Not only is pasta salad so simple to make, but it is also always delicious and very affordable to make for a group of people. Plus, I find that half of the time I already have everything I need at my house to throw it together in a pinch.
You can also make the pasta salad up a day ahead of time if you need to and it will turn out perfectly fine, not to mention it allows those flavors to develop even more!
Another reason people love to make pasta salad is that it is so versatile. You can change up the flavors and have a completely different dish! Some of our favorites are our Best Creamy Pasta Salad Recipe, Copycat Hug-Hes Chicken Pasta Salad recipe, and this super delicious Strawberry Balsamic Spinach Pasta Salad.
We’ve made preparing for this classic summer spaghetti salad simple by giving you the lists below telling you exactly what you need:
Easy ingredients for cold pasta salad:
- Thin spaghetti noodles
- Roma tomatoes
- Zucchini
- Yellow zucchini squash
- Green bell pepper
- Red bell pepper
- Red onion
- Cucumber
- Sliced olives
- Block cheddar cheese
- Italian dressing (one like THIS)
- Grated parmesan cheese
- Paprika
- Garlic powder
- Salad supreme (Like THIS kind or can be found at a grocery store too!)
If you like knowing exactly what you are eating you could even make your own Italian dressing! You can even make it in a matter of minutes with this easy homemade Italian dressing recipe from The Whole Cook.
You will need these items for this favorite family recipe:
- Large pot
- Strainer
- Knife
- Cutting board
- Large mixing bowl
- Small mixing bowl
- Tongs
CHECK OUT YOUR NEW FAVORITE RECIPE BOOK!
Our most popular cookbook – Dinner Made Easy – is all about quick, easy, and delicious family dinner entrees. We did all the organization, all the taste-testing with picky kids, and all the hacks to cut the prep time so that you can focus on spending more time with your family.
Every recipe has a beautiful mouth-watering photo and has been picky-eater approved. The directions are simple, easy to follow, and do not require any strange ingredients.
The complete family meal game plan in this cookbook is arranged in seven popular categories:
30 Minutes or Less including recipes for: Skillet Pork Lo Mein, Parmesan Pork Chops, and Ham and Pineapple Pizza Roll-ups.
5 Ingredients or Less including recipes for: Easy Gnocchi Casserole, Sweet and Tangy Meatballs, and Baked Sloppy Joes.
Pantry Essentials including recipes for: Seven-Can Tortilla Soup, Crispy Coconut Strips with Pina Colada Dipping Sauce and French Dip Crescents.
Slow Cooker including recipes for: Honey Garlic Chicken, Tuscan Soup, and Mongolian Beef.
Freezer Meals including recipes for: Kung Pao Chicken, Country-Style BBQ Spareribs, and Beef and Mushrooms.
One Pan, One Pot including recipes for: One-Dish Baked Fajitas, Sunrise Skillet, and Mushroom Asparagus Chicken Stir Fry.
Casseroles including recipes for: Cheesy Chicken Quinoa Casserole, Country Breakfast Casserole, and John Wayne Casserole.
We are so excited to share these recipes with you. Order your copy today!
DINNER MADE EASY with Six Sisters’ Stuff <—– Click here to order!
FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE THE BEST POTLUCK SIDE DISH!
To start, cook the spaghetti according to the directions on the package.
When the pasta is done cooking, drain it, then rinse it in cold water. This will stop the cooking process of the noodles.
Then, dice up the Roma tomatoes, zucchini, yellow zucchini squash, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, red onion, and cucumber.
When it is all cut up, place the veggies in a large mixing bowl.
Once the noodles are cooled, move them to the bowl with the chopped up vegetables and mix them together well.
Next, in a small bowl, mix together the Italian salad dressing, grated parmesan cheese, paprika, and the garlic powder until everything is well combined.
After it is mixed, pour the Italian dressing mixture over top of the spaghetti and vegetables and mix it all together.
Then, sprinkle the salad supreme spice over top, cover the bowl and let the pasta salad sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving it.
P.S. The longer it sits during the day the better it is! Those flavors will begin to meld together and taste even more AMAZING!
Wondering what to serve with this pasta salad?
