Pesto Pasta Salad is the perfect quick and tasty side dish! Made with flavorful pesto, spiral noodles, fresh mozzarella, and juicy cherry tomatoes.

Pasta salad is my favorite summer side dish! It’s quick to put together, can be made in advance, and goes well with about any main dish! For years my go-to pasta salad was my Supreme Pasta Salad. I love that salad but decided I should branch out and try some new flavors so I came up with this easy and delicious Pesto Pasta Salad.

This pasta salad was inspired by my recent purchase of pesto from Costco. It’s kept in the refrigerated section so it’s super fresh and tasty. It’s the best pesto I’ve had so far! Feel free to make your own pesto if you prefer! I added spiral noodles, juicy cherry tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella pearls. I highly recommend using fresh mozzarella but if you need to use regular mozzarella that will work too. Just cut that into cubes.

I added a little salt and pepper and that was all it needed! It’s the perfect side dish to take to a barbecue or picnic. We enjoyed this with grilled chicken for dinner and it was amazing!

For variation, you can add different colors of cherry tomatoes, peas, cucumbers, bell peppers, basil, or whatever ingredient you think would go well to add.

Enjoy!

**For a variation of this recipe check out–> CHICKEN PESTO PASTA SALAD ** 

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Yield: 6-8 servings

Pesto Pasta Salad

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Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 12 oz. (about 4 cups) rotini or fusilli, uncooked
• 1 cup pesto
• 10 oz. (about 2 cups) cherry tomatoes halved
• 8 oz. fresh mozzarella pearls (or fresh mozzarella cut into cubes)
• salt and pepper to taste (kosher salt is preferred)
• optional: olive oil

Instructions

1. Cook the pasta according to instructions on the package, making sure the water is salted. Once cooked, drain and rinse with cold water. Shake out any excess water.
2. Place pasta in a large bowl and stir in the pesto. Fold in the tomatoes and mozzarella. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add olive oil if mixture seems dry.
3. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Before serving, stir.
4. Keeps in fridge for up to 1 week.

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