Greek Pasta Salad Recipe | Joyful Healthy Eats -

A quick 30-minute Greek Tortellini Pasta Salad filled with fresh crunchy vegetables and tossed in a homemade vinaigrette for one light and refreshing bite. It’ll become your new favorite side dish for cookouts or salad to have on hand during the week.

Healthy Greek Pasta Salad

Packed with crunchy veggies, this Greek pasta salad with homemade vinaigrette will give you a taste of the Mediterranean. Served straight out of the fridge, you’ll love that you don’t have to worry about reheating it before it hits the table.

Loaded with cheesy store-bought tortellini, there’s barely any actual cooking involved for this recipe— which is perfect for the summer. Once your veggies are tossed, every bowl will be a colorful party of artichokes, red peppers, olives, and cucumbers. After that, whisk the herby mustard-vinaigrette and you’re done. Easy!

Made with simple ingredients, there’s no way this chilled pasta salad won’t be a hit at all your upcoming cookouts. Ready in only 30 minutes, your guests will wonder how you managed to pack so many Greek flavors into one refreshing bite.

Close-up of spoonful of Greek pasta salad.

Why You’ll Love This Easy Tortellini Recipe

Here are all the reasons why this recipe is perfect for the summer:

Chilled. Served straight out of the fridge, this easy salad will become your go-to recipe since there’s no need to reheat it for serving.
Crowd-pleaser. Simple but loaded with flavor (and cheesy tortellini), this cold pasta salad will be a hit at all your gatherings.
Prep-friendly. Chop the veggies, prepare the dressing, or boil the tortellini in advance to get a head start for the week.
Light. Packed with fresh veggies, pasta salad doesn’t get any lighter or more refreshing than this.

What You’ll Need

This salad is packed with healthy Greek-inspired ingredients like olives, cucumbers, and olive oil. Check the recipe card at the bottom of the post for full ingredient amounts.

For the Salad

Hothouse cucumber – Feel free to use 2 Persian cucumbers instead. You can also use 1/2 regular cucumber if you remove the seeds.
Canned artichokes
Yellow pepper – Green, orange, or red bell peppers are good swaps.
Roasted red peppers – These are usually canned or jarred. Rinse them well before using.
Cherry tomatoes – If you don’t have any, remove the seeds from a medium-sized heirloom tomato, dice it, and throw it right in.
Kalamata olives – Make sure they’re pitted.
Onions – Red onions are best for this. Don’t use white or yellow onion.
Cheese tortellini – Use your favorite!

For the Dressing

Garlic – Don’t use garlic powder.
Fresh oregano – If you’re using dried oregano, reduce the amount by half.
Fresh basil
Dijon mustard – Don’t use yellow mustard.
Raw honey – It needs to be 100% bee honey. Sugary syrups don’t work for this recipe.
Red wine vinegar
Olive oil – Don’t use vegetable, corn, or canola oil, please.
Salt

How to Make Greek Pasta Salad

Once you boil the tortellini, all you have to do is toss the salad. It’s easy!

Prepare the tortellini. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Season it with salt. Add the tortellini. Stir occasionally so they don’t stick. Cook according to package instructions or until “al dente.” Remove them from the pot, strain, and set them aside. Chill them completely before tossing the salad.

Make the dressing. Add the garlic, oregano, basil, dijon mustard, honey, red wine vinegar, and olive oil to a medium-sized bowl. Add salt to taste. Whisk until the oil and vinegar no longer separated. It should look relatively creamy because of the mustard. Set the dressing aside.

Adding the chilled tortellini to the veggies.

Toss it. Place the artichoke, yellow pepper, roasted red pepper, cherry tomatoes, Kalamata olives, and sliced onions in a large mixing bowl. Pour in the dressing. Add the chilled tortellini. Toss gently until completely combined. Serve immediately and enjoy.

Tips for Success

From ingredient swaps to adding protein and more cheese, these easy tips will help you take your pasta salad to the next level.

Keep an eye on the pot. Don’t wander off once the tortellini hit the pot. Keep a close eye on them and remove them from the heat when they’re just al dente. Rinse them under cold water immediately to stop the cooking process. This will help them stay intact and not soften too much.
Add more cheese. You can never have too much cheese, so feel free to crumble in 1/4-1/2 cup of feta to taste.
Add protein. Leftover rotisserie chicken, grilled turkey, and grilled shrimp are great ways to add protein to this recipe. To keep things vegetarian, use grilled tofu.
Use ravioli. If you’re out of tortellini, you can use ravioli instead for an equally cheesy bite.
Use store-bought. The homemade vinaigrette is amazing, but don’t worry if you don’t have time to make it. An organic or high-quality store-bought vinaigrette also gets the job done when you’re in a rush.

Is This Pasta Salad Served Hot or Cold?

This pasta salad should be served cold or at room temperature. Heating this salad makes the veggies lose their crunch and spoil a lot faster, so don’t do it.

What Goes with Pasta Salad?

This Greek pasta salad is best with lean proteins like chicken, turkey, or fish. For chicken recipes, try my Bacon Wrapped Chicken Breast or Chicken Kabobs. For turkey, I love my Turkey Meatball Gyro with Tzatziki. If you want to pair it with fish, try my Honey Garlic Salmon or Pan Seared Sea Bass.

To complete the meal, you can serve everything with another veggie side option like my Air Fryer Asparagus, Instant Pot Corn on the Cob, or Air Fryer Green Beans.

Plate of pasta salad with salad bowl on the side.

How to Store Extras

Since it’s an all-veggie pasta salad, it lasts longer than recipes with chicken or other kinds of protein in them. Refrigerate it in an airtight container for up to 6 days. Discard it if it begins to taste sour or bitter.

More Greek-Inspired Recipes

Greek Tortellini Pasta Salad

Description

This 30-minute Greek Tortellini Pasta Salad tossed in homemade vinaigrette will become your favorite side dish this summer with a Mediterranean flair.

Scale

Ingredients

For the Salad:

1 hothouse cucumber, halved and thinly sliced
14 oz. can quartered artichokes, roughly chopped
1 yellow pepper, diced
2 roasted red peppers, diced
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
3/4 cup halved kalamata olives
1/2 cup sliced onions
2 20oz cheese tortellini packages

For the Greek Dressing:

1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chiffoned
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
salt to taste

Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Season boiling water with salt.
Add cheese tortellini to the water. Stir so tortellini don’t stick. Cook pasta according to package instructions. (about 7-9 minutes) Remove tortellini from water and drain. Rinse under cold water. Let chill in refrigerator while you are preparing the other ingredients.
To a large bowl add chopped artichoke, yellow pepper, roasted red pepper, cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives and sliced onions. Set aside.
To a small bowl add minced garlic, fresh oregano, fresh basil, dijon mustard, honey, red wine vinegar, olive oil and salt to taste. Whisk together until emulsified (the oil and vinegar no longer separate) and you have a dressing.
Add chilled tortellini to bowl with the chopped vegetables. Pour the dressing over top and gently toss to coat everything with the sauce. Serve.