My Family’s Magnificent Make-Ahead Pasta Salad Recipe!

It’s Father’s Day Weekend which means you probably have another BBQ to hit up. But don’t make your P’s do all the work – offer to bring a side! Or maybe you are hosting the BBQ and have TONS to do. Well, never fear, pasta salad is here! I’ve got my family’s super easy, kinda healthy, make-ahead pasta salad recipe right here for you.

This is recipe is pretty simple. You just need to cook the Rotini pasta (please use Rotini – it’s important for capturing the dressing and Salad Supreme Seasoning). While the pasta is cooking, cut up your broccoli, cherry tomatoes and black olives (optional). Then you mix everything together along with Kraft’s Zesty Italian Dressing and McCormick’s Salad Supreme Seasoning. Once you are all done, cover and place in the fridge to chill until served. You can make it the night before or early in the morning. Definitely chill it for at least 2 hours prior to serving though!

Serving Size: Approximately six adults

Equipment:

• Cutting Board
• Knife
• Pot (for cooking the Rotini pasta)
• Strainer
• Mixing Bowl
• Spoon

Ingredients:

• 1 Box of Rotini pasta (you can use whole wheat or gluten free if you’d like)
• 2 Crowns of broccoli
• 1 package of fresh cherry tomatoes
• 1 can of black olives (optional)
• My mom puts in a green pepper but my sister does not – so feel free to chop up a green pepper and toss that in too if you’d like
• 1 Bottle of Kraft’s Zesty Italian Dressing (the regular is SIGNIFICANTLY better than low-fat so I recommend getting that one)
• McCormick’s Salad Supreme Seasoning

Instructions:

1. Boil water and cook Rotini to instructions on the box
2. While the Rotini is cooking, cut up your veggies – I chop the broccoli into medium sized florets, halve the cherry tomatoes and olives and if you put a green pepper in there, chop it into about half inch squares
3. Combine pasta & veggies in a large mixing bowl
4. Add in Kraft Zesty Italian – this is to your discretion. I do NOT like my pasta salad overdressed. I prefer it very light, so I only add about a quarter to third of the bottle. You can add more or less depending on your tastes. While you are mixing in the dressing shake in the McCormick’s Salad Supreme. You will want to use a fair amount of this. It’s really good and adds to the flavor!
5. Cover and chill at min 2 hours but can be done the day before
6. Serve and enjoy!

Hope this is a big hit at a BBQ this summer for you! Also, check out these other recipes if you need more ideas for this weekend:

Wet Hair, Don’t Care’s Light Sangria

The BEST Baked Spinach Artichoke Dip!

Ham Appetillas (Ham Roll-Ups)

Homemade Restaurant-Style Salsa

Enjoy your weekend 🙂

Peace out,

Wet Hair, Don’t Care