This Mediterranean tortellini pasta salad recipe has everything we love in a pasta salad – chewy pasta, a homemade vinaigrette dressing, crunch and color with veggies, and loads of flavorful and salty bites with olives, cheese, and salami. It’s the perfect combination of flavors and makes for a delicious side dish to a grilled protein or main course salad that’s a great recipe in the summer months. It’s sure to be a hit at summer potlucks or keep it all to yourself, it’s up to you. 😉

If you love pasta salads as much as we do, be sure to try my chicken Caesar pasta salad, peanut and chicken pasta salad (this is a favorite in the Weeknight Dinner Club), orzo Greek salad, or cherry chicken pasta salad next time.

Bowl of tortellini pasta salad with fresh veggies

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

Table Of Contents

What You'll Love About Summer Tortellini Salad
Mediterranean Tortellini Salad VIDEO
Ingredients
How to Make Mediterranean Tortellini Pasta Salad
FAQs
Storage Instructions
What to Serve with Mediterranean Tortellini Pasta Salad
How to Feed Tortellini Pasta Salad Recipe to the Whole Family
Want More?
More Summer Salads
Let me Meal Plan for you!
- In a dinner time rut? Overwhelmed with the task of meal planning? It's time to hand over meal planning to a pro!

What You’ll Love About Summer Tortellini Salad

Fresh and delicious flavor
Salty, acidic, sweet, crunchy, chewy flavors in each bite
Works as a main course or summer side
Can be prepped ahead
Just 25 minutes total time + chilling
Made with simple ingredients you can find at any grocery store

Mediterranean Tortellini Salad VIDEO

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Ingredients

Dressing – We kept the dressing ingredients for this Mediterranean pasta salad quite simple and whip up a homemade dressing made of lemon zest, red wine vinegar, olive oil, vegetable oil, garlic, dijon mustard, salt, and pepper.
Cheese tortellini – Look for refrigerated cheese fresh tortellini for best flavor. You can also use shelf-stable or frozen tortellini if you prefer or that’s what you can find.
Cucumber – Use an English cucumber or Persian cucumbers for best flavor as they have less seeds and the peel is tender and mild enough to leave on.
Grape Tomatoes – Use any grape or cherry tomatoes that you prefer. Any color or variety will work.
Mozzarella – Love for fresh mozzarella balls. They will either be in a small ball package or a container with liquid. If you can’t find them, you can use any fresh mozzarella, just cut it up into small pieces, about 1/2 inch big.
Salami – Use a thick-cut salami if you can find it, but if not, regular salami will work fine. You can also omit this if you want it to be vegetarian, but we preferred the flavor with it.
Olives – We recommend kalamata olives, but you could really use any olive variety, just make sure the olives have been pitted. Castelvetranos are a milder olive and would also be fantastic. And basic black olives are also a great option.
Pepperoncini – This adds great flavor and acidity to the salad to balance everything out, don’t skip it!
Basil – Finish the pasta salad with fresh basil for some fresh flavor and green color.
Extras – If you want to add some extra ingredients to this tortellini salad recipe, try some of these: thinly sliced red onion, green onions, Parmesan cheese, bell peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, or artichoke hearts.

How to Make Mediterranean Tortellini Pasta Salad

This is an overview on how to make pasta salad with cheese tortellini, the detailed instructions can be found below in the recipe card.

Mix pasta salad dressing. In a large bowl, whisk together lemon zest, red wine vinegar, olive oil, vegetable oil, garlic, dijon mustard, salt, and pepper until smooth.

Pasta salad dressing ingredients in a bowl

Cook tortellini. Cook the tortellini in a large pot of salted boiling water according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking and transfer to bowl with dressing. Toss together and let cool.

Prep ingredients. Slice cucumber in thin half moons, slice tomatoes in half, chop salami, cut or break olives in half, roughly chop pepperoncini, and slice basil.

Bowl with pasta salad ingredients before mixing

Mix pasta salad ingredients. Add the cucumber, tomato, olives, pepperoncini, and salami to the bowl with tortellini and toss together gently until combined. Garnish with basil.

FAQs

Can cheese tortellini be eaten cold?

Yes, tortellini can be eaten cold, but it does need to be cooked first. This cold pasta salad with tortellini is cooked and then made into the cold salad so you can eat it chilled or let it come to room temperature for a few minutes before serving.

Can you use a different kind of tortellini?

Yes, you could absolutely use a different tortellini, just make sure the filling works with the flavors. Some versions are filled with meat, herbs, or different cheeses and any would be fine to use here, as long as the flavors work.

Is tortellini salad healthy?

Well I say everything is healthy. 🙂 Some foods are more nutritious than others, but all food serves a purpose. This cold tortellini pasta salad has protein, carbs, produce, and fats. OH, and FLAVOR. So I would say, yes, it’s incredibly delicious AND nutritious.

Storage Instructions

Store leftover cold pasta salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. It’s best eaten within 1-2 days.

What to Serve with Mediterranean Tortellini Pasta Salad

You have some options when it comes to serving this healthy pasta salad. It’s quite filling, so you could definitely serve it all on its own for a cold summer night or take it on a picnic, or you could serve it as a side to one of these mains:

How to Feed Tortellini Pasta Salad Recipe to the Whole Family

I get it, feeding kids can be tough! But following the Division of Responsibility and knowing your job and your child’s job makes it SO much more enjoyable. You’ll be able to feed your kids any meal, which will help ensure that they are eating a variety of nutritious foods – with plenty of play food sprinkled in.

I would recommend serving the easy pasta salad in a pinch bowl (taster bowl) if it’s a new or learning-to-like it food. Serve the meal with a few items you know your kids will eat, like fruit, milk, and/or bread and butter and know that it’s very common for younger eaters to not like food mixed so even though they may enjoy these foods on their own, it might not appeal to them if it’s mixed.

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Bowl of cold pasta salad with fresh veggies

More Summer Salads

If you like this summer pasta salad, you might also like some of these other summer salads:

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