Lasagna Pasta Salad Recipe With Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette: A Potluck Favorite
This is the pasta salad I bring when I know the food will sit out for a few hours and still taste good at the end of the night. The Lasagna Pasta Salad gets its name from the flavors, not the noodles: bocconcini, basil, and tomato, the way you’d want a lasagna to taste without turning on the oven. It’s a favorite in my house, and friends always want the recipe!
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This is an easy recipe that’s perfect for making ahead of time. I skip bottled dressing here. Blending the vinaigrette from scratch instead of using store-bought dressing keeps it from separating into an oily puddle at the bottom of the bowl by the time you’re ready to serve.
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Chef Jenn’s Take on Lasagna Pasta Salad
Most pasta salads go one of two ways. Either they’re drowning in bottled dressing, or they’ve been sitting out for two hours and everything’s gone dry and separated at the bottom of the bowl. Neither is worth serving.
The blended vinaigrette is the difference here. Running the sun-dried tomatoes, oil, vinegar, and garlic through a blender gives you a dressing that’s thick enough to cling to the pasta instead of pooling underneath it.
That’s why this holds up for a few hours on a buffet table without turning into a sad, oily bowl of noodles. If you’re the person who gets asked to bring the pasta salad every single time, this is the one to bring instead of the same mayo-based version everyone else shows up with.
What You’ll Love About Lasagna Pasta Salad
- No mayo anywhere. Every other version of this salad online reaches for it, and I don’t want that weight on a summer side dish.
- The vinaigrette gets blended, not whisked, so it actually coats the pasta instead of settling in a layer at the bottom of the bowl.
- Hearty enough to be lunch on its own, but light enough that it doesn’t compete with whatever’s coming off the grill next to it.
Ingredients
For the pasta salad
- Farfalle pasta – Any short shape works. Rotini or penne hold the vinaigrette just as well.
- Bocconcini – Cut small so it distributes through the pasta instead of sinking. Fresh mozzarella pearls work if you can’t find bocconcini.
- Grape tomatoes – Cherry tomatoes are a fine swap, halved the same way.
- Green bell pepper – Red or yellow bell pepper works if you want it sweeter.
- Red onion – Soak in cold water for 10 minutes first if you want a milder bite.
- Fresh basil – Don’t sub dried here. It won’t chiffonade and the flavor is flat.
- Parmesan – Buy a block and grate it yourself. Pre-shredded won’t melt into the dressing the same way.
For the sun-dried tomato vinaigrette
- Sun-dried tomatoes – Oil-packed, not dry-packed. You need that oil for the vinaigrette.
- Olive oil – A good, fruity one matters since it’s most of the dressing’s flavor.
- Red wine vinegar – Sharpest option here. Don’t sub balsamic, it’ll turn the vinaigrette sweet.
- Garlic – One clove is plenty raw in a blended dressing. It gets sharp fast.
- Dried oregano – Fresh works too, just double the amount.
How to Make Lasagna Pasta Salad
Scroll down for the full recipe card with exact measurements and printable instructions.
Cook the farfalle in well-salted water until al dente. Drain it, then rinse briefly under cold water to stop the cooking. Drain again and let it sit while you build the vinaigrette. Warm pasta will wilt the basil and melt the bocconcini before you even get to the table.
Add the sun-dried tomatoes, olive oil, reserved sun-dried tomato oil, vinegar, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper to a blender. Blend until completely smooth, then thin it with water a tablespoon at a time until it’s pourable. You want it loose enough to coat the pasta, not so thick it clumps in spots.
Combine the cooled pasta, bocconcini, grape tomatoes, bell pepper, red onion, basil, and Parmesan in a large bowl. Toss gently so the bocconcini doesn’t break apart.
Pour about three-quarters of the vinaigrette over the salad and toss until everything is coated. Hold the rest back. The pasta keeps absorbing dressing as it sits, and you’ll want that reserve later.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. This isn’t optional. A warm pasta salad tastes flat, and the flavors need that chill time to settle in.
Toss again right before serving and add the reserved vinaigrette if the salad looks dry. It will have soaked some of it up in the fridge.
Make It A Meal
I don’t serve this one alone. It’s built to sit next to something coming off the grill. Try it alongside Grilled Lemon Herb Chicken or a Blackstone Smash Burger for a backyard dinner that doesn’t need much else.
For something with more Italian overlap, I pair this with Instant Pot Italian Chicken or Grilled Steak Skewers with Mojo Rojo when I want the meal to feel like more of an event.
Storage
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. The pasta keeps absorbing the vinaigrette as it sits, so add a splash of olive oil and vinegar before serving again. This one doesn’t freeze well: the bocconcini and fresh basil both turn watery once thawed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Make it up to a day in advance and hold back the last quarter of the vinaigrette. Toss it in right before you serve so the salad looks freshly dressed instead of soaked.
A blender is worth using here. Whisking by hand leaves the sun-dried tomatoes in chunks instead of a smooth dressing that coats every piece of pasta evenly.
Cold or just below room temperature works best. Straight out of the fridge is fine, but let it sit out for 10 minutes if the bocconcini has firmed up too much to bite through easily.
Yes, everything scales evenly. Blend the vinaigrette in two batches if your blender can’t hold the full doubled amount, since it won’t purée properly if it’s overfilled.
Lasagna Pasta Salad Recipe
Ingredients
For the pasta salad
- 12 ounces farfalle pasta cooked per package instructions
- 8 ounces bocconcini cut into small cubes
- 1 pint grape tomatoes halved
- 1 green bell pepper julienned
- 1 cup red onion thinly sliced
- ½ cup fresh basil leaves chiffonade
- ½ cup Parmesan finely grated
For the sun-dried tomato vinaigrette
- ½ cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes drained
- 6 tablespoons olive oil good quality
- 2 tablespoons oil from the sun-dried tomatoes
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Cook the farfalle in a large pot of well-salted water according to package directions until al dente. Drain and rinse briefly under cold water. Drain well.
- Add the sun-dried tomatoes, olive oil, reserved oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper to a blender. Blend until completely smooth. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the vinaigrette is smooth and pourable.
- Add the cooled pasta, bocconcini, grape tomatoes, green bell pepper, red onion, basil, and Parmesan to a large bowl.
- Pour about three-quarters of the vinaigrette over the pasta mixture and toss until everything is evenly coated. Add more vinaigrette as needed.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.
- Toss the salad again before serving and add more vinaigrette if needed.
Notes
Recipe Card Tips
- Rinse the pasta under cold water right after draining. Skipping this steams the basil and softens the bocconcini before the salad even gets dressed.
- Thin the vinaigrette with water, not more oil. Too much oil makes it heavy instead of pourable.
- Hold back a quarter of the vinaigrette until right before serving. The pasta drinks it up in the fridge, and that reserve brings it back to life.
Nutrition
A Note on Nutritional Information
Nutritional information for this recipe is provided as a courtesy and is calculated based on available online ingredient information. It is only an approximate value. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site cannot be guaranteed.