This incredibly flavorful and ridiculously easy blt pasta salad is the ultimate crowd-pleaser! It’s bursting with color, texture, and creamy goodness, making it a guaranteed hit at any potluck, brunch, summer barbecue, pool party, or wherever you need a delicious side dish.
Best of all, it comes together in a flash. With simple ingredients and minimal prep, you’ll have a show-stopping pasta salad ready in no time.
Why You’ll Love This BLT Pasta Salad Recipe
- Creamy, Tangy Dressing: The dressing is super simple and compliments the flavors in this dish perfectly. A creamy base with tender pasta noodles and more.
- Flavorful Mix-Ins: Customize your pasta salad with a variety of colorful and delicious mix-ins. We’ve included some suggestions, but feel free to get creative and add your favorites!
- Easy to Make: This recipe is designed for simplicity. From cooking the pasta to tossing everything together, it’s a breeze to prepare, leaving you more time to relax and enjoy the company.
Where Should I Serve This BLT Pasta Salad Recipe
- picnics – pairs well with sandwiches, small bites and such
- summer bbq – goes great with hot dogs, hamburgers or grilled chicken
- dinner – pairs really well as a side salad for almost any meal – fish, chicken, steak or burgers.
- lunch – a great option for an easy lunch.
- potlucks – because it easily doubles or triples it makes a great salad to feed a crowd.
Add in’s and substitutions
There are dozens of possibilities and substitutions with this recipe.
- Serve over lettuce, or serve by itself.
- Substitute spinach, kale or any other type of leafy green
- Use different types of pasta – spiral, spaghetti, ziti, rigatoni… any noodle will work
- Add chopped bell peppers, black olives, jalapenos, chopped egg, croutons, shredded carrots or any other type of veggie you like.
Tips and Tricks for this BLT Pasta Salad Recipe
I wouldn’t suggest making this up ahead of time. Often the vegetables get limp or soggy and the salad isn’t as good.
To combat this and still be able to make some of it ahead of time, you can boil, drain and cool the pasta for this up to 4 days in advance. Refrigerate in an airtight container until ready to prepare.
Mix the salad dressing up ahead of time separately and allow it to meld the flavors together in the refrigerator ahead of time.
Bacon can be prepared in advance and chopped up. Store in refrigerator.
Making this Recipe
BLT Pasta Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 22 ounces pasta cooked and drained
- 8 ounces bacon cubed and fried crisp, then crumbled
- ½ cup green onions sliced part way up the green stalks, chopped
- 1 cups cheese shredded cheese
- 1 large tomato seeded and diced
- 1 ½ cups mayonnaise
- 1 Tablespoons mustard regular or dijon
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large bowl, toss pasta with all ingredients except mayo and mustard.
- Add the mayo and mustard. Use more or less depending on how creamy you want the pasta to be. If you are using ranch dressing, start with a cup of ranch dressing and add more as desired.
- Chill well (at least 2 hours) before serving.
- Serve over lettuce, if desired.
Nutrition
Looking for more incredible salad recipes? Look no further than here!
Also check out my friend Ellen’s delicious Spring Vegetable Pasta Salad with a Creamy Lemon Dressing!
