Top 12 Best Pasta Salad Recipes

Macaroni Salad with Ham and Peas — The Spruce / Diana Rattray

Pasta salad is great for summer cookouts and events, but it's also a delicious side dish salad any time of the year! Try one of these flavorful pasta salads with your next cookout or family meal.

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Macaroni and Black Bean Salad With Tex-Mex Flavor

The Spruce / Diana Rattray

This pasta salad is full of surprises, with Tex-Mex flavors, black beans, corn, and a variety of chopped vegetables. Use macaroni or a similar pasta in the salad. The dressing is a mayonnaise-based mixture with the addition of Southwest seasonings and lime juice. The salad is great with burgers, fajitas, or grilled steaks.
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Lobster and Macaroni Salad

The Spruce / Diana Rattray

A simple mayonnaise dressing flavors this delicious lobster macaroni salad. The lobster is the star of this salad!
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Tuna Pasta Salad With Dill

The Spruce / Qi Ai

This is a flavorful pasta salad, perfect for an everyday lunch with soup, or serve it as a side dish at your next cookout. A combination of mayonnaise, lemon juice, sour cream, garlic, and dill help to flavor this delicious pasta salad.
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Garden Pasta Salad

The Spruce

Pesto and lemon juice help to flavor this tasty pasta salad. Add a little diced cooked chicken, shredded or cubed cheese, or ham for a heartier supper salad.

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Mediterranean Pasta Salad

The Spruce / Eric Kleinberg

Bring a bit of the Mediterranean to the table with this colorful pasta salad. Arugula, tomatoes, cucumber, black olives, fresh basil, and feta cheese are tossed along with cooked pasta and a creamy lemon-garlic vinaigrette.
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Pasta Salad With Chicken and Spinach

The Spruce / Eric Kleinberg

This chicken, spinach, and pasta salad is tossed with a flavorful mayonnaise and lemon juice dressing. This is a great main dish salad for hot summer days, or take it along to a potluck or big family cookout. Use cooked leftover chicken or a rotisserie chicken for this tasty salad recipe.
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Spinach Orzo Salad

Pete Scherer

A fresh spinach and roasted garlic sauce is tossed with al dente orzo pasta for a colorful side dish or vegetarian main. Artichoke hearts and cheese add flavor and texture to this quick and easy orzo salad.
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Classic Macaroni Salad

The Spruce

This macaroni salad is made with hard-cooked eggs, chopped vegetables, and a seasoned mayonnaise dressing. It's a classic macaroni salad with creamy dressing, and always welcome!

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Chicken and Bacon Pasta Salad

The Spruce

A creamy mayonnaise and lemon dressing bring pasta, bacon, and chicken together in this flavorful pasta salad. The pasta can be macaroni or mini penne pasta. Vegetables include tomatoes, onion, and herbs.
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Summer Seafood Pasta Salad

The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

Make this pasta salad with crabmeat, shrimp, or lobster, or use a combination. Or use imitation crab with or without shrimp for a budget-friendly seafood salad.
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30-Minute Tuna Macaroni Salad

The Spruce

This is one of our favorite pasta salads, and it's surprisingly easy.
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Shrimp and Pasta Salad

Jonelle Weaver / Photolibrary / Getty Images

Use rotini, wheels, shells, or elbows in this tasty shrimp salad. The salad should be refrigerated for a few hours before serving, so plan to prepare it earlier in the day.