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 Hawaiian at all)!
A quick and easy homemade pineapple dressing is tossed with pasta, ham, and bell peppers for a uniquely delicious side dish!
It’s potluck perfect and makes a great side dish or light meal.
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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!
- Pasta – Use any medium shaped pasta, farfalle, shells, and rotini are favorites.
- Add Ins: In this easy recipe, ham and pineapple are the stars, inspired by flavors on a Hawaiian pizza. Red peppers add crunch and color while green onions add flavor.
- 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).
This recipe is not a Hawaiian dish, and it is not Hawaiian pasta salad like a Macaroni Salad found on a typical Hawaiian Plate Lunch. In 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 Pineapple Dressing
You can use almost any dressing on pasta salad. This recipe includes a fresh and zesty pineapple dressing. Making homemade dressing is very quick and easy, and the flavor is much better than store-bought dressing.
- Mayonnaise and sour cream are the creamy base
- Pineapple (and a bit of cider vinegar) add tang and freshness
- Dijon and garlic powder add flavor while honey balances out the dressing.
Tips for Pasta Salads
- Don’t overcook the pasta, it will soften as it soaks up the dressing.
- Add extra 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.
Perfect Pasta Salads
Did your family love this Ham & Pineapple Pasta Salad? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Ingredients
- 8 ounces rotini or bow tie pasta
- 1 can pineapple tidbits (14 ounces) with juice reserved for dressing
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 2 cups diced ham
- 1 green onion thinly sliced
Dressing
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ⅓ cup pineapple juice
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain the pasta and run it under cold water to cool.
- In a bowl, whisk together all dressing ingredients until smooth.
- In a large bowl, combine the cooled pasta, ham, pineapple, bell pepper, green onion, and dressing. Gently toss to combine.
- Refrigerate the pasta salad for at least 2 hours before serving.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Pasta, Salad, Side Dish
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very, very good, will be trying these recipes. Thanks.
I just made this and personally I would take out the mustard… I’m not a big fan of dry mustard other than that it was delicious! I did add black olives to ours. I will make this again.
I have made the Hawaiin Pasta Salad and find it tastes more flavorful if you make it a day ahead. It went over really big.
Thank you. I can’t wait to try this Hawaiian pasta salad. I would have NEVER thought of this.
Enjoy Sandra, it’s one of our favorites!
I made this Hawaiian Pasta Salad today,for a BBQ we were having.All the guests loved it . I did add a half of yellow+half of orange pepper,to the red one.I also used small chunks of pineapple instead of tidbits.It was excellent.Because I did add the extra peppers,next time I think i’ll make alittle mor dressing.But I loved it.Thank You so much for this recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Terry! The extra peppers would taste great and add lots of nice color and crunch too! Thank you for sharing!
Truly one of my favorite pasta salads!! I should admit, I augmented the recipe a bit. I also added 1 can of mandarin oranges and bacon pieces. It was a huge hit! Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe!!
I’m so glad you loved this!
I made this’s hawaiian salad for family today. It was a huge hit !
I’m so glad your family enjoyed this!
Love this site. Great recipes
Thank you June! Have a great day!
hi!! just want to let you know that i am making this Hawaiian Pasta tonite for a picnic tomorrow!!! i will give you feed back!!!
Sounds scrumptious . I’ll let you know Thanks
Just made this salad today for a potluck. It is AMAZING! Thanks for sharing it!
So glad you loved it!
I made the Hawaiian Pasta Salad today. Delicious!
I’m so glad you loved it!
Is there a way I can make the sauce vegan ? I would still use the ham and the peppers
I don’t follow a vegan lifestyle so I can’t say for sure.
if your going to use the ham what’s the point trying to make the sauce vegan. ham is not a vegetable. ham comes from pig an animal with parents.
Yes! Substituting a vegan mayo (I highly recommend Just Mayo — tastes just like the real thing, but no animal products) for the mayonnaise and perhaps a plain vegan yogurt (soy or coconut) would probably work very well for the dressing.
Thanks Amanda!
I made the Hawaiian pasta tonight it was so fantastic, my husband who does not like cold pasta loved it and said can I take it for lunch Thursday
I”m glad your family loved this Lorre! :D
Can’t wait to make this do you think I could use the sweet peppers (yellow and orange) instead of red? And I’m not sure on using the computer I’m 49 and just learning so this might be a dumb question how can I subscribe to your website? You are a cook after my own heart!!!! Can’t wait to see more Thank you and God Bless
Yes, I think yellow and orange would work perfectly Kathryn! :) Great question, To receive emails with new recipes, you can click here to sign up to receive emails. Look forward to sending you recipes! You can also follow along on Facebook here.
Oh my gosh. This Hawaiian Pasta Salad is FANTASTIC!! We had to taste-test it right away without waiting for the 2 hours to meld the flavors. I am telling you, this is so delicious! I’m saving the dressing part of the recipe to use on coleslaw or potato salad or whatever else I can think of to put it on. Unbelievably great! Thank you for this recipe. I can’t wait to try it on guests and see what they think.
Yay! I’m so glad you loved it! We love it too (in fact, I’m making it again tomorrow) :). The dressing is also great on spinach salad!
Oh my gosh, this salad rocks!! I just made it as is and it’s absolutely perfect! I’m so happy right now – I needed to take a salad to a fourth of July party in the neighborhood I just moved into. I’m going to make all kinds of friends now! :D Thank you for this!
I’m so glad you loved it! :)
I have made this several times for our church potluck. They love it and there are never leftovers.
Took it tonight to a church potluck. Folks liked it but we’re afraid it had Spam on it. I think a true Hawaiian would have used Spam. Didn’t need extra salt as the ham had enough to carry that as well. Maybe a small pinch of ground ginger would have given it some umphh. It was good but seems to need something to put it over the top.
How could I substitute the red bell pepper?
You could substitute with another color of sweet pepper (yellow, orange, green) or you could leave the bell pepper out.
Just now made this for a church potluck tomorrow. It’s delicious but kinda bland looking. Pink ham, red bell pepper, not much green and the pineapple chunks are invisible. I think I might add a couple more green onions and next time I’ll use a green bell pepper. But . . . with all this said it is VERY tasty!
I love the idea of adding more color via extra peppers and green onions. Adding extra veggies is always a good thing!