Fresh, bright, and straightforward to put together, Pesto Pasta Salad is a Italian salad made with cooked Farfalle pasta, basil pesto, and olive oil in about 15 minutes. The recipe lays out the ingredients and each cooking step clearly, so you can adjust seasoning, texture, and serving size for your own kitchen.
Recipe Snapshot
- Prep time: 5 minutes
- Cook time: 10 minutes
- Total time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 6
- Category: Salad
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 4 cups cooked Farfalle pasta
- 3/4 cup basil pesto (homemade ot sotre bought)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup grape/cherry tomatoes
- 8 oz fresh mozzarella (cut into small pieces)
- salt (to taste)
- pepper (to taste)
- basil leaves (to garnish)
Method
- Cook the pasta according to instructions on the package. Make sure not to overcook the pasta here, you should be able to bite into it.
- Once cooked, drain and transfer pasta to a large bowl. Add a tablespoon of olive oil and then add cherry/grape tomatoes to it and mix.
- Stir in your favorite pesto and mix till well combined. You may use homemade or store bought pesto.
- Now chop fresh mozzarella cheese into small pieces and add it to the salad bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon.
- Add salt, pepper to taste and mix. Garnish with fresh basil leaves and enjoy your fresh pesto pasta salad!
Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note
Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.
