I Made Ina Garten’s Easy Pasta Salad; Recipe Is Simple, Delicious

My pasta completed cooking within the time it took to organize the dressing.

Though Garten recommends letting the noodles cool first, my pasta-salad-making expertise has taught me that tossing scorching noodles in an oily, salty dressing maximizes taste.

I tossed the cooked pasta, salty mix-ins, and dressing collectively in a big bowl. I then let the pasta cool to room temperature earlier than ending the dish with Garten’s really helpful chopped recent parsley and a beneficiant quantity of grated Parmesan.

Right here, I made positive so as to add the cheese after the salad cooled so it would not all soften right into a gooey mess. As an alternative, the Parmesan coated the noodles, mimicking the creamy, wealthy dressing many people affiliate with pasta salad.

In comparison with different salads, although, this one is large on savory flavors and pops of briny, chewy sun-dried tomatoes. I liked that the dish felt lighter than a mayo-drenched salad, however simply as satisfying.

The oil-based dressing holds up properly, too. I doubled the recipe, and my family of two loved pasta for a number of days.

I am glad I discovered this recipe proper earlier than cookout season — I will be bringing this straightforward, crowd-pleasing dish to each picnic and summer time get together this 12 months.

This story was initially revealed on July 4, 2025, and most lately up to date on June 22, 2026.