Spaghetti Salad is a simple pasta salad side dish, perfect for barbecues or potlucks.
Tender spaghetti is tossed with juicy ripe tomatoes, crisp cucumbers and peppers, and red onions, it’s all mixed in a favorite dressing and topped with cheese!
This side salad is packed with healthy veggies and overflowing with texture, crunch, and tangy flavors. Everyone raves about this dish!
A cold spaghetti salad is also a great way to use leftover spaghetti without having to serve the same dish twice in a row! You can always set some aside when making a spaghetti pie or spaghetti and meatballs.
- It’s great for potlucks since it’s best made ahead of time.
- It’s easy to make and uses simple ingredients.
- Use any veggies you’d like and swap up the dressing to whatever is in your fridge.
- It’s perfect for leftover pasta (any shape will work!).
- Everyone loves this easy recipe!
Ingredients
- Pasta – Since this is spaghetti salad, so we use spaghetti as the pasta, but really, any type of pasta works. You may need to adjust the dressing based on the type of pasta used.
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Add-Ins – We add lots of fresh veggies to this recipe. Choose a variety of flavors, textures, and colors for the best salad.
- Green bell pepper, yellow or red bell pepper, grape or cherry tomatoes, black olives
- Dressing – To make this salad extra fast, use bottled dressing. If time allows, make a homemade Greek dressing.
Variations
The ingredients in this salad are inspired by our favorite Greek salad. Swap the Greek dressing for Italian salad dressing (and the feta cheese for parmesan cheese) to change the flavor into an Italian spaghetti salad (and add some mini pepperoni)!
How to Make Spaghetti Salad
Get out your biggest cutting board and sharpen your chef’s knife, because there’s a bit of chopping in this cold spaghetti pasta salad recipe. Don’t worry, it’s easy!
- Cook Pasta: Cook the spaghetti noodles until al dente, drain and rinse with cold water.
- Chop Veggies: While the pasta is cooking, chop the vegetables per the recipe below.
- Toss & Chill: Toss the pasta with the veggies and dressing. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
- Serve: Sprinkle with cheese and serve.
Top with lots of cheese and some fresh herbs! This dish tastes best if left to refrigerate for at least two hours before serving. Making it the perfect salad to make ahead of time!
Tips For a Great Spaghetti Salad
- Salt the pasta water and do not overcook the pasta.
- For quick slicing cherry or grape tomatoes, place them on a cutting board and place a dinner plate over the tomatoes. Hold the plate with one hand and use your longest and sharpest knife to slice the tomatoes in half horizontally.
- Cut the veggies 1/4-inch so you get a bit of everything with every bite!
- Dress the salad very generously, the pasta will soak up the dressing as it sits.
- Swap out the Greek dressing for your favorite Italian dressing.
- Prep ahead, like most pasta salad recipes, this recipe is best if it sits for a few hours before serving.
Serving Suggestions
Cold spaghetti salad is a tangy side dish that pairs up well with a meaty and savory main. Top it with chicken kabobs or grilled shrimp. Serve it on the side with pulled pork, barbecued ribs, or hamburgers for a tasty meal.
8 More Easy Pasta Salad Recipes
- Easy Greek Pasta Salad – prepare in under 20 minutes
- Caprese Pasta Salad
- Easy Orzo Pasta Salad
- Italian Pasta Salad – just 3 simple steps.
Favorite Spaghetti Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound spaghetti
- ¾ English cucumber diced
- 1 pint grape tomatoes halved
- 1 cup bell pepper any color, diced
- ¼ cup sliced pitted olives black olives or kalamata olives
- ⅓ cup crumbled feta cheese more to taste
- ¼ cup red onion diced
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley
Dressing
- 1 cup Greek salad dressing
OR
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon honey
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ⅓ cup olive oil
Instructions
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If making homemade dressing, combine all ingredients except oil in a bowl. Slowly drizzle oil while whisking. Set aside.
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Cook spaghetti in a large pot of salted water until al dente according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water.
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Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Add dressing and toss.
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Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Pasta, Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine Greek
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awesome recipe, it’s a crowd pleaser. feeds a lot of people.
Loved this recipe! Used left over spaghetti pasta & the 2nd suggested dressing recipe. Didn’t have any black olives or Kalamata olives, so I left them out. It was very good even without those two ingredients!! I definitely will be using this recipe again and again!
So happy you enjoyed it, Kathleen!
This passage dish is scrumptious! it was a little dry so I doubled the dressing recipe!! Perfect!! Definitely making it again.