Off the record, I call this one “poor man’s Caprese salad” because it’s based on Caprese salad, but with all the budget swaps I’ve made, I don’t think I can get away with calling that anymore. 😅 Regardless of what you call it, this Tomato Mozzarella Pasta Salad with homemade Parmesan Balsamic Vinaigrette is super light and refreshing, and just about the only thing I want to eat in this super hot 95+ degree weather. 🥵 You feel me?
This Tomato Mozzarella Pasta Salad will be a hit at any potluck, but also holds up really well in the refrigerator (undressed), making it a great meal prep or refrigerator salad for the week. Plus, there’s plenty of room for customization, so read on for some ideas for making this salad your own.
Salad Dressing Options
I went with a creamy Parmesan version of my Homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette for this salad, but you can change up this dressing a few ways to make it match your dietary needs. First, you can totally skip the Parmesan if you want to keep the salad vegetarian. If you can’t have or don’t want mayo, this dressing is also super awesome when you leave the mayo out, but I do like how the mayo mellows the flavors and makes it slightly creamy. If balsamic vinegar isn’t your favorite, you could also try a dressing like my tangy Tomato Basil Vinaigrette. And lastly, you can make things super easy on yourself and use a store-bought balsamic vinaigrette or even Italian dressing, if that’s what you have on hand.
About That Mozzarella…
Fresh mozzarella is the best for this salad, but it can also be quite pricey. I was lucky enough to find a large 16 oz. log of fresh mozzarella today for a really good price (I’ll be freezing the other half), so I used that. But if you can’t find a good deal on fresh mozzarella, whole milk mozzarella in either block or stick form will also work. And yes, by “stick form” I mean cheese sticks. I’ve totally diced up mozzarella sticks to use in this salad before! Not elegant, but it worked with my budget!
Vegetable Options
Grape tomatoes are cute, but if you can’t find them for a good price, feel free to dice a regular tomato in their place (you’ll want about 1.5 cups diced tomatoes). This is a great place to take advantage of fresh local tomatoes that will really give the salad a big flavor punch. Red onions also work well with these flavors if you have some to use up, as do bell peppers or cucumbers.
Tomato Mozzarella Pasta Salad
Servings 6 about 1.5 cups eachIngredients
- 8 oz. bowtie pasta ($0.67)
- salt for pasta water ($0.02)
- 3 cups fresh spinach ($1.20)
- 1 pint grape tomatoes ($2.50)
- 8 oz. mozzarella* ($2.60)
Parmesan Balsamic Vinaigrette
- 1/3 cup olive oil ($0.55)
- 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar ($0.41)
- 2 Tbsp mayonnaise ($0.17)
- 2 Tbsp grated Parmesan ($0.22)
- 1/2 Tbsp Dijon mustard ($0.09)
- 1 clove garlic, minced ($0.08)
- 1/2 tsp dried basil ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.01)
- freshly cracked pepper ($0.02)
Instructions
- Fill a pot with water and add two large pinches of salt. Cover the pot and bring it to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, add the pasta and continue to boil until the pasta is tender. Drain the pasta in a colander, give it a brief rinse with cool water, and let it drain well while you prepare the rest of the salad.
- While waiting for the pasta to cook, prepare the rest of the salad. Start with the Parmesan Balsamic Vinaigrette. Combine all the dressing ingredients in a jar or blender. Either blend until combined or shake your jar until the ingredients are well combined. Set the dressing aside until needed.
- Roughly chop the spinach and slice the grape tomatoes in half. Dice the mozzarella into 1/2-inch cubes.
- Add the spinach, tomatoes, and mozzarella to a large bowl. Once the pasta is well drained and mostly cool, add it to the bowl with the mozzarella and vegetables. Make sure the pasta is no longer hot, so it doesn't wilt the spinach or melt the cheese.
- Toss the ingredients to combine. If serving the salad later, store it like this without dressing. If serving immediately, add half of the dressing and toss to coat. Add more dressing as desired.
