Easy and simple homemade pasta salad Pasta salad is truly as easy as boiling water if you stick to a simple formula, use a smart pasta cooling trick, and a flavorful dressing. Remember that the pasta will plump as it cooks, and you want pasta salad to have a generous combination of pasta and vegetables in each bite. This colorful pasta salad is packed with vegetables, pepperoni, and cheese.

Ingredients of Easy and simple homemade pasta salad

  1. You need 1/2 cup of mayonnaise (I used Kraft mayonnaise with olive oil).
  2. You need 1/4 cup of to 1/2 cup Ranch dressing depending on your taste (I used Wishbone).
  3. It's 1 cup of to 1 1/2 cups bow tie pasta.
  4. It's 1/4 cup of finely shredded carrot.
  5. It's of salt.
  6. You need of lemon pepper seasoning.
  7. You need of Fresh lime juice.
  8. It's 2 piece of chicken breasts (I had small but if you use a large one 1 should be fine).
  9. Prepare of Bacon pieces.
  10. You need 1 cup of corn.

Easy and simple homemade pasta salad instructions

  1. Bring a pot of water to boil. Add salt to water to taste. Once boiling add chicken breasts. Boil until cooked through..
  2. When cooked thoroughly remove from water and let sit for 5-10 to cool. To the same water add the pasta, asking more water if needed. You do not need to add more salt because the water is already salted..
  3. While pasta is cooking cut or shred chicken to desired size. Squeeze the fresh lime juice onto the chicken, making sure to combine it well, while it's still warm so that it may soak up the flavor..
  4. After cutting the chicken, grate the carrot in a bowl and add the mayonnaise and ranch dressing letting it sit for a couple of minutes..
  5. When pasta is just tender remove from the water, do not drain it. After removing from water, run it under cold water to stop the cooking process. Let it sit in the strainer and shake to run off excess water..
  6. If you are using frozen corn, as I did, add it tonthe water that you cooked the chicken and pasta in. Cook until heated through usually about 3 min. If you are using can corn you can skip this step..
  7. While the corn is heating up, add the drained pasta to the mayonnaise mixture along with the chicken and lemon pepper. When the corn is done, either run it under cold water as to cool it down, or add to the pasta mixture as is..
  8. Mix all of the ingredients until combined well. Then lastly add in the bacon pieces and mix well. You can eat as in or place in the fridge to serve cold..

This colorful , easy-to-make homemade pasta salad recipe is packed with fresh vegetables, fruits and other good stuff it will leave you wanting for more! This easy homemade pasta salad recipe can be prepared in minutes and is a super dish for spring. However, we must admit we love eating it all year. These delicious pasta salad recipes include the classics, like Italian pasta salad, tuna pasta salad, and greek pasta pasta, plus modern A salty snack-lovers dream come true, this easy pasta salad combines savory dried chorizo, salty herb-dressed olives, and Manchego, one of our all time favorite. Learning how to make pasta salads is very simple, and only takes a couple minutes.

Get Latest Recipe : HOME