Easy Peasy Pasta Salad
Updated: Dec 20, 2024
This pasta salad is amazing and super quick to make—everyone will think you were in the kitchen for hours!
Ingredients:
1 pound box of noodles (I prefer elbow for this dish, but shells, and curly work well too)
Duke’s mayonnaise (or your mayonnaise of choice preferably without sugar)- 3/4-1 cup
Lemon juice (real or bottle)- 1 cap full, or squeeze juice from 1/4 wedge
Italiano spice blend- 1 tablespoon
Sandwich Sprinkle spice blend- 1 tablespoon, + 2 teaspoons
Salt and pepper to taste (I use about 1.5 teaspoon of salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper)
Parmesan cheese (the sprinkle kind)- cover the top of the bowl (at the end)
White onion, finely diced (optional)*
Fresh, minced garlic (optional)
In a medium mixing bowl stir or whisk together all of the ingredients except the pasta, and the cheese. Set aside to blossom. (term I use when dried herbs come to life)
*When I am making this for home, I add the white onion because my husband loves onion. But when I’m making it for a crowd, I generally leave it out.
Boil your noodle of choice.
Once your noodles are done cooking, pour them into a colander and run cold water over them until they are cool to touch. (If your noodles are hot, your mayo will break, and trust me, the results are terrible.)
Now drain them WELL! Shake it baby, SHAKE it. No one wants a runny, watery pasta salad. :)
Pour the now cooled noodles into the pasta sauce toss well.
Put a lid on the bowl, and put in the fridge for about an hour; toss again and taste it.
If you’re happy with the flavor, (salt, pepper, etc.) it’s time to sprinkle on the Parmesan cheese. This secret ingredient that really changes the taste of this pasta and makes people wonder why this salad tastes SO GOOD!
That's it. The longer it sits the better it tastes.
Tip: If you find the salad to be on the dry side, add a bit of milk. If you add more mayo, it can make it a bit on the heavy side.
Enjoy!
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