Change Up Your Typical Pasta Salad With Bold Pesto

A pasta salad is the best of both worlds, bringing the satisfaction of eating a pasta dish and the benefits of fresh veggies. However, making one that hits all the right notes can be tricky, and there are several pitfalls to watch for when making pasta salad. An effortless way to ensure you get a consistently good version of the dish is to infuse it with punchy pesto flavors. The classic basil, garlic, and nutty flavor combination is versatile enough to go with most salad fixings, and can even bring fussy eaters around. Plus, adding some pesto nudges your salad more into pasta territory, so you can more easily bolster it with grilled protein and even serve it up as a main dish.

Crafting a pesto pasta salad can be simplified even further by using jarred pesto. However, making the pesto dressing from scratch will almost always reward you with punchier flavors. And even though there are several great cheeses for pasta salads to choose from, this pasta salad doesn't need any. Of course, a sprinkle of Parmigiano never hurt, and there's a lot more you can add to your pesto pasta salad to make it suitable for any occasion — whether you're hosting at home, packing for a picnic, or just whipping up a quick weeknight dinner.

While making pesto from scratch for your pasta salad is a rewarding endeavor, it does add a few extra steps to the process. For a quicker fix, you can use the storebought kind. Plus, jarred pesto has a decent shelf life even once it's been opened, so you should always keep some on hand. There are some truly effective ways to spruce up store-bought pesto in order to highlight its fresh flavors. Add a touch of fresh minced garlic, some good-quality olive oil, and shredded fresh basil for punchiness. A spritz of fresh lemon juice also goes a long way in adding some citrus zest to the flavors which complements the vegetables and optional protein in the salad.

You can use thinly sliced fresh seasonal vegetables like zucchini, peppers, squash, and tomatoes in a pesto pasta salad. Roasted vegetables taste equally good in the dish, so for nearly any vegetable you would use fresh, you can also roast and add into the mix. Chicken, shrimp, and marinated tofu also fit right into a pesto pasta salad and help give it some main-course heft. Top it up with some roasted nuts, ideally pine but walnuts, almonds, or cashews will do in a pinch, and you're all set. Be sure to make extra so you can snack on it the next day. While pesto pasta salad tastes great straight out of the fridge, if you plan on reheating it, do so gently otherwise you risk cooking off the fresh flavors.