This Ham Pasta Salad is loaded with pineapple and veggies. It is a refreshing play on my favorite Hawaiian Pizza flavors (which is not actually a Hawaiian dish at all)!
A quick and easy homemade pineapple dressing is tossed with pasta, ham, and bell peppers for a uniquely delicious side dish!
A Fresh and Flavorful Pasta Salad
If you are looking for a pasta salad that’s a little bit different, this ham pasta salad is it! In this easy recipe, pasta, ham, pineapple, and red peppers are the perfect combination of flavors. If you love Hawaiian pizza, you’ll love this recipe too!
The dressing is a quick creamy pineapple dressing and it’s so good that I always double it for salads (it’s excellent over strawberry spinach salad too).
The inspiration for this dish comes from the ingredients served on my favorite Hawaiian Pizza and they are not typical ingredients paired together in a traditional Hawaiian dish.
This recipe is not a Hawaiian dish and it is not like a Macaroni Salad found on a typical Hawaiian Plate Lunch. A Hawaiian plate lunch generally macaroni salad is a tangy combination of mayo & macaroni sometimes with a few other ingredients. You can find a great Hawaiian macaroni salad here.
The Dressing
You can use almost any dressing on pasta salad. This recipe includes a fresh and zesty pineapple dressing.
Making homemade dressing is actually very quick and easy and the flavor is much better than store bought dressing. If you’d like to use a bottled dressing for this pasta salad, I would suggest a honey dijon or poppy seed dressing. Something with a bit of sweetness will pair well.
Tips for Pasta Salads
- Don’t overcook the pasta, it will soften as it soaks up dressing.
- Add lots of dressing as some will be absorbed by the pasta.
- Pasta salad is best made at least a couple of hours ahead of time so the flavors have a chance to blend.
- Season the salad generously.
More Pasta Salads We Love
More Pasta Salads We Love- Italian Pasta Salad
- Caprese Pasta Salad
- Summer Pasta Salad
- Chicken Pasta Salad
- Bow Tie Pasta Salad
- Creamy Tuna Pasta Salad
Ham & Pineapple Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 8 ounces rotini or bow tie pasta
- 1 can pineapple tidbits (14 ounces) with juice reserved for dressing
- 1 red pepper diced
- 2 cups diced ham
- 1 green onion thinly sliced
Dressing
- ½ cup mayonnaise or dressing
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- ⅓ cup pineapple juice
- 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and run under cold water.
- Meanwhile, whisk together all dressing ingredients until smooth.
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and gently toss with dressing. Refrigerate 2 hours before serving.
- Store refrigerated up to 5 days.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Pasta, Salad
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This is one of my all-time favorite salads, and I dropped by just to say “thanks” for sharing it with us.
You’re welcome, Sally! We are glad you are enjoying it as much as we are.
I love this recipe! I’ve used it countless times, and what I love is how versatile it is – you can add more or less of things, bring in different flavours like bacon rather than ham, use different vinegars or mayos for different tastes – it’s just amazing.
It’s our summer staple, and a BBQ favourite. Thank you so much for sharing this, it’s been a game changer!!!
So happy you love this recipe as much as we do, Stacey!
I love this salad. I’ve made it several times. The dressing has a different taste that is delicious and addicting to say the least. I always double the dressing and usually make it the night before and let it sit in the refrigerator. I would highly recommend this recipe. It’s really a refreshing pasta salad.
I made this recipe exactly per instructions without any changes. When I first tasted it immediately after I made it, I found it to be quite bland. I refrigerated it overnight thinking that perhaps the flavors would improve. Sadly, it did not. To doctor it up I added about a half cup more pineapple, some ground ginger (about a tablespoon), some onion powder, and some pink Himalayan salt to taste. This made it much better. I still think it needs something more, so I am going to fry up some bacon. We shall see. Still a good basic recipe.
Miss K, after reading your review, makes me wonder if substituting
Miracle Whip would “jazz ” it up a bit?
I’ve made this Hawaiian pasta salad quite a bit it’s one of my family’s favorites <3 Thank you for sharing such great recipes
You’re very welcome Cheryl!