Lemon Pesto Pasta Salad

This is the best Lemon Pesto Pasta Salad, and it comes complete with a homemade Lemon Pesto Dressing. It is easy to make, enough to feed a crowd, and full of fresh flavor.

If you love bright pasta salads, you’ll also love this Lemon Orzo Pasta Salad.

Pasta salads are a summer staple, am I right?! You will not find a pasta salad more addicting and jam packed with fresh flavors than this one.

It has zesty lemon, pesto, mozzarella, sun dried tomatoes, pepperoncini peppers, green onion, and of course bow tie shaped pasta! It is great for barbecues, pool parties, and family reunions. Everyone will be asking for the recipe.

For more delicious salads, try my English Pea Salad or this Endive Salad.

Ingredients for Lemon Pesto Pasta Salad

• Farfalle Pasta: More recognizably known as Bow-Tie Pasta. You will want to cook the pasta as specified on the package and rinse with cool water.
• Fresh Spinach
• Pepperoncini Peppers: Be sure to remove the tops and seeds before dicing them.
• Sundried Tomatoes
• Scallions
• Mozzarella Cheese: Pearls work best in this pasta salad, just make sure you drain the oil from them if they come packaged in oil. Alternatively, you can buy a log and chop it into bite sized pieces or use shredded mozzarella cheese as well.
• Homemade Lemon Pesto Dressing: This is made using pesto, extra virgin olive oil, lemons zested and juiced, red wine vinegar, honey and salt and pepper.

How To Make Lemon Pesto Pasta Salad In 3 Easy Steps

1. Prep the ingredients. Start by cooking your bow tie (Farfalle) pasta to al dente and rinsing with cool water. While the pasta is being prepared, dice the Pepperoncini peppers, sundried tomatoes, and green onions into bite sized pieces. You will also want to wash your lemons, zest, and juice them.
2. Shake up the dressing. You will need to grab yourself a well sealed glass jar, I used a 16 ounce canning jar. Add your pesto, extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, lemon, zest, honey, salt and pepper to your glass container. Securely place the top on and shake vigorously until it is well combined.
3. Make the salad. In a large bowl add the pasta along with all the other toppings: fresh spinach, pepperoncini peppers, sundried tomatoes, scallions, and Mozzarella cheese pearls. Pour over the dressing and toss the salad until everything is evenly distributed and coated in the dressing. Refrigerate the pasta salad for a few hours prior to serving.

3 Tips For the Best Pasta Salad

Shake up an extra batch of the homemade Lemon Pesto Dressing. It is great to pour over leftover pasta salad to refresh it. Leftover dressing also tastes great on lettuce salads, in stir fry, to marinade chicken, etc. Don’t forget to shake it really good prior to using it (the fats separate from the oils).

Make recipe substitutions to suit your needs. For gluten free sub out the noodles for gluten free noodles of your choice. If you are dairy free omit the Mozzarella cheese. If you don’t like any of the toppings, leave them out or trade them out with something you do like.

Always refrigerate your pasta salad prior to serving it. Refrigerating the pasta salad for a few hours allows the flavors to marinate and develop. You definitely do not want to skip this part.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Can I make this Italian Pasta Salad and dressing ahead of time? Yes! All you have to do is prepare the dressing in a jar and the pasta with toppings in a large bowl (store both of them covered and in the refrigerate). Do not mix the dressing and pasta salad together until you are ready to serve it.

Do I have to use Bow Tie (Farfalle) pasta? Not at all. For a similar pasta I would go for elbow macaroni, Fusilli, Gemelli, or other small shapes.

What is the best type of pesto to use? I prefer to make homemade pesto but store-bought is more than okay to use as well. I am loving this Homemade Basil Pesto recipe because it requires only 5 ingredients and there are loads of tips and information on making your own pesto.

What can I make with leftover spinach? Spinach tastes great in a lot of different things. The easiest is fresh salads or a Spinach Smoothie. I also love making my Chicken Alfredo Soup in the winter months.

More Delicious Recipes To Try:

• English Pea Salad
• Lemon Orzo Salad
• Ricotta Dip with Roasted Grapes
• Smashed Fingerling Potatoes
• Fried Dill Pickle Dip
• Lemon Feta Fries
• Buffalo Crab Dip
• Garlic Butter Parmesan Wings
• Feta and Onion Hot Dip
• Tomato Chutney Bruschetta with Mozzarella

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