This fresh, vibrant, and utterly delicious Tortellini Salad feeds a crowd on a dime. My favorite part? It only takes a few minutes to put together. Plus, you can make it ahead of time and store it in the fridge for up to 3 days. Win! Win! Win! It’s perfect for picnics, potlucks, or a light lunch at home. Get ready to put this Tortellini Salad recipe on repeat!
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What is Tortellini Salad?
Tortellini is a type of pasta stuffed with meat, vegetables, or cheese, then shaped into a small ring. To make the salad, the cooked and cooled tortellini is mixed with summer vegetables, herbs, greens, and a vinaigrette. Sometimes chopped cured meats or pickled peppers are added. For me, the pure joy of it is that it comes together in three steps, it’s super filling, and it’s a perfect choice for when you have an army to feed but don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen.
Ingredients for Tortellini Salad
The pasta is the star here, and though you can use any kind of tortellini, we chose cheese tortellini to keep the flavor profile simple. Here’s what you need to make Tortellini Salad:
- Tortellini– any kind will do. If you can’t access this ingredient, substitute it with rotini, farfalle, penne, orecchiette, or gnocchi. (And call it Pasta Salad!)
- Cherry tomatoes – these bring a pop of color and a touch of sweetness and acidity to the party. If you’re not a fan of tomatoes, try using red bell peppers instead.
- Red onion– sharp, assertive, and spicy, this ingredient is a great way to break up the fattiness of the tortellini. You can substitute with green onion, white onion, or yellow onion.
- Summer vegetables like squash and zucchini– these fresh veggies add more texture than flavor and also help bulk up your salad. Substitute with cucumber or carrots.
- Black olives– add a touch of brininess. Substitute with green olives or capers.
- Baby spinach and Italian Pasley– add herbaceous peppery notes. Substitute the spinach with kale or arugula. If you’re not a fan of parsley, use basil.
- Parmesan cheese – helps round out the flavors and adds a touch of nuttiness.
- Italian Dressing– pulls everything together and adds zing. Substitute with any lightly flavored vinaigrette.
Tips For Making The Best Tortellini Salad
- You can use store-bought Italian dressing for convenience, but for a more flavorful salad, use our recipe for Italian Dressing.
- Bulk up the salad with more low-cost, in-season veg to transform a pound of tortellini into 16 servings instead of 12. Use any fresh veg, greens, and fresh summer herbs you have on hand. Just cut everything in similar sizes.
- Add a little acidity and heat with pickled cherry peppers or banana peppers.
- For a heartier salad, add chopped grilled chicken or shrimp. Or try adding chopped salami.
What To Serve with Tortellini Salad
Though it makes a wonderful meal on its own, you can also serve Tortellini Salad as part of a larger meal, like a backyard barbecue or picnic. It’s a perfect side for Greek Marinated Chicken or Quick Garlic Butter Shrimp. I love serving it with No-Knead Homemade Focaccia and Balsamic Roasted Vegetables, or with some Lemony Chickpea Soup for a light meal.
How To Store Tortellini Salad
Tortellini salad keeps up to 3 days in the fridge. Just make sure to store leftovers in an airtight container. If you want to make the salad ahead of time, I recommend making the tortellini, chopping and salting the squash and zucchini, and prepping the rest of the ingredients. Add the tortellini to a large container and top with the veg and then the greens. Mix with Parmesan and dressing when you’re ready to serve.
Tortellini Salad
Servings 12 cupsIngredients
- 1 summer squash ($1.10)
- 1 zucchini ($0.75)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes ($3.00)
- 1/2 red onion ($0.38)
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach, packed ($1.49)
- 1/2 cup sliced black olives ($1.99)
- 3/4 cup Italian dressing ($1.42)
- 1/2 cup chopped Italian Parsley ($0.30)
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese ($0.33)
- 1 lb cheese tortellini ($4.79)
Instructions
- First, cook the tortellini according to the package directions. Then drain well and cool in a very large bowl in the fridge.
- While the tortellini is cooking, slice the summer squash and the zucchini into 1/4-inch rounds and then quarter the rounds. Add them to a large bowl and sprinkle with salt and mix.
- Slice the cherry tomatoes in half. Slice the red onion in 1/4 inch half moons and soak it in cold water to dull its sharp flavor. Chop the parsley, and if the baby spinach leaves are large, chop them as well.
- Once the tortellini has cooled, top it with the cherry tomatoes, red onion, zucchini, squash, baby spinach, and sliced black olives. Then drizzle with 1/2 cup of Italian dressing.
- Next, top the salad with chopped Italian parsley and Parmesan cheese. Then drizzle with the final 1/4 cup of Italian dressing. Finally, mix, and serve! Wasn't that easy?
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Tortellini Salad – Step By Step Photos
First, cook one pound of tortellini according to the package directions. Then drain well and cool in a very large bowl in the fridge.
While the tortellini is cooking, slice the summer squash and the zucchini into 1/4-inch rounds and then quarter the rounds. Add them to a large bowl and sprinkle with salt and mix.
Once the tortellini has cooled, you’re ready to assemble. First, top the tortellini with the zucchini and squash, 1 pint of halved cherry tomatoes, 1/2 sliced red onion, 2 cups fresh baby spinach, and 1/2 cup sliced black olives. Then drizzle with 1/2 cup of Italian dressing.
Next, top the salad with 1/2 cup of chopped Italian parsley and 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese. Then drizzle with the final 1/4 cup of Italian dressing.
Finally, mix, and serve! Wasn’t that easy? Now go feed your army and enjoy your time with them instead of spending it in your kitchen!
https://www.budgetbytes.com/tortellini-salad/
I always throw the zucchini and summer squash in with the pasta to cook it a bit! Love this recipe.
Yet again, another customizable recipe! Delicious! I used what I had “in stock”, as this is classic Budget bytes style. Used my garden fresh zucchini and cherry tomatoes; was able to use up the rest of a bag of spinach (so satisfying to use that sucker up before it goes bad) and the bag of parsley. Didn’t have parmesan (I know – what am I thinking!?) but had feta which really worked! Wanted this to be lunch, so I omitted olives (some of my people hate them) and added shredded chicken. Had to “taste test” it – was so good it was my breakfast, lol. Thank you, Monti! I especially appreciated your tip to dull the red onion. Overall – it was a win! Can’t wait to make it with all of the ACTUAL ingredients, but appreciated the adaptability of this recipe- which is how we all REALLY save $.
Really good! Made this for dinner just now without parsley because we didn’t have it. I have never eaten raw squash before. Surprised we liked it!
So I don’t like red onion or summer squash, but I used it anyway. I was AMAZED at what a little salt can do to the squash and dulling the red onion with water. Subbed the zuch for 1/2 a cucumber (no salt) and used 1.5 pds of tortalini because that’s how Sam’s sells it. Also the dressing is a huge win, and I had plenty plenty even with the extra tortalini. Very impressed. Will be making again next week.
Thank you Sarah!
We love this recipe! It’s so customizable. We added fresh sweet corn this time around, which was a treat. I don’t like tomatoes or onions so my husband just adds them to his portion with a little extra dressing. We even made it as part of our meal prep and it keeps well for a few days. I love that you don’t have to cook the zucchini and it just softens with the salt and dressing.