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This refreshing cold pasta salad is the perfect lunch box option or summer dish for busy families and will delight even the picky eaters in your family! You need less than a handful of ingredients for this easy 4-ingredient pasta salad, yet it’s packed full of delicious flavour!
4-Ingredient Pasta Salad – So Easy!
This is one of those simple recipes that seems way too good to be true. Can 4 ingredients actually taste amazing together?
The answer is yes! If you can cook pasta and slice some cherry tomatoes, you can totally make this 4-ingredient pasta salad with pesto.
As a bonus, it’s even easy enough to invite your little ones to help you make it too!
4-Ingredient Pasta Salad
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Why We Love This Bow Tie Pasta Salad
- Customizable: This is such a great basic recipe and you can adapt this tomato pasta salad as needed. Add pine nuts or more veggies, change the type of noodles, or scale it up to make enough for summer potlucks!
- Fresh & flavourful: Thanks to the delicious flavour of fresh basil pesto, this pasta salad is loaded with fresh flavour and colour.
- Kid-Friendly: Even if you have reluctant eaters, this pasta salad for picky eaters is too delicious to refuse.
- Healthy: This no-mayo pasta salad relies on juicy tomatoes, real pesto, whole wheat pasta, and delicious feta cheese for tons of flavour and nutrients.
Ingredient Notes
- Whole wheat bow tie pasta: You can use whichever noodles your family will eat, like macaroni noodles or rotini pasta. I like whole wheat pasta for extra fibre, but you can substitute fibre-enriched, white or gluten-free pasta for this tomato pasta salad if desired.
- Cherry or grape tomatoes: Be sure to halve or quarter them to get a pop of flavour in every bite (and help prevent choking).
- Feta cheese: It’s often cheaper to buy a block of low-fat feta and crumble it yourself. Herbed feta will add extra flavor without extra ingredients!
- Pesto: This is where all the flavour is coming from! Use homemade pesto or store-bought pesto.
- Salt and black pepper to taste (optional): I always like to cook my pasta in salted water to make sure each noodle tastes flavourful, but this is optional.
How to Make Pesto Pasta Salad – Step-by-Step
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Cook pasta according to package directions, until it reaches an al dente consistency. Drain the water and allow the pasta to cool for several minutes.
- Add the cooked pasta, halved or quartered tomatoes, feta cheese and pesto to a large bowl and toss gently to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste, if desired.
- Serve immediately or place in the fridge for later use.
Keep scrolling to the recipe card below for the full printable recipe!
RECIPE TIPS
- Don’t overcook the pasta, otherwise it may turn out mushy in the pasta salad. Instead, cook it until it’s just al dente.
- If serving this pasta salad to little ones, cut the tomatoes into quarters rather than halves to lower risk of choking.
- For extra colour, you can also use tri-coloured cherry/grape tomatoes.
- My kids love the extra pop of flavour that feta adds, but you can also sub out the feta for cubed mozzarella, mozzarella balls or grated parmesan cheese.
- Oftentimes I’ll make this pasta salad using a nut-free pesto so that my kids can take it to school for lunch. It’s one of their favourite lunch options! You can either make nut-free pesto yourself using sunflower seeds instead of nuts, or sometimes I’ll purchase it from our local health food store.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! The only sources of dairy in this recipe are feta cheese and pesto, which traditionally has parmesan cheese. Use dairy-free feta and either make your own pesto without parmesan or purchase dairy-free pesto at your grocery store.
Absolutely! This is one of the best pasta salads because it’s so flavourful, yet only requires a few basic ingredients. It’s also incredibly easy to scale up if you want enough to pack leftovers for lunch or to serve at summer cookouts.
Since not all kids love the tangy flavour of feta, you can substitute cubed mozzarella, provolone, or cheddar cheese in this Italian pasta salad recipe.
Storage Guidelines
- This easy pasta salad recipe makes great leftovers! Store your leftover pasta salad in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- Frozen pasta doesn’t thaw well so I don’t recommend freezing.
If you intend to send this in your kids’ school lunches, dish up single-serving portions for easy storage. This simple salad can be eaten warm or cold, making it really convenient to send in those lunchboxes!
Optional Add-Ins
There are so many ways to make this homemade pasta salad your own, like loading it up with more fresh vegetables and your favorite add-ins!
- Diced chicken
- Black olives
- Green or red bell peppers
- Diced green onions
- Red onion (soak in ice cold water for 5-10 minutes first to reduce the bite)
- Crispy bacon
- Sliced salami
- Sunflower seeds or pine nuts
- Sun-dried tomatoes
- Mini pepperonis
- Fresh herbs like basil or parsley
- Chickpeas
Serving Suggestions
This 4-ingredient pasta salad is a perfect side dish for a family dinner and is easy enough to turn into a main dish with a little extra protein.
Add chicken directly to this classic pasta salad or serve it with roasted chicken and a little pesto dipping sauce or these Chicken Pesto Bites. It’s also tasty along with these Turkey Burger Sliders!
Recipe Variations
- Gluten-free: Use gluten-free pasta made from chickpeas, corn, or rice.
- 4 Ingredient Caprese pasta salad: Replace the feta with pieces of fresh mozzarella and add a drizzle of balsamic reduction. So good!
- Bake it: This pasta salad can be enjoyed as a warm or cold salad, but it’s also delicious baked into a casserole (350 degrees for 10-15 minutes)! Add a little extra pesto to hold everything together and sprinkle mozzarella over the top for a bubbly, cheesy crust.
More Delicious Recipes
- Pasta in Green Sauce
- Hamburger Helper without Milk
- Vegetable Noodle Soup Recipe
- Carrot Pasta Recipe
- Cold Lunch Ideas
- Chicken Pastina Soup
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4-Ingredient Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 8 ounces uncooked whole wheat bow tie pasta (sub in white or gluten-free pasta if desired)
- 1 1/2 cups quartered or halved cherry or grape tomatoes
- 3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1/2 cup pesto (homemade or store-bought)
- Salt and pepper to taste (optional)
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Cook pasta according to package directions, until it reaches an al dente consistency. Drain the water and allow the pasta to cool for several minutes.
- Add the cooked pasta, halved tomatoes, feta cheese and pesto to a large bowl and toss gently to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste, if desired.
- Serve immediately or place in the fridge for later use.
Notes
- Don’t overcook the pasta, otherwise it may turn out mushy in the pasta salad. Instead, cook it until it’s just al dente.
- If serving this pasta salad to little ones, cut the tomatoes into quarters rather than halves to lower risk of choking.
- For extra colour, you can also use tri-coloured cherry/grape tomatoes.
- My kids love the extra pop of flavour that feta adds, but you can also sub out the feta for cubed mozzarella, mozzarella balls or grated parmesan cheese.
- Oftentimes I’ll make this pasta salad using a nut-free pesto so that my kids can take it to school for lunch. It’s one of their favourite lunch options! You can either make nut-free pesto yourself using sunflower seeds instead of nuts, or sometimes I’ll purchase it from our local health food store.
