ins. Swap grilled or roasted greens for the recent greens for a distinct twist. Solar-dried tomatoes or marinated artichokes go very well on this salad. In case you have recent basil, that works—this can be a recipe the place you may have room to experiment!

Serving Concepts

• Hen: This Greek pasta salad pairs nicely with grilled rooster or steak, making it the proper facet dish for a summer season barbecue. When grilling isn’t on the agenda, air fryer rooster thighs are wonderful too.
• Kebabs: Add Mediterranean aptitude to your meal by serving this pasta salad with grilled halloumi kebabs.
• Extra salads: For those who’re making this for a yard get together, you already know you’re going to want a bunch of salads on your company to select from! Tabbouleh salad, dill potato salad, and Mediterranean inexperienced bean salad are a few of my favorites.

Refrigerate: To retailer your Greek pasta salad, hold it in an hermetic container within the fridge. It’s going to keep recent for as much as 3 days. That’s assuming it hasn’t sat out at room temperature for a number of hours; if that’s the case, the salad ought to in all probability be discarded.

Serve: While you’re able to serve the leftover salad, give it stir to redistribute the dressing. If it seems a bit dry, you may freshen it up with an additional drizzle of olive oil and a splash of purple wine vinegar earlier than serving, and even make some additional dressing.

Prepare dinner ModeForestall your display screen from going darkish

• Carry a big pot of salted water to boil. Prepare dinner pasta in line with bundle directions. Drain in a big colander, rinse with chilly water till cooled, and drain very nicely.

  1 pkg. (16 oz.) rotini pasta, raw

• In a big bowl, mix pasta, purple onion (see notice), cucumber, tomatoes, feta, olives, and garbanzo beans.

  1 cup diced purple onion, 2 cups diced English cucumber, 2 cups halved grape tomatoes, 6 ounces crumbled feta cheese, ½ cup halved kalamata olives, 1 can (16 oz.) garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

• In a small bowl, whisk collectively olive oil, vinegar, oregano, salt, pepper, and garlic powder till nicely mixed.

  ½ cup additional virgin olive oil, ¼ cup purple wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon coarse floor black pepper, ½ teaspoon garlic powder

• Pour dressing over salad and stir till the whole lot is nicely mixed. Serve instantly or refrigerate till able to serve, as much as 24 hours. Stir once more simply previous to serving. Pasta will proceed to soak up the dressing because the salad sits. Add extra dressing if desired.

• To reduce the sharp taste of purple onions, soak the lower onions in ice water for not less than 10 minutes, drain nicely and pat dry.
• For those who choose, the salad could be made with out olives, or you should use black or inexperienced olives as an alternative.
• Shortcut: Use ¾ cup of your favourite Greek dressing as an alternative of constructing your individual. Taste and diet will range relying on what kind of dressing you employ.

Serving: 1cup, Energy: 233kcal, Carbohydrates: 21g, Protein: 7g, Fats: 14g, Saturated Fats: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fats: 2g, Monounsaturated Fats: 8g, Ldl cholesterol: 13mg, Sodium: 551mg, Potassium: 196mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin A: 320IU, Vitamin C: 5mg, Calcium: 105mg, Iron: 1mg

Vitamin data is routinely calculated, so ought to solely be used as an approximation.

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