Easy Italian Pasta Salad

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Easy Italian Pasta Salad is a quick recipe to make that is perfect for anytime of year. It's loaded with bright and flavorful veggies and finished off with a red wine and dijon mustard Italian dressing.

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Total Time 30

Servings servings

Ingredients

Pasta Salad

1 16- ounce box fusilli pasta (use gluten-free if desired)
1 red pepper (finely diced)
1 yellow pepper (finely diced)
1 cup cherry tomatoes (halved)
½ cup black olives (sliced)
½ cup fresh basil (chopped)
1/2- 3/4 cup cheddar cheese (cubed)
1/2- 3/4 cup pepper jack cheese (cubed)
1 cucumber (diced)

Homemade Italian Dressing

½ cup high quality extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

Start by boiling water on the stovetop and preparing the fusilli pasta. Drain and rinse with cold water and set aside to cool down.
In the meantime, prepare the veggies by dicing the cucumber, red and yellow bell pepper and cutting the cherry tomatoes in half. Set aside.
Cube the pepper jack and cheddar cheese next and then slice the fresh basil into strips. Drain the liquid from the olives and set aside.
When ready, prepare the homemade Italian dressing by combining all the ingredients together and whisking until well combined.
Next, assemble the pasta salad in a large bowl by adding in the cooked pasta, prepared veggies, basil, cheese, and olives. Mix until well combined and top with the homemade dressing. Mix once more and serve immediately or place in the fridge.

Notes

Make this pasta salad the night before and place it in the fridge in an airtight container. The pasta will marinate in the dressing and have even more flavor the next day. Just add the basil the next day for best results.
Finely chop the red and yellow bell peppers for best results.
Make sure the dressing ingredients are well incorporated before adding to the rest of the pasta.
Use Fusilli pasta for best results.