afelia's kitchen
Everyone needs a good basic pasta salad recipe right? And this Rainbow Pasta Salad is my go to recipe. Perfect for summer days when you want to rustle up a light lunch or dinner and don’t want to spend ages over a cooker in the unbearable heat.
If you want variations on the dressing, why not try adding some English mustard, salad cream or garlic powder? Or how about making it healthier by replacing half the mayo with seasoned Greek yoghurt? I do this quite a lot and it tastes great with fewer calories, just make sure you season the yoghurt if you plan on doing this.
I’ve used salami in the recipe but you can leave it out, or make it totally vegetarian by adding a few boiled and chopped eggs. You can always chop and change this recipe to suit your taste buds, if you don’t like something replace it with another ingredient, if you like something a lot eg. red onion, pepper etc add more.
Simple right? So let’s get started!
You will need: for Rainbow Pasta Salad
250g dried pasta (I used fusilli)
1/2 can sweetcorn (large size tins, or use a small can)
1/3 cucumber diced
1/2 red pepper diced
1/2 carrot diced
1/4 red onion diced
salami diced (optional)
mayonnaise (to taste)
pepper
salt (if needed)
Method:
1. Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet, add 1/2 tsp of salt and a little oil to the boiling water to season and separate the pasta while it cooks. After cooking, drain and rinse with cold water to stop the pasta clumping.
2. Dice all the veggies and salami (if you are using this). If time permits, lightly fry the salami as it brings out a better flavour and texture, use in the recipe once cooled.
3. Place all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and add mayonnaise (I don’t measure this and eyeball it, roughly about 8 tbsp though) and black pepper to taste, mix through and serve. Depending on how creamy you like the salad to be you can use less or more mayo, or substitute some of it for Greek yoghurt or salad cream. Serves 3 – 4, depending on portion size. Enjoy!
Enjoy this pasta salad on its own or as part of a larger spread, it makes a great side for barbecues and parties!
- 250g dried pasta (I used fusilli)
- ½ can sweetcorn (large size tins, or use a small can)
- ⅓ cucumber diced
- ½ red pepper diced
- ½ carrot diced
- ¼ red onion diced
- salami diced (optional)
- mayonnaise (to taste)
- pepper
- salt (if needed)
- Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet, add ½ tsp of salt and a little oil to the boiling water to season and separate the pasta while it cooks. After cooking, drain and rinse with cold water to stop the pasta clumping.
- Dice all the veggies and salami (if you are using this). If time permits, lightly fry the salami as it brings out a better flavour and texture, use in the recipe once cooled.
- Place all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and add mayonnaise (I don't measure this and eyeball it, roughly about 8 tbsp though) and black pepper to taste, mix through and serve. Depending on how creamy you like the salad to be you can use less or more mayo, or substitute some of it for Greek yoghurt or salad cream. Serves 3 - 4, depending on portion size. Enjoy!
If you like the recipe please share with friends and family, also follow me on Facebook and Instagram. Questions? Leave a comment below or message me on Facebook.
Kheira UmmAdam
This is my now go to for family picnics and simple lunches in the garden. Thanks !
Ripa
Can u make the traditional egg pasta with tumeric want to make it for eid
afelia’s kitchen
I’ll try to add one as soon as I can. x
Jasmine Miah
Made this pasta salad for a family BBQ and I must say although it was a little time consuming chopping all the ingredients into little diced shapes, oddly I found it rather therapeutic and I loved all the colours, taste, flavour and how simple it was to make this! It’s a recipe I will be using again and again and again!
S Begum
Love this recipe. Thankyou. JazakAllah khair sister.
afelia’s kitchen
Glad you like it! 🙂