This Greek tortellini pasta salad combines juicy tomatoes, fresh cucumbers, salty olives along with cheese tortellini and the best Greek pasta salad dressing for a super flavorful salad that everyone will love.
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Greek Pasta Salad with Tortellini
After going to Greece a couple of times, my family fell in love with Greek salads (and Greek chicken). The combination of fresh garden veggies, feta cheese, fresh tomatoes, and a bright and flavorful dressing – just yum!
My strawberry spinach salad with pasta has been super popular, so when I was coming up with a Greek salad to share this summer, I knew I wanted to do a Greek pasta salad, specifically a Greek tortellini pasta salad because I thought the addition of the cheesy tortellini would complement the other flavors well. It does.
We tried out all different combinations of veggies, Greek salad dressings, and even different cheeses and what we ended up with is one that is gourmet enough that you could bring it to a summer book club or girls night but easy enough that you could throw it together last minute to bring to a really any summer party!
Why people love this tortellini salad
- Versatile – serve this dish as a side at your next potluck or make it for a main dish along with some protein for a dinner party!
- Easy – it really is as simple as chop, whisk, toss, and serve. It’s a great dish for experienced and novice cooks alike. Plus, you can make it last minute!
- Adjustable – if there is an ingredient you don’t enjoy, like tomatoes, you can skip them and add more of the other ingredients to keep the portions the same. You can also add in red onion, I don’t eat onions so I made the recipe without it.
- Make ahead – this is one of those dishes that is as good on the second day as on the first.
Ingredients in greek pasta salad
Ingredient Notes
- Tortellini – we love this with cheese tortellini, but you could substitute it with any cooked pasta if you don’t have tortellini.
- Kalamata olives – make sure the olives are pitted, pitted black olives will work as well if you don’t like kalamata.
- Dijon mustard – I recommend using the smooth mustard not the stone ground unless you want the bite from the seeds.
- Sugar – if you don’t want to use straight sugar, honey is a great substitute.
- Lemon juice – freshly squeezed is always my recommendation. If using bottled, add one teaspoon of extra sugar to balance the acidity levels if you find the dressing too lemony.
- Feta cheese – If you don’t like feta, you can also substitute goat or parmesan cheese, feta is just a classic Greek salad cheese.
Tip!
You can turn this tortellini pasta salad into a full meal by serving it with some grilled chicken or grilled shrimp. Either one would be great!
How to make Cheese tortellini pasta salad
Similar to most pasta salads, this one is just a matter of prepping the ingredients and then tossing them all together. Let’s dive in.
1 – make The greek salad Dressing
- Whisk together the red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, oregano, salt, pepper, lemon juice, garlic, and sugar in a medium-sized bowl (to keep it from splashing out).
- Stir until everything has blended together as much as possible and sugar starts to dissolve.
- While you are still mixing, slowly add in the oil and continue stirring until the oil has emulsified and all the ingredients are evenly incorporated.
- Refrigerate the dressing until you’re ready to add it to the salad later.
Make some for later!
This is also a great recipe to double as and use on another salad later on. If you do that, I highly recommend transferring the dressing to a blender bottle for easy mixing when you are ready to use it.
2 – Make The tortellini pasta Salad
- Cook the cheese tortellini according to the package directions. Strain and let cool while you’re putting together the other ingredients.
- Chop all of your veggies to be bite-sized and similar in size. I love using my vegetable chopper on the largest size, but you can chop by hand.
- Toss the chopped cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, red peppers, kalamata olives, and tortellini into the bowl and stir just enough to distribute the ingredients evenly.
- Coat the tossed salad ingredients with the dressing and lightly mix until everything has been evenly coated.
- Sprinkle with feta cheese and give a gentle stir to finish off the salad.
How to Store greek pasta salad with tortellini
Store the tortellini pasta salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days. Store any leftover dressing in a lidded jar or bottle for up to two weeks – it’s great to add to pretty much any salad!
If you’re like to make this ahead of time, I recommend prepping all of the ingredients and storing them in the fridge separately until right before serving. Then just toss all of the ingredients so the salad is as fresh as possible!
Tortellini Pasta Salad Variation Ideas
- Add onions – I don’t eat onions, but I know a lot of people like them so if you want, you can also add sliced red onion to this salad. But it is still delicious without!
- Switch out the veggies – I used the veggies my family likes most and that were in the classic Greek salads we had in Greece, but you can switch them out with other things as well. Switch out the red peppers for other colors, add the onion as mentioned above.
- Adjust the dressing – make the dressing as written then adjust as needed. If it’s too tart, add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar at a time until you’ve reached the taste you want. If it’s too sweet, add 1/2 tsp of lemon juice.
- Switch up the pasta – I love this with a good farfalle or rotini pasta too!
Helpful Tips
Mix dressing in a blender bottle for easy storage and emulsification.
One large cucumber is equal to roughly one and a half cups of cucumber.
One small pepper is roughly one cup.
Recipe FAQs
Can I make this dish ahead of time?
This is a great dish to make the day before. Prep all the ingredients and store them tightly in the fridge to keep them fresh, then assemble when you are ready to eat the greek tortellini salad.
Can I make this salad with bottled dressing?
You can make the salad with bottled dressing if you are looking to save time. I would add about a cup and a half of the dressing to the salad, then more as needed.
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Greek Tortellini Pasta Salad
Ingredients
Dressing
- ⅓ c red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 clove garlic
- ½ tsp oregano
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ½ lemon juiced (roughly 2 tbsp)
- 4 tsp sugar
- ½ c olive oil
Greek Tortellini Pasta Salad
- 1.5 lb cheese tortellini cooked and strained
- 1 c cherry tomatoes quartered
- 1 ½ c cucumber sliced and quartered
- ½ c kalamata olives halved
- 1 c red pepper ½ inch chunks
- ½ c feta cheese crumbled
Instructions
Dressing
- In a medium bowl whisk together, red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and sugar.⅓ c red wine vinegar, 1 tsp dijon mustard, 1 clove garlic, ½ tsp oregano, ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper, ½ lemon, 4 tsp sugar
- Once combined, gradually whisk in oil until the dressing has emulsified.½ c olive oil
- Cover and refrigerate until ready to pour onto the salad.
Salad
- Cook tortellini according to package then drain and add to a large serving bowl.1.5 lb cheese tortellini
- Add peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and olives to the bowl and toss until thoroughly mixed.1 c cherry tomatoes, 1 ½ c cucumber, ½ c kalamata olives, 1 c red pepper
- Pour greek dressing over the top of the mixture and toss again until everything is evenly coated.
- Add feta cheese and stir lightly until distributed.½ c feta cheese
- Serve chilled.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Info
More Easy Salad Recipes
If you like this Greek tortellini pasta salad, make sure to try these other salads too!
- Watermelon mint salad – the best way to enjoy fresh summer watermelon!
- Pomegranate feta salad – a perfect salad for the end of summer, leading into fall!
- Mexican street corn pasta salad – all the flavors of everyone’s favorite Mexican appetizer in a pasta salad!
- Caprese salad skewers – another great make ahead and bring to a party summer salad option!
- Southwestern chicken salad – another great dinner salad option, especially with grilled chicken!
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