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!
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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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How many days does this last
Hi Dianne, this will last about 3 days in the fridge.
I’m going to definitely have to try this salad, sounds amazing! I always seem to end up on your page when searching for recipes and I’ve not been disappointed with anything I’ve tried, so thank you so much for sharing all your wonderful recipes.
Thank you for your kind words Elizabeth, I’m so glad you’ve loved the recipes!
Is this 8 servings as a main dish or 8 as a side dish? I want to make this as a side dish for about 15 people.
Hi Emily, each serving will be approximately 1½ cups. Hope that helps!
this is fantastic warmed up for leftovers too!!!
We made a very very similar blt pasta salad at a restaurant I used to work at. We prepped everything then added the dressing before serving. We didn’t put avocado in ours though. Everyone loved it.
I made this pasta salad with bow pasta and i dint had Avocado it was so Delicious my Husband even complimented on this .Next day I add a little Olive Oil .yummy
Hi. This looks lovely. Can you tell me if the calories are per serving? So if you have 2 ‘servings’ is it over 1000 calories? I hope not because I could probably eat it all haha x
The recipe makes 8 servings and each serving is 502 calories. Enjoy it Lenki!
Can this recipe be made a day ahead?
Yes it can, I would suggest keeping the lettuce separate and adding it just before serving.
This looks delicious!
Everything looks deliscious
Love recipes
Everything looks so fresh & good…..
love salads..
Love pasta salads.fawe
Looking forward to more recipes
Love salad could eat this every day.
Recipes are fantastic! Can’t wait to try the others!!❤️
Can I make dressing the day before? Do u add bacon grease warm?
You can make the dressing ahead of time. Yes, the bacon grease should be added warm so it’s a liquid.
Love the fresh recipes!
This look awesome and can not wait to try. But how do you make homemade ranch dressing?
We have an easy homemade ranch dressing recipe here you can try Dawn!
looks delicious can hardly wait to try this recipe