Pesto Pasta Salad Recipe – FBD
Pesto Pasta Salad is a tasty and versatile pasta salad recipe with roasted red peppers and olives, and it’s extra easy to make. And this post has options to make the Pesto Pasta Salad with Palmini Pasta for Keto, with Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta for low-carb, or with regular pasta if you don’t care about the carbs.
PIN the Pesto Pasta Salad recipe to make it later!
A few weeks ago I made Low-Carb Italian Pasta Salad using Palmini Pasta, and it was such a success. And then I remembered this ultra-easy vegetarian Pesto Pasta Salad Recipe back in the archives and wondered how it would work with the same Palmini Linguini I used for that pasta salad recipe. And it was a winner! And I had originally made this recipe with regular Rotini pasta, so then I had to try the recipe with the Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta I’m becoming such a fan of and that was a success as well!
So now I’m updating this post to give three different options for this delicious vegetarian Pesto Pasta Salad Recipe! You can make very low-carb Pesto Pasta Salad using Palmini pasta as shown, make this salad with Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta which is a high-fiber wheat pasta that’s lower in net carbs than regular pasta, or make the salad with regular Rotini pasta if you don’t care so much about carbs.
And no matter which version you prefer, if you already have some of my Basil Pesto with Lemon in the freezer, or a jar of my favorite Kirkland Basil Pesto, this might be the easiest pasta salad you’ve ever made! And except for the pasta, this Pesto Pasta Salad recipe uses mostly pantry ingredients that you might have in the house.
What ingredients do you need for this recipe:
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
What’s the difference between the Pesto Pasta Salad recipes?
The photo above is the original salad made with regular Rotini pasta. The only difference between the ingredients for the three recipe options that are now in this post is the type of pasta used. I considered all the salad variations to be six servings so I could compare nutritional information (and it was a challenge, but I did my best using information on the packages for Palmini Pasta and Fiber Gourmet Pasta.) However, the salad with Palmini Pasta is a smaller amount because that comes in a package with fewer servings and and I didn’t want to create a recipe that needed two cans! You may want to add more olives and/or peppers to the Palmini Pasta version. The Palmini Pasta version is gluten-free, the version with regular Rotini or Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta has gluten, but this could also be made with gluten-free pasta.
What is Palmini Pasta?
Palmini Pasta (affiliate link) is a type of low-carb pasta made from hearts of palm. The pasta variations made by Palmini include Linguini, Angel Hair (which is more like thin spaghetti), and Lasagna. Kara and I have enjoyed experimenting with the Palmini Pasta products, and we like the flavor of them when they’re used with flavor-adding ingredients. The hearts of palm pasta is found in many stores now. It’s definitely more expensive than most other types of pasta, so we use this pasta in recipes where there are a lot of other ingredients and not so much pasta to stretch out the servings. And one benefit to them is that because the Palmini noodles don’t absorb the dressing, the low-carb Palmini version of this Pesto Pasta Salad stayed good in the fridge for a few days!
Does Palmini Pasta need to be precooked?
After experimenting with several recipes, Kara and I definitely prefer cooking the Palmini pasta for five minutes in boiling, salted water before using it in a recipe. We feel the pre-cooking gives the hearts of palm a more “pasta-like” texture.
What is Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta?
Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta (affiliate link) is a high-fiber pasta made in Italy and it comes in Penne, Rotini, Spaghetti, and Elbows. The Fiber Gourmet Pasta tastes completely the same as regular pasta made with wheat, but it’s higher in fiber. The only thing that’s a downside to this pasta for some people will be the price. I haven’t found it in stores, and when I order from Amazon I am careful to choose the pack with six boxes so it comes out to about $6.66 per box, pricey but worth it for me when I am craving pasta and don’t want so many carbs. Both Kara and I are loving this new pasta option, just search “Fiber Gourmet” on the website to find other recipes where we’ve used it.
How to Make the Pesto Pasta Salad Recipe:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- For either type of pasta, bring a medium-sized pan of water to a boil, adding a little salt.
- For Palmini Pasta, drain the noodles well and cut apart with kitchen shears. (For Rotini pasta or Fiber Gourmet, just open the box!)
- Cook the pasta exactly 5 minutes for Palmini Pasta, or about 9 minutes for regular Rotini Pasta. (The Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta takes longer to cook; start with the time on the box, taste, and continue to cook until it’s al dente.)
- While pasta cooks, drain roasted red peppers well. (I found peppers already in strips, but slice or chop if needed.)
- Drain black olives and cut in half.
- When pasta is cooked, drain pasta well and let cool about 10 minutes.
- Combine pesto and vinaigrette dressing to make the dressing.
- After the pasta cools, stir in enough dressing to coat the pasta. (You may not need all the dressing, but save the rest in case you want to add it later.)
- Combine the dressed pasta, red bell pepper, and olives. Cover the bowl and chill in the fridge 1-3 hours.
- To serve, mix in freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a little more dressing if desired.
- Serve slightly chilled or at room temperature.
- All the versions of this will stay good in the fridge for a few days if you’re lucky enough to have some left over.
Other ingredients you might use in the Pesto Pasta Salad Recipe:
- diced marinated artichoke hearts
- marinated mushrooms, cut in half
- grilled vegetables of any type such as zucchini, mushrooms, onions, or summer squash
- cubed fresh mozzarella cheese
