This tortellini simple pasta salad with a homemade Italian vinaigrette is good any season of the year. It’s so quick and simple to make!
If you like this recipe, check out my Italian Chopped Salad next!
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I like a good pasta salad any time of year. They are an obvious choice during the summer months. But it’s November now and I was craving pasta salad. It’s so easy to swap out ingredients to match the seasons. A package of tortellini is a blank canvas. But the cheese tortellini filling makes it more interesting than regular pasta. With my delicious red wine vinaigrette you have the basics to let your imagination run wild with this recipe.
More simple pasta salad recipes
Ingredients and helpful tips
- Tortellini – I prefer cheese tortellini pasta. That way you don’t have to add much extra cheese to your pasta salad ingredients.
- Giardiniera – A jar of pickled Italian vegetables provides a punch flavor and makes for a colorful pasta salad. In the summer months, feel free to swap it out for cherry tomatoes. Or roasted red peppers.
- White Beans – I do a good job of meeting my protein intake each day. But fiber is a different story. So anytime I can add some beans to a recipe I think it’s a good idea. Cannellini beans make sense for this Italian inspired recipe.
- Italian Sausage – Slice up a couple of links of good Italian sausage. And sauté them for added color and flavor. Simply omit if you’d like this recipe to be vegetarian.
- Parmesan Cheese – Just a 1/4 cup of Parmesan is all that’s needed to add more zesty flavor.
- Homemade Italian Dressing – I used basically the same recipe as my chopped Italian salad. A combo of olive oil, red wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, honey, garlic powder, oregano, salt and pepper. Plus some chopped fresh parsley for color and freshness.
- Variations – Feel free to mix and match add-in ingredients. Some other options to add are – banana peppers, black olives, chopped english cucumbers, red onion and/or fresh basil.
Instructions for italian tortellini pasta salad
This pasta salad is ready in a flash. Boil a pot of salted cold water and cook the tortellini according to package directions. Which is usually only 3-5 minutes. Once it’s done, rinse it under cold water and drain it well.
Meanwhile, drain the giardiniera mix and chop it up. Cook the sausage until it’s nicely browned. Drain the beans. In a large bowl, toss it all together with the cooked and cooled tortellini.
In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, Worcestershire, honey, seasonings, Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley. Pour it over the pasta salad and toss to coat evenly. Store it in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
To get the free, printable recipe card keep scrolling to the bottom of this post.
Serving suggestions
You could easily turn this simple pasta salad into a weeknight dinner. Here’s some of my recipes to try –
Storage directions
Store the pasta salad in an airtight container. It will stay fresh in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. I do not recommend freezing this salad.
Kitchen tools
- Love this bowl set for both mixing and storing salads
- I recommend this Pyrex measuring cup set to everyone
- This is my favorite and inexpensive chef’s knife for chopping
Tortellini Pasta Salad
Ingredients
Pasta Salad
- 20 oz cheese tortellini
- 16 oz giardiniera mix drained
- 15 oz cannellini beans drained
- 2 links Italian sausage cooked and chopped
Italian Vinaigrette
- 1/3 c olive oil
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
- 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp parsley chopped
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
Pasta Salad
- In a large pot, bring cold salted water to a boil. Cook the cheese tortellini according to package directions.
- Drain the tortellini into a colander. Rinse it under cold water and put it into a large, clean bowl.
- Toss the cooked tortellini together with the chopped giardiniera, the cooked sausage and the drained beans.
Italian Vinaigrette
- In a smaller bowl or glass measuring cup, whisk together the dressing ingredients until smooth.
- Pour over the pasta salad and stir to coat evenly.
- Store the pasta salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Nutrition
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