Spinach Pesto Pasta Salad

Spinach pesto pasta salad is perfect for casual summer dinners, made with healthy spinach basil pesto, white beans, tomatoes, mozzarella and olives.

Spinach pesto pasta salad is a toss-it-together casual summer dinner, easy to make and easy to love. Pesto, cold pasta, white beans, tomatoes, mozzarella, olives...sounds delicious, right?

Making spinach basil pesto is quick and easy. Don't worry too much about exact measurements, just toss it all in the food processor and blend. Then make the pasta salad in 3 easy steps.

How to Make Spinach Pesto Pasta Salad

1. Make a batch of spinach pesto
2. Boil pasta, toss with pesto
3. Add in white beans, mozzarella, tomatoes and olives

Tips for Making Cold Pasta Salad

• Generously salt the cooking water to add more flavor to the pasta
• Don't overcook the pasta - no one wants mushy pasta salad
• Don't rinse the noodles. Instead, coat lightly in oil.
• If using pesto, thin it out with extra oil and/or pasta cooking water so it spreads evenly over the pasta
• Don't be shy with salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon to perk up the flavor

This pasta salad is best eaten outdoors in the fresh summer air. Cross you fingers for leftovers, because it's also a favorite for lunch the next day!

More Pasta Recipes

• One-Pot Spaghetti with Tomatoes and Kale
• Pesto Salmon with Gemelli Pasta
• Shrimp Linguine with Arugula Pesto
• Instant Pot Chicken Parmesan Pasta

Spinach Pesto Pasta Salad with White Beans, Mozzarella and Tomatoes

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• Author: Jenny Meier | Kitchen Skip blog
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 20
• Yield: 6 servings 1x
• Diet: Vegetarian

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Description

Spinach pesto pasta salad is perfect for casual summer dinners. It's made with  deliciously healthy spinach basil pesto, white beans, tomatoes, mozzarella and olives. 

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 batch spinach pesto (add 2 extra tablespoons olive oil so the pesto isn’t too thick)
• 8 ounces dried pasta (use your favorite short noodle, like cavatappi, rotini, fusilli, shells, macaroni, etc) 
• 1 can white beans, drained
• 8 ounces cherry tomatoes (whole or halved)
• 8 ounce small mozzarella balls
• 1 6-oz can black olives, drained (or, 1 cup pitted kalamata olives) 
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• A squeeze of fresh lemon juice

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Instructions

1. First, make a batch of spinach pesto. For cold pasta salad, the pesto shouldn’t be too thick, so add 2 extra tablespoons of olive oil. 
2. Cook the pasta in generously salted water for the amount of time instructed on the box, being careful not to overcook. The pasta shouldn’t be too soft!  Before draining the cooked pasta, reserve ¼ cup of the pasta cooking water. Don’t rinse the pasta with water; instead, toss it lightly in olive oil. 
3. Pour the spinach pesto over the cooked pasta, mixing well to coat all the noodles. If needed, add 2 tablespoon or so of reserved pasta water to thin out the pesto and help it spread more easily over the pasta. 
4. Gently mix in the white beans, tomatoes, mozzarella balls and olives. 
5. Season generously with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon. 

Notes

I prefer to eat pasta salad at room temperature, because the flavors are more pronounced and the texture is better. If you eat the salad cold, straight from the refrigerator, you’ll probably need to add more salt and lemon juice to perk up the flavor. 

 

• Category: pasta
• Method: No cook
• Cuisine: Italian American

Keywords: spinach pesto, spinach pesto pasta salad, pasta salad