Italian Tortellini Salad

Italian Tortellini Salad has tri-color tortellini pasta, deli meats, and cheeses, plus a variety of vegetables.

The best pasta salad for summer cookouts

Add our delicious Italian Tortellini Salad to the menu at all of your summer parties and cookouts!  It’s a perfect side dish to serve alongside any grilled foods like burgers, hot dogs, steak or chicken. But it can also stand alone as a delicious and light main course.

This Italian Tortellini Salad starts with freshly-cooked tortellini pasta, plus all sorts of fresh vegetables, and deli cold cuts and cheeses. Everything is tossed in a simple homemade Italian dressing.

As the salad chills in the fridge, the flavors meld together and the pasta absorbs some of the dressing as it cools. Every bite of this easy pasta salad is loaded with flavor!

Why You'll Love Italian Tortellini Salad

• This easy and delicious salad takes less than thirty minutes to prepare – so it’s ideal for a weeknight dinner or impromptu neighborhood get-together.
• The flavors of the pasta, vegetables, deli meats, and dressing all go perfectly together.
• It’s a versatile salad recipe – swap in your favorite meats and cheeses and vegetables to suit your tastes. You can even change up the pasta if you’d like.

Reader Review

“Compliments every time I serve it. Without the meats it’s a perfect vegetarian meal. Five stars!” – Linda

Key Ingredients & Substitutions

• Tortellini – We used fresh, tri-color tortellini in our salad, but you can use any fresh tortellini that’s available at your supermarket. Dried tortellini can also be used, but the cooking time will be much longer and the texture isn’t as tender as fresh.
• Fresh Vegetables – We included broccoli florets, celery, green bell pepper, red onion, and grape tomatoes in our salad.
• Canned & Jarred Vegetables – Pitted black olives, artichoke hearts (we don’t recommend using marinated artichoke hearts in this salad), roasted red peppers, and pepperoncini were also included in the salad.
• Deli Meats – A variety of deli meats were cut into bite-sized pieces including capicola, ham, and salami.
• Cheese – We chose provolone for our salad because the sharp flavor goes so well with the other ingredients. You can swap in other cheese if you prefer.
• Fresh Basil
• Dressing – We mixed up a homemade Italian dressing made from red wine vinegar, salt & pepper, dried basil and oregano, Dijon mustard, and extra virgin olive oil.

Substitutions

If you are really pressed for time, use a quality bottled Italian dressing on this tortellini salad. We’re fans of Ken’s Italian Dressing.

Special Tools You'll Need

• Cutting Board and Sharp Knife
• Medium Bowl
• Whisk
• Various Measuring Cups & Spoons
• Medium Sauce Pan
• Spider Strainer
• Paper Towels
• Large Salad Bowl
• Salad Tongs

How do I make Italian Tortellini Salad?

1. Whisk together the homemade dressing. Set aside.
2. Blanch the broccoli, then cool on paper towels.
3. Cook the pasta. Drain well, then add to a large salad bowl.
4. Add broccoli and other vegetables, meats, and cheeses.
5. Toss the salad with the dressing.
6. Chill the salad before serving.
7. Garnish with fresh basil.

Cooking Tips & Tricks

Ideally, you’ll want to combine the ingredients and toss in the dressing while the tortellini is still warm. This way, the pasta will absorb flavors from the dressing and other ingredients as it cools.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Can I make Italian Tortellini Pasta Salad ahead of time? Yes – you do want this salad to chill a bit before serving.
• How do I store leftovers? Store in a covered container for up to three days in the refrigerator.

Our Italian Tortellini Pasta recipe originally appeared on A Family Feast in May 2016. We’ve updated the post but the delicious recipe remains the same.

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You might like these other Italian Salad recipes

• Caprese Salad
• Italian Potato Salad
• Italian Green Bean Potato Salad
• Creamy Italian Pasta Salad

Click here to explore more delicious Pasta Recipes!

See the recipes

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