Greek Pasta Salad

This delicious cold pasta salad recipe is full of flavor from bell pepper, cucumber, lemon, and dill! Top this Greek Pasta Salad with a creamy yogurt dressing and it’s going to be your new favorite pasta salad for BBQ’s, potlucks and parties!

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In the movie As Good As It Gets Jack Nicholson said it best: “Good times, noodle salad”. The words ring true because the two really do go hand in hand, don’t they? A big bowl of pasta salad shared at a potluck, BBQ, picnic, pool party, or any other get-together involving friends, fun, and sunshine is a wonderful thing. I mean, the happiness is mixed right in.

This Greek Pasta Salad is total happiness in a bowl for your taste buds! I love the amazing flavors from bell peppers, lemon, dill and cucumbers plus that creamy yogurt dressing is the perfect finishing touch.

It’s always the first thing I dive into at any gathering, piling it high on my plate without a care that I should take only my fair share. My fair share just happens to be a lot more than conventional wisdom would advise. I just can’t help myself and so it was with that in mind that I am sharing a Greek pasta salad with you all that feeds a crowd. There’s always someone like me in the group that gets greedy with the pasta salad so this recipe makes enough for the pasta salad hoarder and everyone else.

Ingredients for Greek Pasta Salad

• Fusilli pasta – We love this type of pasta, but you can use any pasta that has nooks and crannies to trap the dressing such as rotini, cavatappi or bow ties.
• Olive Oil
• Greek yogurt
• Mayonnaise
• Lemon – Squeeze a lemon, don’t by the bottle concentrate
• Fresh Herbs – A mixture of dill, parsley and chives gives it so much flavor.
• Vegetables – We use both diced cucumber (we recommend and English cucumber) and red bell pepper
• Feta Cheese – Use a block of feta cheese packed in brine. Pre-crumbled feta cheese is often coated with cornstarch and other ingredients to prevent it from sticking together, therefore it doesn’t taste as fresh.

Steps to Prepare

• Prep all the ingredients ahead of time, but keep them separate until it’s time to serve
• Dice the veggies
• Mix the dressing
• Chill the pasta
• When it’s time to eat, mix everything together and serve

Variations

• Add more vegetables! Mix in chopped red onions, kalamata olives and tomatoes.
• Make sure you salt the pasta water because the salad is eaten cold, the flavors tend to get muted. This will help bring out flavors.
• When cooking the pasta cook a little past al dente, but don’t let it get mushy. You are serving this cold and pasta hardens as it cools, by cooking it a little longer it will stay moist.
• Grill up some chicken, add it to this pasta salad and make it a meal. Great for make ahead lunches during the summer!
• If you prefer mayonnaise, simply substitute the Greek yogurt for mayonnaise.

Expert Tips!

Almost eight years ago I learned an important tip from the Food Network:

• After boiling the pasta, drain it well, drizzle it with olive oil and spread it out on a sheet pan.
• Stick it in the refrigerator to chill.
• This keeps the dressing from breaking down once you mix it with the pasta.
• Mixing dressing with cold pasta keeps everything creamy instead of runny. Runny is not good.

Not only does this keep this cold pasta salad recipe fresh, it gives the dressing time to develop its flavor!

This pasta salad recipe has a yogurt-based dressing (along with some mayo for richness) with fresh dill, parsley, chives, and a squeeze of lemon. Crisp red bell pepper and cucumber are mixed in along with plenty of crumbled feta cheese. It’s creamy, light, and guaranteed to disappear at your next back-yard get-together.

A quick tip if you are bringing this somewhere it will sit out a long time is to substitute the mayonnaise with Greek yogurt so it will be safe to eat at room temperature for a longer period of time!

Bringing this to a summer party? Create and ice bath to keep it cold and safe. Simply put water and ice in a large bowl and then set the bowl of salad on top of it.

This is the easiest cold pasta salad recipe ever with such amazing flavor! If you are tired of the same old boring pasta salad make sure to whip up this next.

