A nice cold pasta salad makes a perfect meal on a hot summer day!
This pizza pasta salad is one that your whole family will agree on! We add pepperoni, onions, peppers and olives but you can add in your own favorite pizza toppings including sausage, cooked & cooled mushrooms or even sundried tomatoes! The homemade dressing tastes amazing and it takes only about 30 seconds to make however, you can substitute a store bought Italian dressing if you prefer.
Our favorite pasta shape for this recipe is rotini but any medium sized pasta will work (such as penne, bow tie or wagon wheels). You can substitute any type of diced tomato in this recipe however you’ll want to be sure to drain the tomatoes before adding them.
Items You’ll Need For This Recipe
* medium sized pasta * pizza toppings * Parmesan cheese *
Ingredients
- 8 ounces rotini penne, or bowties
- ½ green bell pepper diced
- ½ red bell pepper diced
- 1 ½ cups cherry tomatoes quartered
- 4 ounces mozzarella cheese diced
- ½ cup diced red onion
- ½ cup sliced black olives
- 1 ¼ cup mini pepperoni
- ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil
Dressing
- 1 cup Italian dressing
OR
- ½ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon garlic salt
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook pasta el dente according to package directions. Rinse under cold water.
- Combine pasta, red & green pepper, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, onion, olives and pepperoni.
- Whisk together dressing ingredients. Toss with pasta mixture.
- Top with fresh basil & parmesan cheese.
- Refrigerate 1 hour before serving.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Salad
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More Side Dish Recipes You’ll Love
* Hawaiian Pasta Salad * Chicken Ranch Pasta Salad * Creamy Cucumber Salad *
I have made this and added mushrooms, hamburger, and bacon just like on a pizza and it comes out great.
Very easy to make and very tasty. Healthy too!
I used Tomato Pesto instead of Italian Dressing. LOVE it
That sounds delicious!
Thanks for sharing this recipe! It has become a family favorite. We really love to take it camping. : )
Sounds like a Greek pasta salad but with feta cheeze
I will be making these salads!!! They look simple and so delicious!!
Can I get the recipe for Pizza Pasta Salad to serve 100 people?
This recipe serves 8 so you would need to make about 10-12 times the recipe.
i just made this. hardest part is waiting the hour before serving! its awesome and you can really customize it to your liking. i doubled the recipe and added a can of mushrooms.
Mushrooms would be great in this!
These salads look delicious.
Thank you Donetta!
Great recipe! I’ve made it twice now and everyone raves about its look and taste! I follow the recipe without modification, but make double the batch. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to get the homemade dressing to turn out, so I incorporate the oregano, garlic salt, and basil into store-bought zesty Italian dressing.
Thank you for the tip on the dressing! A great alternative to from scratch!
Couldn’t get the recipe
How many people will this serve?
This should serve from 4-6 people. Thanks for dropping by Diane!
I was thinking about making this the day before for an event, does it hold up well the next day? Also, do you recommend any store bought Italian dressing that goes well with this? Thank you!
Any Italian dressing is great in this salad. If you do make it 1 day ahead of time, I would suggest adding the tomatoes the day you plan to serve it just so they don’t get soft. The rest should be great ahead of time!
I’m trying this tomorrow. Looks great for lunch!
hmm nice recipe! Thankyou so much, I’ll practice with this recipe :)
My kiddos love pasta salad! This looks fantastic! Pinning!
Hi Holly, this is a great recipe. It is just a perfect meal on a holiday. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
I love salads like this in the summer! Looks super tasty!
This sounds and looks SO good!
I could eat this gorgeous salad every single day, Holly. So flavorful, can’t wait to make this for a picnic next week.