Pickle-lovers won’t be able to resist this loaded dill pickle pasta salad! Tender pasta is tossed in a creamy dill pickle juice dressing with lots of smoky bacon, cheddar, and extra dill pickles.

It’s time to get your side dish game sorted for cookout season! While we’re at it, I’m just going to go ahead and declare this dill pickle pasta salad the queen of them all.

I know for a fact we’ve got some pickle people in the house today, so listen up. This salad is chock-full of the stuff in both the dressing and the actual salad and it absolutely rocks.

Pickle-lovers, I see you and I hear you! It’s also pretty obvious that I’m one of you so you know I’m next in line behind ya for a second scoop of this pasta salad.

The real winning factor behind this salad is that it can be prepped way in advance for cookouts and also travels perfectly!

I just strongly recommend placing it in the backseat far out of your reach because the addiction is 100% real here, not even joking.

This Pasta Salad features…

A creamy dill pickle juice dressing
Tender pasta
Chopped dill pickles, crispy bacon bits, cheddar cubes, and fresh dill
Ready in minutes and always a hit salad for cookouts

Making the Pasta Salad

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

Ingredients You Will Need

Mayonnaise
Greek yogurt
Dill pickle juice
Garlic powder
Pasta
Bacon
Cheddar cheese
Dill pickles
Red onion
Fresh dill

Choosing Your Pasta

This salad works great with a variety of pasta! For pasta salads I typically recommend going with a shorter cut such as spiral, penne, elbows, or shells. Make sure you follow specific box instructions for cooking pasta just to al dente so the pasta doesn’t turn mushy in the salad.

Tips for Perfect Pasta Salad

Use pickles in both dressing and salad – pickle juice in both the dressing and then chopped pickles in the salad make for fantastic pickle flavor in every bite.
Rinse pasta in cold water after cooking – this will stop the cooking process and cools down the pasta quickly for the salad.
Blot grease from bacon – once the bacon bits are cooked, use paper towels to gently blot out the excess grease.
Rinse red onion – place the chopped red onion in a strainer and rinse several times with cold water to remove the extra bite red onions typically have.
Use fresh dill – this adds a pop of herby flavor that compliments the dill pickles perfectly.

Recipe Variations

Try these ideas for a different twist on this recipe.

Use bread and butter pickles – if you’re not a fan of dill and want a sweeter salad, try using bread and butter pickles instead.
Add more veggies – try adding chopped sweet pepper, halved cherry tomatoes, or chopped spinach.
Make it vegetarian – skip the bacon for a vegetarian-friendly salad.
Use a different cheese – try feta, goat cheese, gouda, mozzarella, or pepper jack in place of the cheddar.

Make Ahead Instructions

Follow these instructions for make ahead tips.

Make dressing – the dressing stores well in refrigerator up to 6 days.
Cook pasta – cook the pasta according to package instructions and store in refrigerator up to 6 days.
Assemble salad – once the salad is assembled, it stores well in refrigerator also up to 6 days. If you find the sauce isn’t as creamy after sitting awhile, splash in a few extra splashes of pickle juice before serving.

Even non pickle stans won’t be able to get enough of this salad! The creaminess and touch of tang from the pickle juice in the dressing adds so much incredible flavor to the pasta while the smoky bacon, rich cheddar, and crunchy dill pickle cubes are just doing their job to perfection.

Just be warned: you’ll never be able to go to a cookout again without requests to bring this salad!

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 salad made step-by-step on Google web stories.

More pasta salads to try next!

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