This tortellini salad is full of zingy flavor: a delicious pasta salad for picnics and cookouts! Leftovers last for days, so it’s also an easy lunch idea.

Here’s a pasta salad recipe that’s ultra versatile for picnics, barbecues, and an easy lunch idea: this Tortellini Salad! The tang of the artichoke, chewy pillowy pasta, zippy tomatoes, and peppery basil come together into a symphony of flavor! Even better, it stores up to 4 days in the fridge, making it a perfect easy lunch. We’ve made this more times than we can count already: and it’s irresistibly delicious every time.

The pasta to buy for tortellini salad…tortelloni!

Here’s an important tip for making tortellini salad. Make it with tortelloni pasta! What’s tortelloni vs tortellini?

• Tortelloni is a pasta shape that is larger than tortellini, and it’s got a filled center versus a hole in the middle. Because it’s larger, it’s easier to taste the filling. Tortelloni is easy to find the refrigerated section at your local grocery.
• How to tell the difference quickly? Tortellini has a hole in the middle, tortelloni has a solid center that encloses the filling. Of course, this really makes it a tortelloni salad. But it’s the tastiest pasta for the job!
• Don’t make this pasta salad with frozen or dried tortellini. It’s just not as good! Trust us, we’ve tried it.

Ingredients for tortellini salad

Got your pasta? It’s easy to throw together this tortellini salad once you’ve got the right type. Here’s what else you’ll need:

• Cherry tomatoes
• Spinach
• Artichokes
• Fresh basil: optional, but we highly recommend it! It’s especially easy in summer if you have a basil plant
• Parmesan cheese
• Homemade vinaigrette (or purchased dressing)

Use homemade dressing, or shortcut with purchased

This tortellini salad is very easy to throw together: boil the pasta, chop the veggies, then make the dressing! We created a homemade vinaigrette dressing for this salad that makes it beautifully fresh and delicious. Here’s what to note about it:

• The homemade dressing is best flavor-wise. All you need is oil, vinegar, and a few spices. Dried dill makes for an intriguing flavor without overpowering.
• In a rush, use ¾ cup purchased Italian or vinaigrette dressing. It makes it even easier to throw together.

Stores as leftovers for up to 4 days!

This tortellini salad works great as a pasta salad for summer picnics and barbecues, but we also designed it to work for lunches! This one is a fantastic make-ahead pasta salad that lasts for up to 4 days in the refrigerator. We had to work a bit to engineer that flavor to perfection. Here are a few notes for leftover storage:

• Using neutral oil plus olive oil makes store well! Olive oil tends to clump up when it’s cold. How to make olive oil not solidify in dressings in the refrigerator? Add a neutral oil! Using equal parts organic vegetable oil or grapeseed oil makes a vinaigrette that doesn’t solidify. But if you prefer to use all olive oil, feel free! Just beware the salad dressing may clump up (just bring it to room temp before eating).
• You may need to add a few pinches of salt. Some foods become more bland when refrigerated, which is the case with this pasta salad. Taste and add a few pinches salt before serving, if necessary.

More pasta salad recipes

There are lots of great pasta salad recipes for summer or lunches! Once you’ve tried this tortellini salad, here are a few more summer salads to try:

• Try tasty Italian-style Antipasto Salad
• Go classic with Classic Tuna Pasta Salad
• Grab Italian Vegan Pasta Salad

01

Antipasto Salad

02

Classic Tuna Pasta Salad

03

Italian Vegan Pasta Salad

This tortellini salad recipe is…

Vegetarian. For gluten-free, use gluten-free tortellini. For vegan, use vegan tortellini and skip the Parmesan cheese (add a bit more salt as needed).

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A Couple Cooks - Recipes worth repeating.