by Holly
Spaghetti Salad is a simple pasta salad side dish, perfect for barbecues or grilling out. Tender spaghetti is tossed with juicy ripe tomatoes, crisp cucumbers and peppers and olives, it’s all mixed in our favorite dressing and topped with cheese!
This side salad is packed healthy veggies and overflowing with texture, crunch and tangy flavors. Everyone raves about this dish!
A cold spaghetti salad is also a great way to use leftover spaghetti without having to serve the same dish twice in a row! You can always set some aside when making a Spaghetti Pie or classic Spaghetti and Meatballs.
How to Make Spaghetti Salad
Get out your biggest cutting board and sharpen your chef’s knife, because there’s a bit of chopping and slicing involved in this cold spaghetti pasta salad recipe. Don’t worry, it’s easy!
- Cook the spaghetti al dente, drain and rinse with cold water.
- Combine the pasta with all the sliced and chopped veggies.
- Pour on the bottled or homemade greek dressing or Italian dressing, and stir well to coat the noodles.
Top with lots of cheese and some fresh herbs! This dish tastes best if left to refrigerate for at least two hours before serving. Making it the perfect salad to make ahead of time!
Tips For a Great Spaghetti Salad
- To make it easier to spoon up spaghetti salad, it’s perfectly ok to use a butter knife and fork to cut the pasta into pieces in the bowl.
- For quick slicing cherry or grape tomatoes, place them on a cutting board and place a dinner plate over the tomatoes. Hold the plate with one hand and use your longest and sharpest knife to slice the tomatoes in half horizontally.
- Prep ahead, like most pasta salad recipes, this recipe is best if it sits for a few hours before serving.
How to Make Vinaigrette Dressing
Don’t have any bottled dressing? You can pull together a simple vinaigrette in a flash, and customize the ingredients to your liking too.
Just whisk together all the dressing ingredients in a bowl. You can add other ingredients like rosemary, sage, thyme or marjoram, or Dijon mustard according to your preference. If you can, try to make the vinaigrette in advance, to give the flavors a chance to fully develop.
What Goes With Spaghetti Salad
Cold spaghetti salad is a tangy side dish that pairs up well with a meaty and savory main. Serve it on the side with pulled pork, barbecued ribs or baked chicken legs for a substantial and tasty meal that will satisfy everyone at the table.
Craving More Pasta Salad?
- Broccoli Pasta Salad – fun twist on a classic broccoli salad.
- BLT Pasta Salad – refreshing summer dish.
- Easy Greek Pasta Salad – prepare in under 20 minutes!
- Summer Pasta Salad – check out this all organic recipe.
- Italian Pasta Salad – just 3 simple steps.
Spaghetti Salad
Prep Time 20 minutes
Servings 12 servings
Ingredients
- 1 pound spaghetti
- ¾ long english cucumber diced
- 1 pint grape tomatoes halved
- ½ green bell pepper diced
- ¼ cup sliced pitted olives
- ⅓ cup feta cheese cubed
- ¼ cup red onion diced
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley
Dressing
- 1 cup bottled Greek vinaigrette dressing
OR
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon oregano
Instructions
- Whisk together dressing ingredients and set aside.
- Cook spaghetti al dente according to package directions. Rinse under cold water.
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Add dressing and toss.
- Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.
Nutrition Information
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.)
salad recipe sounds yummy
Wonderful flavor! Brought out the taste of the pan-fried hamburger patties I served with it. So good! Will definitely be having this again, esp in summer months. Thank you, Holly
You’re welcome Jackie!
Delicious!! I make this often and all year round.
Can you make this the night before and fridgerate over night?
Definitely Cathy, make sure to cook your pasta al dente though so it doesn’t get too soft. But letting it sit up to 2 hours or overnight will allow the flavors to meld for a delicious spaghetti salad!
So good! We made this salad several times last summer for get togethers, and it was perfect in every way. Everyone loved it. Thanks :-)
Just what I need Ideas for my recipe’s
Could I use red bell peppers instead of the green?
You can absolutely do that Debbie! Hope you love the salad!
I have a pre made Greek salad that has lettuse in it could I just add spaghetti to that?
While I have only made the recipe as written, I think you could do that for a quick meal.
I love spaghetti salad! Looks so delicious and perfect for a balanced summer dinner!
We totally agree Natalie! Glad you love it!
I have added cocktail shrimp to mine it’s delish
I love the veggies packed into this salad and I LOVE black olives. I am saving this one for my next family BBQ!
It is such a fun pasta salad Jessie! Hope your family enjoys it as much as we did!
I’m loving the look of this! I’ve only ever made pasta salads with short noodles. I’ll have to give this a try for my next potluck! Looks delicious!
Isn’t it so fun Rosa? Can’t wait for you to try it!
I love a good pasta salad, and this one looks so fresh and delicious – absolutely perfect for a summer bbq or potluck!
We agree Sylvie! It’s packed with fresh crunchy veggies making it a delicious side dish!
Spaghetti is a family favorite in our home; looking forward to giving your recipe a try! Looks delicious!
This is such a fun way to serve up a family favourite Beth! Hope your family loves it!