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This salad is the irresistible combination of tender, bite-sized pasta with red onion, super fresh tomatoes, and parsley in a garlicky vinaigrette. If you add the optional Parmesan cheese, Tomato Pasta Salad makes a great vegetarian main dish, too!
When tomatoes are in season, if you’re anything like me, you’re looking for every way you can to slide tomatoes into your meals. There’s nothing like fresh tomatoes to bring me happiness!
Go grab some of those grape or cherry tomatoes that are abundant at farmers’ markets, or wherever you shop, and whip up this easy pasta salad. And if you can’t find those, just grab some juicy looking large tomatoes and break them down to bite size.
Tomato Pasta Salad
The beauty of this dish is that while it is glorious in the summer months, you can whip it up all year round because grape tomatoes are available any time! Hooray for tomatoes!
I love this simple pasta salad with tomatoes just as it is, but if you want to make it a little more “main dish” ready, you can stir in some leftover rotisserie chicken! And if you’re cooking for a crowd, this tomato pasta recipe does multiply nicely. Just increase all of the ingredients proportionately.
When it comes to pasta, please use whichever bite-sized pasta you like best. I’m partial to ditalini or elbows for a fresh summer salad, myself. Other good choices are mini elbows, mini farfalle, rotini, gemelli, and cavatappi.
If you’re looking for more excellent summer pasta salads, check out the Bacon Pasta Salad and Potluck Pasta Salad! And for a real treat lightly roasted vegetables come alive alongside tender pasta with a zesty dressing in this Roasted Vegetable Pasta Salad. It’s so good, you’ll make it twice.
Tomato Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 8 ounces bite-size pasta
- ½ very small red onion thinly sliced and cut into 1-inch pieces, about ¼ cup
- 3 large cloves garlic minced
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cups grape tomatoes halved
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
- grated fresh Parmesan OPTIONAL
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil along with 1 tablespoon kosher salt. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain, but do not rinse the pasta.
- While the pasta is cooking, place the onions and garlic in a large mixing bowl. Add the olive oil and vinegar to cover the onions. When the pasta has been drained, add it to the mixing bowl and toss well. Add the tomatoes.
- Toss everything together to mix well and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Taste the salad and add more salt and pepper, as needed. Sprinkle with parsley and Parmesan, if desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
