Greek Pasta Salad
A Bright & Summery Delight
This is a vibrant Greek Pasta Salad bursting with Mediterranean flavors. Al dente pasta mingled with refreshing cucumber, juicy tomato, briny olives, crisp peppers, and zesty onion is all kissed by a tangy lemon dressing and a symphony of aromatic herbs and seasoning.
Top with creamy feta cheese for the perfect finishing touch.
This pasta salad is vegetarian but you can add roasted or grilled chicken if you like. A nice white bean would also be lovely in this salad to add some non-meat protein.
Need Help Finding and Saving The Recipe?
There is a full, printable recipe card at the end of this post for the Greek Pasta Salad and you can also hit the print button for the recipe to come up on one screen. From there you can screenshot this to save it to your phone.
I also have added a Pinterest button that you can use to save this recipe to your Pinterest page. If you would like to follow me on Pinterest, you can find me there as The Tipsy Housewife.
Worcestershire Powder
This Worcestershire Powder is an ingredient that is newer to me that I have been trying out in a few recipes. I am a big fan of the flavor of Worcestershire Sauce but there are some recipes where it adds too much liquid.
Additionally I found that it makes a killer Bloody Mary!
I also loved it in this recipe for Mediterranean Inspired Hamburger Pitas with Peppers and Onions because it sort of bound the meat together slightly, making a bit of a gravy which tasted delicious.
This powder provides great flavor to dressings by adding a hint of anchovies. You can omit this ingredient if you want to keep this vegetarian or do not like the taste of the powder.
This powder is also an essential ingredient in my Best Caesar Salad recipe.
I get this powder on Amazon and it is $11.
*That is my Amazon affiliate link, which means I get a commission if you use the link. Amazon pays this commission to me, and it costs you nothing extra.*
Season The Vegetables
The vegetables are seasoned and sit for a bit to get the optimal flavor from all the ingredients. This step adds extra flavor as the veggies make their own juice that taste great with the pasta.
Let The Dressing Sit
The seasonings are added to the lemon juice so that they blend into the dressing. This dressing sits for a bit so that the powders and dry herbs “melt” into it.
You can make this the night before and let it sit overnight for optimal flavor.
Rinse Your Pasta
I always rinse my pasta for pasta salads. This takes off the starch which would make the dressing in the salad clumpy and not good.
People like to say you NEVER rinse pasta, but this is only true for when you serve pasta HOT. For pasta salads, rinse the pasta.
If you love pasta salads, check out my recipe for Caesar Pasta Salad or Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Pasta Salad.
I don’t want to oversell this pasta salad, but I assume they serve in on pleasant, breezy summer days in heaven.
Or maybe Olympus, since it’s Greek.
Greek Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 16 ounce box of corkscrew pasta (cellantani pasta)
- 3 lemons
- 1 pint of grape tomatoes
- 1 red onion
- 1 seedless cucumber
- 1/2 cup sliced kalamata olives
- 1/2 cup of sliced pepperoncini peppers
- 1 cup of olive oil
- 6 ounces of crumbled feta cheese
- 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons of honey
- 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
- 1 teaspoon of celery salt
- 1/2 tablespoon of dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon of onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of Worcestershire powder (optional)
- 1 tablespoon of lemon pepper
- *pictures of products used are linked/shown in the post before the recipe card
- **measurements for seasonings are a suggestion and should be adjusted according to taste
Instructions
- Boil your pasta according to the package and cook al dente. Drain and rinse it with cold water.
- Peel and slice your cucumber into bite sized pieces.
- Chop your red onion into small, bite sized pieces.
- Chop the tomatoes.
- Add all the vegetables to a bowl along with the olives and the pepperoncini, and season lightly with celery salt, lemon pepper, a sprinkle of dried oregano and black pepper. Toss this all and let it sit to the side for a bit while you make the dressing. *I also add a tiny splash of the olive juice and pepper juice **you can also mix this all the night before and let it hang out in the fridge for optimal flavor from the vegetables.
- In a bowl, squeeze the lemons. You should have about 1 cup of lemon juice from the lemons. If you want it less lemony, add less lemon juice. Add the honey, oregano, celery salt, black pepper, lemon pepper, garlic powder and onion powder as well as the Worcestershire powder if you are suing it. Whisk this really well and let this sit for at least 15 minutes. You can also mix this up the night before and let it sit overnight on the counter to really combine the flavors.*the measurements of the spices are a suggestion, you can taste and adjust to your liking as you mix this up.
- When ready to assemble, add the olive oil to the lemon juice, and whisk well.
- Toss the veggies with the cooked pasta, then add your dressing and toss well to coat. You can serve immediately or let this hang in the fridge for an hour or so. When ready to serve, toss in the crumbled feta cheese.
For another awesome summer dish, try my Most Delicious Beef Skewers.
2 Comments
Nancy Bond
June 11, 2024 at 4:07 pm
This looks delicious and just the thing for our family reunion this summer!
Correen
June 12, 2024 at 5:50 pm
Yum…my mouth is watering as I type this. Printing and will be in my salad lineup for summer. T♥Y