BLT Pasta Salad turns a classically perfect flavor combo into a fun summer dish that everyone will rave about! Crispy bacon, lettuce, tomato, and rotini pasta are tossed in a creamy homemade dressing to create a flavor combo that you will not be able to get enough of.
This easy pasta salad recipe is great for any cookout or even as a lunch or light summer meal! Using homemade dressing makes this recipe next level!
I am sort of known as the pasta salad queen when it comes to cookouts, barbecues, or potlucks. I will almost always be bringing along a delicious cold pasta salad with me, whether it is a Italian Pasta Salad or a tangy Greek pasta salad!
When I created this BLT pasta salad recipe, I knew I was onto something. It was the first thing gone at our last barbecue and my family requested it again within the same week! I love using rotini pasta in this recipe, because the yummy dressing sneaks into the crevices. BLT bow tie pasta salad or even BLT tortellini salad (using cheese filled tortellini) are also great options if you feel like changing things up a little bit!
The pasta salad dressing for this recipe is a combination of ranch and mayonnaise. The ranch adds flavor while the mayonnaise makes it nice and creamy! While you can use a bottled ranch dressing, as with most recipe homemade tastes best so I always use a quick batch of my fave homemade ranch dressing. A few extra minutes but definitely worth the time!
This makes it the absolute perfect side dish, because you can easily make it ahead of time and bring it with you!
More Pasta Salads You Need In Your Life
- Cobb Pasta Salad – Fully Loaded!!
- Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad
- Bruschetta Orzo Pasta Salad – Garden fresh!
- Mexican Pasta Salad
- Dill Pickle Pasta Salad – Reader favorite!
- Creamy Cucumber Pasta Salad – Make ahead.
What To Put in Pasta Salad
This BLT pasta salad is seriously the bomb dot com. Not only are the classic BLT ingredients all there, but the addition of fresh avocados, cheddar cheese, and red onions really turns this into a legendary pasta salad recipe!
All pasta salads are super versatile, meaning you can add or remove just about anything you’d like. If you don’t eat pork, I have had success subbing the bacon out with turkey bacon in this BLT pasta salad. If you have produce you need to use up, peppers, carrots, celery, and onions all make great additions. The options are endless here! If you’re missing the bread from your favorite BLT sandwich, toss in a handful of croutons!
Just keep in mind that if you are adding any protein to your pasta salad, it will not last as long as if you omit it. Chicken will only last a couple days in the fridge, and bacon only lasts about 3. If you plan on making BLT pasta salad in advance, I would suggest making it within a day prior to the potluck or barbecue you plan to bring it to!
BLT Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 10 slices bacon cooked and crumbled, grease reserved
- 12 ounces rotini or penne, cooked and cooled
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ¾ cup ranch dressing
- 1 ½ cups diced fresh tomatoes
- ½ avocado diced
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- ⅓ cup diced red onion
- 1 cup chopped romaine lettuce
- chopped fresh parsley for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Whisk together mayonnaise, ranch dressing and 1 tablespoon bacon grease (optional).
- In a large bowl assemble the pasta, tomatoes, avocado, cheese, red onion, lettuce and bacon.
- Pour the dressing over and toss to combine.
- Garnish with parsley and serve.
Video
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Main Course
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REPIN this Easy Pasta Salad Recipe
Looks Delish…
I can’t wait to get recipes that are easy and cheap
Enjoy the recipes Cheryl! I’m sure you’ll find many that you’ll love.
A friend of mine owns her own catering company and she made your BLT salad for my daughter in law’s baby shower last year. It was so delicious that I just made it for my bbq tomorrow along with your chocolate chip cookie recipe. Both came out awesome. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes. Thank you.
Many thanks Victoria! I am so glad this recipe was well received!
Looks delicious! Can’t wait to try!
We can’t wait for you to try it either! Let us know what you think Emily!
Looking forward to making the pasta salad and others.
We have so many delicious pasta salads Susan! Can’t wait for you to try them!
Can you add The lettuce; tomatoes and avocado the night before?
If making the night before I would probably toss those when you plan to serve them, Bev. That will help keep the lettuce from getting soft and the avocado from browning.
How much dried parsley and dill, not finding FRESH
If you’re looking for the dried herbs for the dressing you’ll need about ⅓ the amount you’d use fresh. So 1 tablespoon fresh = about 1 teaspoon dry.
Loved this recipe.
So happy to hear that Gerica!
I am making this for a bridge luncheon!
Great idea for a bridge luncheon Diane. Enjoy!
This Salad was a big hit at our last dinner cookout with friends. It went so well with Hawaiian Chicken K-bobs and Cheesy Potatoes. Several friends asked for the recipe. It was easy to make and tasted wonderful. Next time I will try to make my own Ranch Dressing instead of using bottled dressing. I will definitely be making it again soon!
That sounds delicious Leigh! If you wanted to try making your own, we have a homemade ranch dressing recipe that may interest you!
Want to try something different
I hope you love this one when you try it Sandra!
Do not see your recipes on Facebook anymore. It has quite a long time
Ellen, I’m still there at Spend With Pennies on Facebook sharing great recipes that you’ll love!
im starting my cookbook
That’s awesome Steve, congrats!
This looks great.. can’t wait to try it.
It is delicious Nancy. Let us know what you think!
Love this
Thanks Carol!
I look forward to cooking some of these amazing recipes
Enjoy Monica! There are so many to choose from!
I like this link
Thanks Violet!
I made this salad and it was wonderful..thank you for sharing.
You’re welcome Deb! Glad you enjoyed it!
I made this recipe for a church function. It was a HIT! I highly recommend it.
That’s awesome Kendra! So happy to hear everyone loved it!!
Do you think a three cheese tortellini or a garlic, cheese and chicken tortellini would work great? Making it for a potluck and I think this would be amazing!
That definitely sounds amazing to me! You may also like to try my Tortellini Salad if you love tortellini salads!
Yummy
Thank you Cynthia!