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This is the best Mediterranean Pasta Salad Recipe—ideal for a crowd and also for meal prep during busy weeks. This one-bowl pasta salad is savory and satisfying thanks to bold ingredients like sun-dried tomatoes, olives, and goat cheese.
Pasta salad is a go-to recipe in our household every week of the summer. We love to flavor it with different fresh vegetables, herbs, and spices. This Mediterranean Pasta Salad is requested time and time again for parties, picnics, and family gatherings – it’s truly a crowd pleasing recipe.
The best part about this Mediterranean Pasta Salad it only uses one pot and one large bowl, making cleanup in the summer a total breeze. I like to use lentil or bean noodles for this, but any work well.
To the pasta we add sun-dried tomatoes, olives, goat cheese, spinach, and basil that gets tossed in an oregano vinaigrette for a bite full of flavor every single time. If you like a great pasta salad recipe, try our Dill Pickle Pasta Salad, Orzo Salad, or Greek Pasta Salad as well!
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Make Ahead-Friendly: this is the perfect candidate for making ahead. If you plan to make this more than 1 day ahead of time, wait to add the greens until the day-of.
- Full of Flavor: this dish is PACKED with flavorful ingredients including olives, sun-dried tomatoes, oregano, basil, shallot and goat cheese.
Reader Review
“I made this last night to go with some grilled chicken skewers and WOW! We loved it. It’s really bold in flavor. I didn’t have bean pasta so used some whole-wheat penne, came out great!”
– Barb
Ingredients
I’ll run through what I put in my Mediterranean pasta salad recipe, but like all good pasta salads, this one can easily be modified to suit your preferences and your pantry. Check out the ingredient substitutions later in this article for ideas on how you can make this salad different every time.
- Oregano vinaigrette: a simple homemade vinaigrette made with fresh or dried oregano, olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon, honey and red pepper flakes. You can also use a bottled Italian or Greek vinaigrette from the grocery store.
- Pasta: I like to use bean or lentil pasta, such as Banza or Barilla, or whole-wheat pasta. Use a medium-shaped pasta such as rotini or penne.
- Chickpeas: canned chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans) add nice texture. You can also use canned white beans.
- Green olives: pimento-stuffed green olives add a punch of saltiness to the salad. If you are like my mother, and don’t like olives (the audacity!!) you can substitute with capers (but start with 2 tablespoons).
- Shallot: sliced shallot adds an aromatic onion flavor. If raw shallots are a bit too strong for you, let them soak in cold water for 15 minutes before draining and adding to the salad.
- Sun dried tomatoes: these add a punch of umami and a nice chewy texture. Look for them in the produce area near the dates and other dried fruits/vegetables.
- Spinach or arugula: either green works here. Spinach will be more mild and tender while arugula will add a lovely spicy bite.
- Basil: fresh basil lightens everything up and rounds out the flavors. Wait to add it to the salad until right before serving.
- Goat cheese: a little cheese never hurt a pasta salad! Keep the goat cheese nice and cold so it’s easier to crumble into the salad. You can also use feta cheese.
How to Make Mediterranean Pasta Salad Recipe
The full recipe with ingredient amounts and instructions can be found in the recipe card below.
There are four simple steps to making a pasta salad:
- Cook noodles until al dente, about 2 minutes less than listed on package directions.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, oregano, Dijon, honey, and pepper flakes.
- Drain noodles and add to bowl with vinaigrette; toss to coat.
- Add chickpeas, olives, shallot, and sun dried tomatoes; and mix to combine. Add spinach and basil and toss to combine; season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle goat cheese over top and stir just until combined.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Pro Tips for recipe Success
- Salt your pasta water generously. It should taste like the sea, be sure you add two very hearty pinches of kosher salt to the boiling water. This seasons the noodles and makes for better flavor.
- Cook the pasta 1 to 2 minutes less than the package instructions. The noodles should be very al dente, this is so important when making pasta salad so that the dressing doesn’t make the pasta soggy.
- Toss the pasta in the vinaigrette while it’s still warm. This is the true pro tip here! Coating warm noodles in the dressing allows it to absorb the flavor making for a robust pasta salad.
- Add the greens, herbs, and cheese right before serving. This keeps the greens fresh and flavorful, rather than slimy and soggy. The cheese will also remaining nice and fresh if sprinkled on right before serving.
How Long Does Pasta Salad Last?
Stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, this pasta salad will last up to 5 days. I don’t recommend freezing this recipe.
Variations & Substitutions
Like I mentioned before, pasta salad is amazing because you can customize it with your favorite ingredients depending on the season of the year. Here are some of our recommendations of things to swap out or add:
- Add canned artichoke hearts.
- Instead of sun dried tomatoes, add fresh cherry tomatoes.
- Instead of olives, add capers (but use less!).
- Swap out the rotini for a smaller grain pasta like orzo.
- Use feta instead of goat cheese.
- Instead of basil, use parsley.
- Use thinly sliced red onion instead of shallot.
- Add diced cucumber.
- For a vegan pasta salad, just omit the cheese
Mediterranean Pasta Salad
Description
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Ingredients
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano, or 1 ½ teaspoons dried
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons honey
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 8 ounces bean or lentil pasta, such as Banza rotini, or whole-wheat pasta of choice
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- ¾ cup sliced green olives
- ½ cup thinly sliced shallot
- ½ cup chopped sun dried tomatoes
- 4 cups chopped spinach or arugula
- ½ cup chopped basil
- 2 ounces fresh goat cheese (chevre), crumbled
Instructions
- Cook pasta until al dente, about 1 minutes less than listed on package directions.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, oregano, Dijon, honey, and pepper flakes.
- Drain pasta and add to bowl with vinaigrette; toss to coat. Add chickpeas, olives, shallot, and sun dried tomatoes; and mix to combine. Add spinach and basil and toss to combine; season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle goat cheese over top and stir just until combined.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
Nutrition
I made this last night to go with some grilled chicken skewers and WOW! We loved it. It’s really bold in flavor. I didn’t have bean pasta so used some whole-wheat penne, came out great!
How many calories is this meal?
Hey Abbey! We just updated the nutritional information. About 345 calories per 1 cup serving.
I love this recipe!! I used whole grain pasta. I didn’t have enough sundried tomatoes, so I added some grape tomatoes. I will definitely make this again.
Hi Lisa!
So happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe. Great idea to add fresh grape tomatoes!
Excellent! Very flavorful and colorful. Love vinegar and oil based dressing for potlucks during this ridiculous summer heat!
Couldn’t agree more—a vinaigrette always sounds more appealing than a mayo-based dressing in this summer heat!