This Sun Dried Tomato Pasta shines with fresh summer tomatoes and basil. A sun dried tomato dressing makes it an especially great salad for a picnic! (No mayo here!)
Sun Dried Tomato Pasta Salad is a Summertime Favorite
This happens every single August.
When we’re in the middle of a heat wave (check!) and I’m swimming in an overabundance of garden tomatoes and basil (check!), we make this Sun Dried Tomato Pasta.
My whole family loves it, even my un-salad husband. Which is definitely a testimony to how wonderful this pasta salad truly is.
This recipe is bursting with summer flavor. And with a sun dried tomato vinaigrette, certainly a great choice for toting along to a picnic.
Our oldest daughter made this pasta salad again just this past week. We packed it in a cooler, along with some fresh fruit and cold drinks. It was one of the most memorable lunches of this summer, as I sat at a picnic table under big ol’ shade trees with our daughters and their friends.
*Here are a few more salad recipes I’m loving right now: This past week, I’ve had two friends text me photos as they’re making this Grilled Vegetable Salad – have you tried it yet?! Our girls are especially fond of this Grilled Chicken and Lemon Orzo Salad. And this Pineapple Fruit Salad makes such a fun (and delicious!) presentation for a special brunch!
This Salad is Great for a Picnic
We can all use a few go-to salad recipes that can stand the heat of a summer picnic. Right?!
Well this pasta salad is one of them, incorporating a beautifully tasty sun dried tomato dressing. No mayo in this one, my friends!
I first made this salad for a friend’s bridal shower many years ago. A bunch of us girls met at St. Croix Vineyards, near Stillwater, MN. We enjoyed some wine tasting in their beautiful old barn, and then a picnic lunch under a canopy of shade trees.
One friend brought a tasty Asian noodle salad and I came bearing this sun dried tomato pasta salad. For the occasion, I girlied it up a bit by using the very pretty campanelle pasta. The salad was a big hit, and I’ve been making it ever since!
What Pasta Shape to use for this Pasta Salad Recipe?
Our girls like to use the super fun cavatappi noodles, as my photos show. Its curliness is so much fun.
Rotini would also be a great choice. I just recommend a larger pasta shape – use whatever you like!
How to use Sun Dried Tomatoes
This pasta salad gets a double-dose of sun dried tomato goodness. Chop some sun dried tomatoes and add them to the salad, for chewy bites of flavor and texture. And then blitz a few more sun dried tomatoes into the dressing, using either a blender or an immersion blender. It’s so good!
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Sun Dried Tomato Pasta
Ingredients
Dressing
- ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large garlic clove, diced
- 1 teaspoon capers
- 2 teaspoons Morton kosher salt
- ¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pasta Salad
- 1 pound cavatappi pasta, or another large, fun/pretty pasta such as campanelle
- 1 pound cherry tomatoes, quartered
- ¾ cup pitted kalamata olives, sliced in half
- 2 teaspoons capers
- 1 pound fresh mozzarella, cut into ½" pieces (or just use mozzarella pearls)
- ⅓ cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
- 1 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup packed fresh basil leaves, julienned
- ⅓ cup toasted pine nuts
Instructions
- Dressing: Combine sun-dried tomatoes, vinegar, olive oil, garlic, capers, salt, and pepper in a blender or food processor until almost smooth. An immersion blender also works great.
- Pasta Salad: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta to al dente according to package directions. Add pasta to a colander in the sink and run cold water over it to cool. Drain well, shaking away excess water.
- Place pasta in a large bowl and add the tomatoes, olives, capers, mozzarella, and chopped sun-dried tomatoes.
- Pour prepared dressing over pasta salad ingredients. Fold to combine evenly. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, basil, and pine nuts; toss well.
- This salad keeps well, so you can make it early in the day or even the day before. Just wait to add the Parmesan, basil, and pine nuts until just before serving.
Notes
Nutrition Information:
If you like this sun dried tomato pasta recipe, you might like:
Here are a few recipes I’d like to try: Asian Almond Slaw Salad from Aggie’s Kitchen, because I’m always up for a new slaw recipe. Southwest Salad with Avocado Dressing from Recipe Girl. And this Caribbean Chicken Salad with Mango Dressing from Well Plated by Erin looks delicious!
This post was previously published in 2010. It was updated in 2016, and again in 2018.
Perfect easy diner recipe! Thanks so much for sharing! Always love what you cook! :)
This is the kind of pasta dish I could eat for all three meals!
This is actually the prettiest pasta EVER! I am a sucker for both carbs and ANYTHING with sun-dried tomatoes, so this is going on my dinner menu!
MMMMMMM….this sounds like a delightful dinner! Love those tomatoes!
Pasta and sundries tomatoes were made for each other. Color and flavor they always win hands down :)
Hey girl This is right up my alley! Yummy!
I honestly haven’t tasted a pasta better. My mouth waters thinking about it! Brenda, you should be selling this recipe!
Thanks Kristen, I’m so glad Jessica shared with you! :-)
The first time you made this salad for me, I believe neither of us had children yet. I remember making this salad, and bringing it to lunch at work all week long. I really miss this salad! Now that my kids are older, and they definitely appreciate bold flavors, I will be making this salad soon. I put the ingredients on my shopping list…look out weekend…awesome pasta salad is in the forecast!
Your get-together sounded lovely and your pasta looks so appetizing!