Here are some delicious Six Sisters’ Stuff recipes:
Fall off the Bone BBQ Ribs
Grilled Huli Huli Chicken
Grilled Lemon Chicken
More ways to make a pasta salad!
Our YouTube Channel is packed with lots of great recipes that you and your family will love! Even those tricky picky eaters. Plus we make the recipes easy to follow since we start each one and go through from start to finish.
This is how easy it is to make Spaghetti Salad:
All you are going to do is add these ingredients. My trick is to cut them up small. Then you can get more vegetables or cheese in one bite!
What you need:
- thin spaghetti, broke into 3-4″ pieces
- Roma tomatoes, diced
- zucchini, diced
- yellow zucchini squash, diced
- green pepper, diced
- red pepper, diced
- red onion, diced
- cucumber, diced
- olives, drained
- cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes
How to cook the pasta for Spaghetti Salad:
- People like their pasta cooked differently. For me, I like it just a little firm so it won’t turn to mush when you mix it. You have to remember that when cooking the pasta, it is angel hair, so it cooks pretty fast! Watch it and make sure it isn’t too over done!
- Make sure when cooking pasta, you season it with salt. Not only does it make it boil faster, it makes your pasta taste delicious!
- Also add 3 Tablespoons of olive oil as your water is boiling. This will make the pasta not stick together. No one likes big chunks of pasta.
- Wait until you have a nice boil before adding your pasta! That will make sure the oil is spread around the water so it will spread evenly around the noodles.
Watch how to make Spaghetti Salad HERE (Video)HERE
SO MANY PASTA SALAD RECIPES TO MAKE AND LOVE:
- PIZZA PASTA SALAD
- TORTELLINI PASTA SALAD
- ITALIAN CHICKEN PASTA SALAD RECIPE
- GREEK PASTA SALAD
- GRILLED CHICKEN BOW TIE PASTA SALAD
Spaghetti Salad
Ingredients
- 16 ounces spaghetti noodles
- 3 Roma tomatoes
- 1 zucchini squash
- 1 yellow zucchini squash
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 red onion
- 1 cucumber
- 5.5 ounces sliced olives
- 8 ounces cheddar cheese cut into small cubes
Dressing
- 16 ounces Italian dressing
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Topping
- 1 teaspoon Salad Supreme Seasoning
Instructions
- Cook spaghetti according to package directions, then rinse in cold water and drain. Set aside and let cool.
- Place tomatoes, zucchini, squash, peppers, onion, cucumber, olives, and cheese in a large bowl.
- Add cooled spaghetti noodles and mix well.
- In a small bowl, mix together the salad dressing, Parmesan cheese, paprika, and garlic powder.
- Pour on top of the spaghetti and vegetables and mix until combined.
- Sprinkle the top with Salad Supreme.
- Let sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving (this salad gets better with time, as the flavors meld together).
Recipe Details
Follow Six Sisters’ Stuff on Instagram |Facebook |Pinterest | YouTube
If you made our recipe be sure to tag us on Instagram so we can see your hard work using #sixsistersstuff.
Want to save time in the kitchen? Make 8 Freezer Meals in 1 Hour!
Learn More-
I have been making this for years without the cheese and I use . Trio Italiano pasta instead of spaghetti
-
I think that it would work great! The flavor is amazing and I think that it would still taste delicious!
-
I love this salad. I also make it using spaghetti squash instead of pasta. It uses much less Italian dressing and it's gluten free.
-
Try shredded up cooked zucchini instead of pasta all together
-
I made this today and it's outstanding! I used a dry mix and made my Zesty Italian salad dressing instead. It made so much I tried 3 of my biggest bowls and still had trouble tossing it.....love love love this recipe. Thank you very much!!!
-
I made this a few nights ago and it is outstanding. Only thing I did was to leave the zucchini and yellow squash out cause we really don't care for them. Also, when I first made it I didn't have the Salad Supreme but it was still great. Then the next day I went and got the Salad Supreme and it was great with it also. I also think that the Robusto Italian Wishbone dressing made it extra tasty instead of just regular Italian dressing. Try this, you won't be disappointed. :)
-
Can this be served warm as a main dish for picky eaters that don't like having salad type foods for dinner? I can't wait to try it. It looks so good. Thank you for all the recipes. I have loved all of them i've tried.
