Greek Pasta Salad

This Greek pasta salad features tender pasta and tons of fresh Greek ingredients tossed in a flavorful lemon herb vinaigrette for an easy standout side dish!

Tis the season of barbecues, cookouts, and naturally, all summer salads!

So I’m going to go ahead and declare that you need a go-to pasta salad for the summer and this Greek-style salad is ready and willing for the job.

It’s so fresh tasting from all the fresh Greek goodness, yet also hearty at the same time from the pasta! It’s really just everything you could ever want in a summer salad.

So incredibly easy to whip up for any event and it will always be well-received wherever you take it. All the colors make it so inviting!

We’ll just keep it our little secret how scary easy it is to throw together.

This Pasta Salad features…

• Fresh Greek ingredients including cucumber, cherry tomatoes, feta, olives, and red peppers
• Silky avocado and zippy red onion
• Tender cavatappi pasta
• A flavorful lemon herb Greek dressing

Making the Pasta Salad

(scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe)

Ingredients You Will Need

• Lemon juice
• Dijon mustard
• Honey
• Oregano
• Basil
• Garlic
• Olive oil
• Pasta
• Avocado
• Cherry tomatoes
• Cucumber
• Red onion
• Roasted red peppers
• Feta cheese
• Kalamata olives
• Parsley

Choosing Your Pasta

Any short pasta shape will work great in this salad! A few of our favorite shapes include…

• Gemelli
• Penne
• Small shells
• Orecchiette
• Rigatoni
• Farfalle (bowties)

Tips for Perfect Pasta Salad

1. Toss cooked pasta in cold water – this cools the pasta fast and prevents it from sticking together.
2. Rinse red onion in cold water – this removes a bit of the strong bite from the onion.
3. Use fresh lemon in dressing – fresh lemon makes a huge difference flavor-wise!
4. Refrigerate salad before serving – if possible, allow the salad to sit in the fridge a few hours before serving. It tastes amazing after its sat in the dressing for a few hours!

Recipe Variations

Try these ideas for a different twist on this pasta salad!

• Try different veggies – try adding shredded lettuce, spinach, sweet pepper, or corn.
• Add meat – cooked chicken or bacon would be great meaty additions to this salad.
• Use a different dressing – 1/2 cup bottled Greek dressing will work great in place of our homemade dressing

Make Ahead Instructions

Follow these instructions for time-saving make ahead options.

• Make the dressing – mix up the dressing and store in refrigerator up to 1 week.
• Prep vegetables – cut all the vegetables (except the avocado) and store in refrigerator up to 3 days, waiting until just before serving to cut avocado.
• Cook the pasta – store cooked pasta in refrigerator up to 6 days.
• Storing salad – once the salad is assembled it stores well in refrigerator up to 3 days. However, if you plan on storing it for that long we recommend leaving out the avocado and adding just before serving to prevent it from turning brown.

The lemony herby vinaigrette is what really ties this salad all together! It tastes like all the best Greek things all wrapped up into a colorful, gorgeous salad.

This salad will quickly become your cookout side dish go-to and trust me, no one is going to mind that!

Save this recipe using the ‘save to recipe box’ button below. If you make it, please let us know! Leave a comment + star rating below, or take a photo and tag it on Instagram with #wholeandheavenlyoven.

Watch this pasta salad made step-by-step on Google web stories.

More incredible summer salads to add to your menu!

• Spring Roll Salad
• Prosciutto Strawberry Burrata Salad
• Mediterranean Lentil Salad

This post was updated with new recipe tips and photos on 6/22/23.