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Tomato Mozzarella Pasta Salad – Step by Step Photos
Begin by cooking 8 oz. bowtie pasta. You can prepare everything else for the salad in the time it takes the pasta to cook. Fill a pot with water, add two large pinches of salt, place a lid on top, and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, add the pasta and continue to boil until the pasta is tender. Drain the pasta in a colander, rinse briefly with cool water, then let it drain very well.
Next, make the Parmesan Balsamic Vinaigrette. Add all of the ingredients for the dressing to either a blender or jar (1/3 cup olive oil, 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, 2 Tbsp mayonnaise, 2 Tbsp grated Parmesan, 1/2 Tbsp Dijon mustard, 1 clove of garlic (minced), 1/2 tsp dried basil, 1/4 tsp salt, and some freshly cracked pepper). Blend the ingredients until emulsified, or shake your jar until the ingredients are combined.
Roughly chop about 3 cups of fresh spinach.
Slice one pint of grape tomatoes in half.
Dice 8 oz. fresh mozzarella into 1/2-inch cubes. I froze the other half of the cheese (the part still in the wrapper on the left) for later.
Add the spinach, tomatoes, and mozzarella to a large bowl.
Once the pasta is well-drained and mostly cool, add it to the bowl. Make sure the pasta is not hot so you don’t wilt the spinach or melt the cheese. Toss the salad to combine the ingredients.
If you’re planning to eat the salad later, store it at this point, without dressing, in a resealable container. The salad will stay good this way for 3-4 days.
Or, if you plan to serve it now, add about half of the dressing and toss the salad again to coat it in the dressing. Add more dressing as desired.
YUM, My new favorite salad dressing! Nutritional yeast worked well for me as a parm substitute.
Made this last night with smoked mozzarella (already in the fridge) but kept everything else the same. OH MY LORD. it was FANTASTIC! I even had some roasted chicken on the side for the hubby, but he was so happy with the salad alone, he never touched the chicken. That is a might feat!
Hands down, this is my new favorite dressing. Oh and we put dressing per bowl instead of the entire dish. I think I had 3 spoonfuls (regular eating spoon, not measured) for my own bowl while the hubs poured his on straight from the jar.
Thank you thank you thank you! This will now be in my regular rotation!
This recipe was absolutely delicious! I am staying away from dairy so I did not include the mozzarella, (I subbed it for white beans) and it was amazing, loved it! The dressing is way better than any store-bought dressing (and way cheaper), so I think I will be making that and using it on salads as well. Thank you for your recipes, you are truly gifted and I SO appreciate the helpful step by step pictures (being that I am not very good at cooking yet). I also love that I can plan out my meals based on the budget that I have, you make it so easy! Also, I love the Budget Bytes app, I’ve been using that as well, so helpful! Thank you Beth!
This looks so good. Calories per serving?
I just had WLS 2wks ago so that’s what my eyes search for when looking at recipes (even though I can’t eat this for like 6 more weeks).
My boyfriend and I made this for 4th of July and it was a hit! He was skeptical about using a dressing instead of olive oil and salt, but agreed that it is what made the pasta salad. I’ll definitely be making it again!
The recipe made about twice as much dressing as needed for the salad for my taste. Used what was left along with the leftover fresh mozzarella to make another variation of the salad for guests a few days later and everyone loved it. Pointed them to this website for the recipe but also had to mention the substitutions and additions that I had made. Instead of pasta the second time I used cooked farro and added some diced red onion and chopped fresh basil ( in keeping with the “poor man’s Caprese salad” theme) and instead of just spinach used a mix of baby greens from the garden. Delicious… have the feeling that I am going to have fun playing with the basic recipe on this one as long as the garden is producing an abundance of tomatoes and herbs this summer. As always, thanks for the recipe and inspiration, Beth.
