Olive Garden Pasta Salad Recipe: Fresh, Flavorful, and Easy to Make
This Olive Garden Pasta Salad is a vibrant, crunchy, and flavorful dish, perfect for summer meals or as a side dish for family gatherings. Made with tri-color rotini, parmesan cheese, and Olive Garden Italian dressing, it’s a refreshing and satisfying salad.
Ingredients
- 8 oz. tri-color rotini or any bite-size pasta½ cup shredded parmesan cheese¼ cup thinly sliced red onion2 sliced roma tomatoes4 whole pepperoncini peppers1 ½ cups Olive Garden Italian dressing3 cups chopped romaine lettuce
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to its package directions. Drain the pasta and rinse it under cold water until the pasta is cool.Transfer the pasta to a large mixing bowl. Add the parmesan cheese, red onion, tomatoes, and pepperoncini.Add the salad dressing. Mix well.Top the pasta salad with the chopped lettuce. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour.Once the pasta salad has chilled, stir well to coat the lettuce in dressing.
Notes
Don’t mix the lettuce into the pasta salad at this point to retain its crunch.
You could also add ½ cup of large pitted black olives to be more authentic to the original Olive Garden salad. We don’t like them, so I leave those out.
You could also add ½ cup of large pitted black olives to be more authentic to the original Olive Garden salad. We don’t like them, so I leave those out.
Nutrition
Serving: 1/8th of the recipeCalories: 246kcalCarbohydrates: 29gProtein: 6gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0.03gCholesterol: 5mgSodium: 552mgFiber: 2gSugar: 6g
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