Italian Tortellini Salad – the BEST Italian Pasta Salad Recipe
This EASY tortellini salad recipe is perfect for any pot-luck, picnic, cookout or backyard barbecue! This delicious tortellini pasta salad is loaded with all of your Italian favorites, like salami, tomatoes, olives, banana peppers and more! Topped with Italian dressing and shredded Parmesan cheese, this Italian pasta salad is amazing!
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If you love cold tortellini salad, this Italian Tortellini Salad is a winner! It’s absolutely perfect as a side dish for your next cookout or barbecue, and fantastic with your grilled chicken or burgers as a weeknight meal.
Growing up in the mid-west, pot luck dinners were always a community-wide event! Every home cook brought their best dishes, including salads, fried chicken, sandwiches and decadent desserts to share with everyone!
What does this easy tortellini salad recipe include?
Loaded with fresh, delicious tomatoes, onions, peppers, olives, and mini-pepperoni, this salad could easily be a meal in itself.
The tri-color tortellini pasta comes together wonderfully with the rest of the ingredients making an amazingly colorful dish. The shredded Parmesan cheese really brings the salad together and is complimentary to the cheese tortellini.
If you absolutely love veggies in your pasta salad you should check out this gorgeous Spring Orzo Salad Recipe by Yummy Healthy Easy. That asparagus looks amazing!
What type of tortellini should I buy for this tortellini pasta salad recipe?
I tend to use frozen tortellini pasta for this tortellini salad. You can also buy refrigerated tortellini from the refrigerator section of the grocery store. This is very easy to make, but a bit more expensive than the frozen.
Occasionally, you can find (dry/boxed) tortellini in the pasta section of the grocery store, however, this can sometimes be hard to come by.
Check out some of my other tortellini recipes like my Chicken Tortellini Alfredo, Skillet Tortellini and Meatballs Marinara and my Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup.
What makes this Italian pasta salad recipe so easy to make?
This tortellini salad is very simple to make, and comes together quickly and easily. Feel free to use a store-bought Italian dressing, as is coats the pasta and veggies well and adds a nice, complimentary flavor.
It also brings all of the ingredients together, including the fresh vegetables, cheeses and pepperoni.
Here’s a shopping list of ingredients you’ll need for this fantastic tortellini salad:
- Frozen or Dry Tortellini
- Mini Pepperoni
- Sliced Black Olives
- Red Onion
- Cherry or Grape Tomatoes
- Yellow Banana Peppers (can be found in a jar, near the olives and pickles at the supermarket)
- Shredded Parmesan cheese
- Ground Pepper
Tortellini Pasta Salad Q&A:
Can you make tortellini pasta salad the day before?
Yes, definitely! It’s a great side dish to make the day before a party or pot-luck. Because the tortellini soaks up the dressing, I would recommend reserving the dressing or making an extra batch of dressing and keeping it in a separate container. Just before serving, add the addition dressing and toss together.
Check out my Healthy Homemade Italian Dressing recipe! It tastes amazing and much better than store-bought! You might also like my Lemon Olive Oil Dressing and my Honey Balsamic Dressing as well.
How long will tortellini salad keep in the refrigerator?
I wouldn’t keep any leftovers for more than 5 days. Because of the Parmesan cheese and the cheese inside the tortellini, the freshness of the pasta salad isn’t as good as when it’s first made.
Can you freeze Italian pasta salad?
No, I wouldn’t recommend it.
What goes with Italian Pasta Salad?
Here are a few of my grilling recipes that go wonderfully with this Italian Pasta Salad:
- Pepperoni Pizza Sliders
- Salsa Burgers
- Grilled Caprese Chicken
- Grilled Steak Kabobs
- Brown Sugar Balsamic Grilled Chicken
- Lemon Pepper Grilled Chicken
- Italian Grilled Chicken
- BBQ Grilled Chicken Drumsticks
- Cilantro Lime Chicken Recipe
- Grilled Pineapple Chicken
- Grilled Boneless Chicken Thighs
- Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Peppers
If you loved this delicious tortellini pasta salad, be sure to check out these other salad recipes:
- Pesto Tortellini Pasta Salad
- Quinoa Chickpea Salad
- Zesty Italian Pasta Salad
- Lemon Orzo Pasta Salad
- Greek Tortellini Salad
- Italian Chopped Salad
- Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad
- Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad
- Strawberry Fluff Salad
- Snickers Apple Salad
- Garden Vegetable Pasta Salad
- Tomato Basil Mozzarella Salad
- Italian Chicken Salad
- Classic Macaroni Salad
- Deviled Egg Potato Salad
Here’s the easy, delicious recipe for my Italian Tortellini Salad:
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Italian Tortellini Salad
Equipment
- Mixing Bowls These stainless steel mixing bowls are an essential cooking tool for every kitchen.
