Greek-Inspired Pasta Salad Recipe
This Greek-inspired pasta salad fuses Italian and Greek flavors in a big bowl for everyone to enjoy. Simple to make, it mixes farfalle pasta with the typical ingredients in a Greek Salad: tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, bell pepper, Kalamata olives, and feta cheese.
The whole bowl is mixed with a dressing of olive oil, lemon, honey, mustard, garlic, oregano, parsley, and salt & pepper.
Ingredients for this Recipe
Before we start cooking, we’ll first need the following ingredients:
Pasta Salad Ingredients (minus the Salad Dressing)
- Pasta – 1 lb of farfalle/bow-tie pasta
- Tomatoes – 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
- Bell Pepper – 1 bell pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
- Cucumber – 1 English cucumber, halved and thinly sliced
- Red Onion – 1 small red onion, peeled and finely chopped
- Olives – 1 cup Kalamata olives, pitted
- Feta – 8 oz Greek feta, crumbled
- Salt (for boiling the pasta)
*To save time, you don’t have to chop/slice everything ahead of time. You can just prep the cucumber, onion, tomatoes, bell pepper, and feta while waiting for the boiled pasta to cool down in step 4.
Pasta Salad Dressing
- Olive Oil – 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Garlic -1 garlic clove, minced
- Lemon – 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- Mustard – 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- Honey – 1 tsp honey
- Oregano – 1 tsp dried oregano
- Parsley – 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
- Salt – 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- Black Pepper – 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
Easy-to-Follow Instructions
Step 1 – Make the pasta salad dressing by mixing all the dressing ingredients together with a whisk or shake it in a small jar with a lid.
Step 2 – Add the pasta to a pot of salted boiling water and cook for the time indicated on the package, plus 1 minute to make the pasta softer. When cold, pasta is a bit more chewy/tougher, so boiling it a bit longer makes it softer when served cold in pasta salads.
Step 3 – Drain the pasta after boiling it, and immediately toss it with half the dressing. Tossing it in half the dressing while it’s warm makes the pasta absorb the flavors of the dressing better. Then, set it aside to cool down.
Step 4 – While the pasta is cooling down, you can chop and prep the rest of the ingredients for the salad.
- Halve the cherry tomatoes.
- Slice the cucumber in half and scoop out the seeds (optional, it will make the pasta salad less watery). Then, thinly slice the cucumber halves.
- Finely chop the bell pepper.
- Finely chop the red onion.
- Crumble the feta.
Step 5 – Once the pasta has completely cooled, add the cucumber slices, halved cherry tomatoes, chopped bell pepper, chopped red onion, crumbled feta, and the remaining half of the salad dressing. Toss everything until combined.
I serve mine in this lovely oval bowl with a ladle. That way, your dinner guests can help themselves.
Serving Pairings
Love to cook with chicken? Try this creamy grilled chicken wrap or these chicken quesadillas with a side of this pasta salad.
If you’re hosting a big event, like the Super Bowl, this is perfect to put in the center of the table. Serve it up with some other sides, like chicken tenders or fried artichokes.
However you enjoy it, those Mediterranean flavors are simply magical. This is a pasta salad to enjoy with friends and family.
How did you serve it? What did you love about this dish? I’d love to know in the comments!
Recipe Card
Ingredients
Pasta Salad Ingredients (minus the Salad Dressing)
- 1 lb of farfalle/bow-tie pasta
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 bell pepper deseeded and finely chopped
- 1 English cucumber halved and thinly sliced
- 1 small red onion peeled and finely chopped
- 1 cup Kalamata olives pitted
- 8 oz Greek feta crumbled
- salt for boiling the pasta
Salad Dressing
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
- Make the pasta salad dressing by mixing all the dressing ingredients together with a whisk or shake it in a small jar with a lid.
- Add the pasta to a pot of salted boiling water and cook for the time indicated on the package, plus 1 minute to make the pasta softer. When cold, pasta is a bit more chewy/tougher, so boiling it a bit longer makes it softer when served cold in pasta salads.
- Drain the pasta after boiling it, and immediately toss it with half the dressing. Tossing it in half the dressing while it’s warm makes the pasta absorb the flavors of the dressing better. Then, set it aside to cool down.
- While the pasta is cooling down, you can chop and prep the rest of the ingredients for the salad.
– Halve the cherry tomatoes.
– Slice the cucumber in half and scoop out the seeds (optional; it will make the pasta salad less watery). Then, thinly slice the cucumber halves.
– Finely chop the bell pepper.
– Finely chop the red onion.
– Crumble the feta. - Once the pasta has completely cooled, add the cucumber slices, halved cherry tomatoes, chopped bell pepper, chopped red onion, crumbled feta, and the remaining half of the salad dressing. Toss everything until combined.
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Don’t forget to save this pasta salad to one of your party food boards. A big bowl of pasta salad is a must when feeding a big crowd!
