Bruschetta Pasta Salad

This Bruschetta Pasta Salad could not be simpler to make and packs bold flavors to stand up to your summer grilling feasts.

I haven’t shared a pasta salad since this one and since I know not everyone is a fan of broccoli (or maybe fresh strawberries and broccoli combined) I figured I needed to expand my offering. You’ve gotta have some side dishes to go along with all your grilling this summer. For this bruschetta pasta salad I simply whipped up my go-to topping for bruschetta and mixed it in with some bow-tie pasta. Ta-da!

I’m personally a fan of adding in fresh mozzarella with my tomatoes to top bruschetta. So I suppose that makes this pasta salad a Capresé-style Bruschetta? I wasn’t really sure what to call it. But I figure more people are probably searching for brushetta pasta salad recipes and so why complicate the title by throwing capresé in it? These are a food bloggers’ issue though, not yours, so I’ll stop rambling. 

When summer tomatoes are truly in season, please chop up some fresh tomatoes and use them instead of canned. But with canned you can make this Bruschetta Pasta Salad all year long. And it’s still just as tasty. Also I don’t usually use bottled salad dressing in my recipes but this one is so good that I can’t justify buying a bunch of separate ingredients to make a homemade dressing (in this case).

Tips for making Bruschetta Pasta Salad:

• I purchase my fresh mozzarella from the deli counter at my grocery – which comes soaking in oil and basil – I add the soaking liquid to my pasta salad for extra flavor
• This is the salad dressing I use – about half a bottle for one full recipe of pasta salad
• Any small pasta shape will work but my favorite is mini bow tie pasta
• This salad can be made one day ahead and kept stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator

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5 from 5 votes

Bruschetta Pasta Salad

This Bruschetta Pasta Salad could not be simpler to make and packs bold flavors to stand up to your summer grilling feasts.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Cooling Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Calories 460kcal

Author Foodtastic Mom

Ingredients

• 12 oz pasta (small shapes like bow tie or macaroni work well) cooked according to package directions
• 2 15 oz cans petite cut diced tomatoes drained
• 1 1/2 cups fresh mozzarella balls each ball cut into about 4 pieces
• 9 oz Kraft Red Wine Vinaigrette Dressing
• 1/4 cup fresh basil chopped
• 1 tsp salt

Instructions

• Cook the pasta according to package directions and rinse in cold water. Add to a large bowl.
• Top the cooked and cooled pasta with the drained tomatoes, chopped mozzarella, red wine vinaigrette dressing and salt. Mix well to combine.
• Stir in the fresh basil. Allow the salad to chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour before serving.

Notes

Pasta salad can be made up to one day in advance. Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

When fresh tomatoes are in season, use fresh, chopped tomatoes instead of the drained, canned ones.

Nutrition

Calories: 460kcal

More potluck and picnic side dish recipes:

• Spinach Strawberry Salad
• Grilled Mustard Potato Salad
• Summer Broccoli Pasta Salad
• Seven Layer Mexican Street Corn Salad