This greek pasta salad is an easy, crowd pleasing pasta salad packed with colorful, healthy veggies. It’s perfect for parties, backyard barbecues or family get togethers.
With Labor Day just around the corner, I thought I’d share this easy Greek Pasta Salad. It’s packed with pasta, healthy veggies, salty feta and tossed with an easy, flavorful vinaigrette. It’s a crowd pleaser – so make a big batch!
Pasta salads are so easy to make and I love adding lots of healthy veggies to them. The base for this pasta salad uses traditional greek salad ingredients – salty feta (my favorite!), cool cucumbers, sweet cherry tomatoes, olives and crunchy bell peppers. All the ingredients are tossed with cool cooked pasta to make a delicious pasta salad to share with family and friends.
This salad works well for parties, family get togethers or backyard barbecues. It’s a great side salad that’s quick to make – ready in less than 30 minutes.
Steps for making this Greek Pasta Salad:
Chop up all the ingredients while the pasta is cooking and prepare the dressing. When the pasta is done, rinse under cold water. You want the pasta to be cool when you add the veggies to it.
Add the cooked, cool pasta to a large bowl. Add your veggies – the chopped bell pepper, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, olives, and red onion. Pour the dressing over the pasta and veggies and toss to combine.
I like to add the feta cheese and basil separately and gently toss. This keeps the feta from breaking up too much.
Helpful tips for making this recipe:
- After draining the pasta, run it under cold water while stirring it with a wooden spoon. You want the pasta to be completely cool before adding the veggies.
- Make sure to throughly drain the pasta after rinsing it with cool water – you don’t want your pasta salad to be soggy.
- I used a yellow bell pepper since I like the color contrast but you can use a green (or red one) if that’s easier to find.
- I used an english cucumber – it has fewer seeds than a regular cucumber. If you are using a regular cucumber, be sure to remove the seeds by scraping them out with a spoon.
- I like buying blocks of feta cheese and dicing it for my salads. I think the crumbly kind sort of disappears into the salad. Diced feta tends to hold up better. Just toss gently when you add it.
- This is an easy make ahead recipe and it holds up well in the fridge until you are ready to eat. If there are any leftovers, I like to pack them up in individual containers so I have an easy lunch ready for the next day.
- Traditionally, oregano is used in greek salads, but I used basil in this recipe since that was what I had on hand.
Looking for more easy late summer salad recipes? Then try one of these reader favorites:
- Israeli Couscous Salad with Summer Vegetables
- Fresh Corn Salad with Cherry Tomatoes and Avocados
- Tomato Cucumber Avocado Salad
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If you make this recipe and enjoy it, please come back and leave a comment and rating. I’d love to hear from you!
PrintGreek Pasta Salad
This greek pasta salad is an easy crowd pleasing pasta salad packed with colorful, healthy veggies. Perfect for a family get together, potluck or party.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Pasta Salad
- Method: Cook
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 8 oz of dried pasta, cooked as per the package instructions
- 2 cups of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- 1 cup of bell pepper, diced
- 3/4 cup of cucumber, diced
- 20 olives, sliced
- 4 oz feta cheese, diced
- 2 tbs of red onion, minced
- 15 basil leaves, thinly sliced
For the salad dressing:
- 4 tbs olive oil
- 2 tbs red wine vinegar
- 1 clove of garlic, finely minced
- 1/4 tps red pepper flakes
- 8 twists of black pepper from a pepper mill
- 1 pinch of salt
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package instructions. When ready, rinse pasta under cool water.
- While the pasta is cooking, prep all the rest of your ingredients and whisk together the salad dressing.
- Add cooled pasta, veggies and dressing to a large bowl. Toss to combine.
- Add feta cheese and basil to pasta salad and toss gently to combine.
Notes
- Try and cut all the veggies into similar sized shapes.
- When making the dressing, I find it easiest to just add all dressing ingredients to a small jar and shake it up.
- This greek pasta salad holds up really well in the fridge. So if making this for a party, go ahead and make the day before.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 of 6
- Calories: 278
- Sugar: 3.7g
- Sodium: 353mg
- Fat: 16g
- Saturated Fat: 4.5g
- Carbohydrates: 27.2g
- Fiber: 1.6g
- Protein: 8g
- Cholesterol: 44mg
Belinda
I’ve been making this pasta salad once a week – it’s a great meal prep recipe. Thank you for the recipe!
Geraldine
Thanks, Belinda – it is a great meal prep idea since it holds up in the fridge – glad you are enjoying it! Thanks for leaving a comment and rating – I appreciate hearing from you!
Lindsay | With Salt and Pepper
Greek anything, all of the time!!! So fresh and satisfying!!!
Geraldine
Thanks, Lindsay!
Mary Ann | The Beach House Kitchen
So easy, fresh and delicious Geraldine. I love pasta salads for parties all year round too. This would be great for football season too! Happy weekend!
Geraldine
Thanks so much, Mary Ann – definitely good for football season!
annie@ciaochowbambina
I love how festive your posts always are! The colors and flavors just pop! This is perfect for this weekend – all I need to grab is some fresh basil! Have a wonderful weekend, my friend!
Geraldine
Thanks so much, Annie! Thanks for the comment about the color and flavor – that’s my goal with the recipes! Hope you have a great weekend, too!
Mimi
Nice salad. I love all of the ingredients – the colors and textures, and I especially love the vinaigrette! Summer!
Geraldine
Thanks so much, Mimi!
Traci | Vanilla And Bean
So easy, yes and what eye popping color! I love summer salads like this; shareable, can hang out in the fridge, easy to make and packed with flavor! Hope you have a fabulous long weekend, Geraldine!
Geraldine
Thanks, Traci – you described this perfectly! Hope you have a wonderful long weekend too! xo