Garden Veggie Tortellini Pasta Salad

This easy vegetarian Garden Veggie Tortellini Pasta Salad is tossed with a flavorful homemade dressing and is sure to vanish quickly at your next party or BBQ! Even better? You can make it in advance!

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword Veggie Tortellini Pasta Salad

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 7

Total Time 17

Servings servings

Calories 269kcal

Author Jenn Laughlin - Peas and Crayons

Ingredients

9 oz fresh cheese tortellini
9 oz fresh spinach + cheese tortellini
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1/2-1 cup corn (steamed from frozen/fresh or canned)
1 heaping cup grape/cherry tomatoes
4 oz cheddar cheese cubed
parsley and/or green onion to garnish (optional but delish!)

Easy Peasy Italian Dressing:

½ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ cup white wine vinegar
2 TBSP Italian seasoning blend (Mrs. Dash is my favorite!)
½ TBSP garlic powder plus extra to taste
½ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp black pepper

Instructions

Bring a medium-large pot to boil over high heat and cook tortellini per package instructions.
Tortellini Tip: when cooking fresh chilled tortellini, start with a rolling boil on high, add pasta, then decrease heat to medium-low simmer to prevent pasta breakage.
While your pasta cooks, whisk together your dressing by combining the ingredients and whisk (or pop it in a mason jar and shake) until well combined. Ingredients will separate naturally, simply whisk/shake again before pouring and you're good to go!
Chop your peppers and tomatoes and prep your corn. If using canned corn, simply drain and rinse. Fresh or frozen will require a quick steam and you're good to go!
Once tortellini is tender and al-dente, strain in a colander and rinse briefly with cold water. Pour into a large bowl and add your veggies, cheese, parsley.
Stir or shake dressing well and pour HALF the dressing over your salad. Cover and allow to chill. This step allows your pasta and veggies to soak up some of the delicious flavor from the dressing which almost acts as a marinade here.
Ready to eat? Drizzle a little extra dressing over the salad (both will keep in an airtight container for approx. 4 days) and give it a taste. Add extra if desired or dive right in!

Notes

Any Italian seasoning blend may be used here, you can even make your own! but keep in mind if your blend already includes salt (mine doesn't) you'll want to skip adding the salt in this recipe until you've tasted the dressing.

I used a combination of Cabot white cheddar and sharp cheddar, but feel free to use your favorite cheese for this salad! It also works great with a sprinkle of Parmesan!

If you're making this salad to serve the following day (the leftovers are amazing!) feel free e to follow my lead and reserve dressing for drizzling later.

Nutrition facts below are an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. Values calculated pre-dressing. Depending on whether you use the recipe above or your own dressing; adjust as needed.

Nutrition