-
Does anyone have nutritional info for this?? I am on a very limited diet, and having that would let me know if I Can eat this. anyone? Please advise :)
-
WHAT BUTTON is the MAGIC BUTTON to SEE the NUTRITIONAL INFO... nothing's labeled "MAGIC BUTTON"... Pretty sure I tried them all... can't find the MAGIC!! Js.
-
Do you peel the zuchinni, yellow squash and cucumber for the salad?
-
-
-
Hi, I was wondering how far in advance this could be made? It looks delicious:)
-
Love this pasta salad.
-
Is it necessary to cook the veggies at all before tossing with the pasta?
-
Love this old school recipe...been making it for years! Change the veggies up depending on what's in the frig or who is in the crowd!
-
I make this with gluten free pasta and it is so good! Thanks so much for the direction to the magic button for nutrition information!!! My daughter is diabetic and I will be checking out all of the recipes on your site for sure now that I can get the carb counts. Thanks a bunch!!
-
When I try to copy your recipes for my personal use, I get a message that they are copyrighted and to watch something, but all I ever get is a black square.
-
I always thought this was a my family thing! People always think I'm nuts when I say Spaghetti Salad! I even use the same Wishbone Robusto when I made it, its just not the same otherwise
-
I like to add mini pepperonis to it.
-
Would basil be good in this salad?
-
-
i've been making this for years, but i don't use zucchini, olives and all the cheese(though i have used cheese in my personal serving). i do use baby carrots that i use a small blender to turn into bits, bacon, pepper flakes and chicken breast diced, along with wheat noodles. for my personal serving i add soy and sriracha sauce, it's really good.
-
I've been making this for over 30 years, and it really tastes wonderful with cubed/sliced pepperoni or salami too. Thanks for reminding me of this wonderful oldie goldie of a recipe for summer coming!
-
This pasta salad turned out amazing! I loved that I had most of the veggies at home from my garden and I was trying to find a recipe to use them in and this one looked delicious. I didn't add onion or olives since I don't care for them and I was skeptical to add the zucchini and squash uncooked but it tasted great! I will definitely be making this again real soon!!!!
-
Hi there. This looks yummy. I need a side dish for 60 and this would be perfect. How many of these recipes would you suggest I make for 60?
-
I make this and use zucchini noodles in place of the pasta. Yum!
-
Can I use cooked ham pepperoni too
-
Hi there, This recipe looks great! Just a question: what ingredients would I use to make just a basic Italian salad dressing for this? I haven't heard of that brand of dressing either, where do you get it? Thanks!
-
Hello I was wondering could I add 1tsp of salad supreme and 1 tsp Johnny's seasoning or that would be too much seasoning ?
-
What is johnnys seasoning??
-
-
I was at a party, there was a 3 bean salad, it had olives, red/green onions cucumber eggs , kidney bean, chilli bean, I cant remember the last bean, salad mixed with Mayo,tang of mustard has anyone heard of this other bean/ Idea for another Ingredient? Thank you
-
How much is a serving size
-
I bring this to pot lucks and it's always a hit.
-
I love this recipe so much!! My aunt used to make this when I was a kid and I have been searching for years! It tastes just like she used to make it. Thanks for sharing!
-
What size pasta do you use??
-
Do you peel the cucumber & zucchini?
-
Been making this salad since the 80’s. My dressing is slightly different. I use the Italian dressing with a whole 2 oz bottle of McCormicks salad supreme. Doesn’t need any other spices. It’s so versatile because you can vary types of pasta and vegetables to your liking. Makes a large amount for a crowd. Can make it a day ahead. Last a few days before vegetables get soft. Delicious!
-
Delicious, beautiful and great for a gathering! I even enjoy a bowlful for breakfast!
-
I made this for the first time. It's delicious. I used about 2/3 jar of the dressing and added some olive oil. I left out the cheddar cheese, increased the parmesan cheese and added parsley. Went to family reunion potluck. It was perfect and everyone loved it
-
Oh know! Everybody leaves great reviews and it turned out so great for them! Mine has a very powerful garlic taste and I measured everything! How can I fix it? Ough it looks amazing but the taste is not there! 😕