If you love this salad, you’ll definitely want to try this Greek Salad Recipe!

Make it a Meal!

• You can’t beat pairing this with grilled chicken especially using out BBQ Chicken Marinade.
• Finger lickin’ good Honey Garlic Drumsticks are a family favorite.
• Grab your griddle and make delicious steaks on it!

WATCH THE STEP BY STEP VIDEO BELOW:

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Don’t forget, comment below and let me know how much you love this meal!

Post a picture on Instagram and be sure to tag me so I can see it too! I’m loving all of your delicious foodie pics! You can find me at @julieseatsandtreats or just #julieseatsandtreats -if you hashtag me, I’ll get to see it that way too!

Did you make this? If you snap a photo, please be sure tag me on Instagram at @julieseatsandtreats or #julieseatsandtreats so I can see your yummy treat!

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5 from 16 votes

Greek Pasta Salad

This delicious cold pasta salad recipe is full of flavor from bell pepper, cucumber, lemon, and dill! Top this cold pasta salad with a creamy Greek yogurt dressing.

Prep:15 minutes mins

Cook:10 minutes mins

Total:25 minutes mins

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Ingredients

• ▢ 1 pound fusilli pasta
• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 1 cup Greek yogurt
• ▢ 1/4 cup mayonnaise see note
• ▢ Juice from 1/2 a lemon
• ▢ 1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
• ▢ 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• ▢ 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 large cucumber diced
• ▢ 1 large red bell pepper diced
• ▢ 1 cup crumbled feta cheese

Instructions

• Bring a pot of water to a boil. Boil the pasta according to package directions. Drain it well, toss it with the olive oil, and spread it in an even layer on a baking sheet. Chill the pasta in the refrigerator for at least 20-30 minutes.
• Mix the yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, dill, parsley, chives and salt in a medium bowl. Cover and place in the refrigerator to all the flavors to develop.
• When ready to serve, mix the pasta, dressing, cucumber, bell pepper, and feta cheese together in a large bowl. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve.

Tips

• If the salad will be held at room temperature or outside for a long time substitute the mayonnaise with the same amount of Greek yogurt.
• Bringing this to a summer party? Create and ice bath to keep it cold and safe. Simply put water and ice in a large bowl and then set the bowl of salad on top of it. 

Variations

• Add more vegetables! Mix in chopped red onions, kalamata olives and tomatoes. 
• Make sure you salt the pasta water because the salad is eaten cold, the flavors tend to get muted. This will help bring out flavors. 
• When cooking the pasta cook a little past al dente, but don't let it get mushy. You are serving this cold and pasta hardens as it cools, by cooking it a little longer it will stay moist.
• Grill up some chicken, add it to this pasta salad and make it a meal. Great for make ahead lunches during the summer!
• If you prefer mayonnaise, simply substitute the Greek yogurt for mayonnaise

Expert Tips!

• After boiling the pasta, drain it well, drizzle it with olive oil and spread it out on a sheet pan.
• Stick it in the refrigerator to chill.
• This keeps the dressing from breaking down once you mix it with the pasta.
• Mixing dressing with cold pasta keeps everything creamy instead of runny. Runny is not good.

Video

Nutrition Information

Calories: 277kcal (14%), Carbohydrates: 36g (12%), Protein: 10g (20%), Fat: 9g (14%), Saturated Fat: 3g (19%), Cholesterol: 16mg (5%), Sodium: 446mg (19%), Potassium: 204mg (6%), Fiber: 1g (4%), Sugar: 3g (3%), Vitamin A: 505IU (10%), Vitamin C: 16.8mg (20%), Calcium: 110mg (11%), Iron: 0.8mg (4%)

© Julie's Eats & Treats ®

We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information. The information in the nutrition box is calculated through a program and there is room for error. If you need an accurate count, I recommend running the ingredients through your favorite nutrition calculator.