I made this for the 4th of July. I did add a bit of sugar to balance out the vinegar and it turned out great! Mozzarella pearls are a new item for my family and I had to tell my 2 year old daughter to stop eating them or I would not have enough for the recipe. On a sad note, I ended up dropping the leftovers in a Pyrex dish and the whole think SHATTERED! No leftovers and I lost a 10 year old dish that I loved. Will probably make again this weekend since I am still craving it. Thanks Beth!
Another 5 stars out of 5!
I used 1 Tbsp of mayo instead of going without or adding 2 Tbsp as suggested in the recipe. The dressing is delicious! It’s very thick and wonder if it will coat all the vegetables & pasta? I’ll probably add tsp of water and see what happens.
Thank you for sharing your recipe
Wish the dry pasta measurement was in cups instead of by weight! Unfortunately I don’t have a food scale and will have to guess
Liz – 8 oz. is about half of a one pound/half kilogram packet :)
The dressing in this salad is so good. I made this with some variations. I had some cheese tortellini at home so I chose to use that in place of the pasta and mozzarella. Wonderful flavors , quick and easy recipe. My hubby really liked this. Will definitely make again.
I added 4 oz of feta cheese and this was a huge hit, we will make it again!
DId you have feta and mozzarella together?
yes,
I added both
Yum! I think I will be making this for the 4th. I have grape tomatoes coming out my ears in the garden. I also have lots of fresh basil growing- any thoughts on how to incorporate that in this? Maybe thinly slice 1/2 cup?
Yep, feel free to add that fresh basil right in there! 1/2 cup should be good. Fresh basil will make this absolutely amazing!
I made this today and it was delicious! I am going to make it allllll summer long!
Wow this recipe looks so yummy! I’m extra excited about the Parmesan vinaigrette.
I’m confused what you mean by “First, you can totally skip the Parmesan if you want to keep the salad vegetarian.” I think you miss typed something. Isn’t Parmesan cheese, and a major component of the salad is moz cheese? Anyways it looks delicious and I cannot wait to try it. :)
Parmesan is one of the few cheeses not considered vegetarian because it requires an enzyme from cow’s stomachs to be made (the cow has to be killed to get the enzyme), whereas most other cheeses use a different enzyme. Mozzarella cheese would be included in a basic vegetarian (lacto-ovo) diet. So the mozzarella in this salad would be fine for a vegetarian, but the Parmesan would not. This salad would not work for a vegan diet (no animal products at all, including dairy).
Ohhhhh!!! I didn’t know that about Parmesan cheese! I always learn such interesting stuff from your blog! Thanks!!
It isn’t just Parmesan cheese that may contain animal rennet/enzymes so I personally check labels or with the maker of any cheese I buy. There are definitely Parmesan style cheeses available in the States that are made without animal rennet and it has become much easier to find them… both dairy versions suitable for ovo-lacto or lacto vegetarians and even some non-dairy vegan options that are becoming more widely available (to satisfy both the vegan market and that of non-vegans who are either allergic to milk products or else lactose intolerant).
My understanding is that in the EU there are labeling laws that require cheese labeled as Parmesan there to be made with animal rennet but in the US that isn’t the case. Organic Valley (vegetarian but made with dairy) and Follow Your Heart (vegan) are the two brands of non-animal rennet Parmesan that are most reliably available in the stores that I shop at but there are also others. There are even some vegan mozzarella style cheeses available these days if one wanted to try and make a vegan version of this salad (or maybe substitute in a vegan ricotta style cheese). For what it is worth, I just skipped the Parmesan when I made Beth’s recipe this week and it was still quite yummy.
You’re so welcome! :)
I’m not into mayo. Do you think yogurt or sour cream would be a good substitute in this dressing?
Hallie see above. Beth says mayo is not required but she likes its creaminess. The dressing is god without mayo.
Maybe the sour cream, but I would be hesitant to use either of those because they are both so acidic and the dressing already has quite a bit of vinegar. It’s hard to say without testing them out.