- Wooden Spurtle Tools This 5-Piece Wooden kitchen tool set is amazing and great for use in non-stick cookware. No scratches and no plastic!
- Cutting Boards This 3-Pack of non-slip cutting boards are a fantastic tool for every home cook.
- Santoku Knife This 7" santoku knife comes with a bonus 5" knife. Sold through Macy's and at an AMAZING price I've never seen anywhere!
Ingredients
- 10 oz. cheese tortellini pasta tri-color or regular, frozen, refrigerated or dry
- 1 (5 oz. pkg.) mini pepperoni
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes red and/or yellow, quartered
- 1 (3.8 oz. can) black olives, drained
- 1/2 cup red onion diced
- 1/2 cup jarred mild yellow banana peppers chopped
- 1 cup Italian salad dressing
- 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water. Let set to cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the mini pepperoni, tomatoes, olives, red onion, and banana peppers. Toss with the cooled tortellini pasta. Add the dressing and cheese and toss all ingredients to coat. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. Serve chilled.
Notes
Nutrition
Dear Erin, your tortellini salad looks marvelous! This would complete at Summer cookout or get-together. Pinning for later. xo, Catherine
Hi Erin, This looks and sounds so delicious! I’ll have to try it soon! Thanks for the recipe! Blessings, Janet
This looks SO delicious! Pasta salad is my all time favorite, and adding tortellini is genius!
This looks delicious! I have a similar family recipe I make every summer. 🙂
This looks so good! We’re having my son’s high school graduation party in June and this would be a perfect addition to our menu. Thanks for sharing. Over from SITS..
Your pasta salad looks so yummy. Thanks for sharing at the #InspirationSpotlight party. Pinned & shared.
This is my favorite type of pasta salad. I love the use of tortellini!
Thanks for sharing at the Shine Blog Hop!
I’ve been so hungry for a salad like this! Trying this today, can’t wait! Thanks, Erin.
The tortellini salad was great addition to our normal grill out menu. Didn’t use the black olives family doesn’t care for the so added zucchini. Thanks for sharing it
sounds great, my family does not like olive, what would be a good replacement?
I love pasta salad and I love tortellini – a perfect match!! Thanks for sharing at the What’s for Dinner party!
This salad looks amazing, Erin. It certainly is time for salads again and I’m so happy!
I’m visiting from Too Cute Tuesday; it’s nice to meet you!
Thanks so much for sharing your awesome post with us at Full Plate Thursday! Hope you are having a great week and come back to see us real soon.
Miz Helen
So delicious! I added a small amount of red & yellow bell pepper and also fresh basil for color! Wish I could post a photo. Thank you for such a good recipe!
This Italian Tortellini Salad looks and sounds so wonderful. I think that I could eat this any day. Thank you for sharing at Oh My Heartsie Girls.
This looks SCRUMPTIOUS! I’m always glad to get fresh recipes for summertime.
Thanks so much for joining the Grace at Home party at Imparting Grace. I’m featuring you this week!
This is a delicious stand-alone meal. It looks so good.
How many people will this serve? Thanks so much! It looks delicious AND easy.
Dice a block of mozzarella in This
This salad is a favorite, been making it for years.
I have made this many times and it’s always ahit. Thank you!
Thanks sharing this article about the Italian tortellini salad this is really to good for health
I’m half Italian and a man chef I’ve tried a lot of different ideas my grandma and my mother both taught me how to and what to cook and I learned things along the way of my life this is new I have no idea why I’ve never learned or have had this salad before but not only does it look good but oh my it’s so good I could could make this salad for dinners all the time it’s that great thank you for introducing me to this thrilling taste full salad
The Italian Tortellini Salad instantly transported me back to my summer in Tuscany, where every bite captured the essence of the region. I remember sharing a similar dish with locals during a village feast. The burst of flavors from the salami, olives, and peppers is truly a culinary masterpiece.
This is absolutely delicious! The combination of flavors is spot-on, and I love how fresh and vibrant the ingredients are. The dressing ties everything together perfectly. This will definitely be a go-to dish for summer gatherings. Thank you for sharing such a delightful recipe!