This Pizza Pasta Salad is the perfect recipe to make and bring to a potluck. The recipe includes all of the ingredients that go into making a fully loaded pizza! You’ll notice a video in the post showing you how to make Pizza Pasta Salad.
Pizza Pasta Salad
Pizza Pasta Salad was created with pizza in mind. Instead of crust, it begins with shell pasta. I like to use the small shell pasta because those make it more similar to a macaroni salad. Plenty of vegetables are added in. Bell Peppers, mushrooms, tomato and green onions are my choice. The beauty of it is if you don’t care for one of these veggies, you can simply leave it out or sub in something else. In true pizza fashion, I also include pepperoni, olives and plenty of garlic and oregano. Again, add or substitute what you like. There are so many good toppings for pizza, so you have lots of room for creativity. I’ve thought about using prosciutto in place of pepperoni once or twice.
🛒Ingredients needed:
- small shell pasta
- red and green bell peppers
- tomato, green onions and mushrooms
- pepperoni
- canned balck olives
- garlic
- dried oregano
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Italian salad dressing
- mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses
✏️How to make Pizza Pasta Salad:
*The complete, printable recipe with all ingredients and instructions is at the end of this post.
-
Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente; rinse under cold water and drain. Let cool.
-
In a large bowl, combine the pasta, bell peppers, tomato, green onions, mushrooms, pepperoni, olives, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Toss together, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled.
-
Just before serving, mix in the dressing and the cheese. Toss well.
➡️Recipe Tips:
- I like to make the salad completely (dressing and all) and then refrigerate it for a few hours to let the flavors come together. If you do this, note that the pasta will suck up the dressing. That’s perfectly okay, but you’ll want to add in more salad dressing just before serving. Or if it makes things easier, you can just wait to add the dressing until just before serving the salad.
- My favorite bottled Italian salad dressing brands are Litehouse, Ken’s, Newman’s Own or Girard’s. Whichever one of those is on sale the day I’m shopping for Italian salad dressing wins out on being purchased!
- Don’t forget, this is a recipe where substitutions can easily be made, so don’t worry about changing things up a bit!
✔️What to do with Pizza Pasta Salad:
- This recipe makes a LOT. If you’re having a small gathering (like 4 people), you might want to cut the recipe in half or you’ll end up with mega leftovers.
- Make this if you’re headed to a potluck. Everyone will be really happy with this salad. You’ll be surprised how quickly it goes and you’ll get lots of requests for the recipe!
- A backyard barbecue with friends is also a perfect time to make this salad. It’s flavors scream summer and would go beautifully with Grilled Flank Steak.
★How to Store:
Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days.
❤️Why I love this recipe:
- Sometimes you just need a salad that’s going to feed a lot of people and make them happy, so I love that this Pizza Pasta Salad feeds 12+ people.
- Let’s face it. It feels great when people are asking for your recipe and that happens a lot with this one!
- It’s so simple to make and so easy to change up that it’s a definite go to recipe in my house. I especially love it in the summer when tomatoes are at their peak of freshness.
Recipes Perfect for Potlucks!
- Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Bars
- Old Fashioned Macaroni Salad
- Slow Cooker Cowboy Beans
- Summer Vegetable Pasta Salad
- Pineapple Dream Dessert
Pizza Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 16 ounces small shell pasta
- 1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 large tomato, chopped
- 5 whole green onions, chopped
- 8 ounces sliced mushrooms
- 2½ ounces sliced pepperoni
- 2.25 ounce can sliced black olives, drained
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 to 2 cups bottled Italian salad dressing
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente; rinse under cold water and drain. Let cool.
- In a large bowl, combine the pasta, bell peppers, tomato, green onions, mushrooms, pepperoni, olives, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Toss together, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled.
- Just before serving, mix in the dressing and the cheese. Toss well.
Notes
- *If you refrigerate this salad with the dressing already added to it, you may wish to add additional dressing when you are serving it later. The pasta will tend to absorb the salad dressing.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Such fantastic flavors in this pasta salad. Great for summer!
What a great idea! Sounds like it would be fun for a party–need to keep this in mind!