Antipasto Pasta Salad

5 from 1 vote

This easy antipasto pasta salad is bursting with bold Italian flavor—salty cured meats, fresh mozzarella, tangy veggies, and a herby pesto vinaigrette tossed with rotini. So craveable and perfect cold!

Course Dinner, Main, Side

Cuisine Italian American

Keyword antipasto pasta salad, Italian Antipasto Pasta Salad

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 10

Chilling Time 30

Total Time 55

Servings

Calories 887

Author Erren Hart

Ingredients

8 oz dry rotini pasta or your favorite salad pasta
6 oz hard salami chopped
6 oz pepperoni chopped
6 oz prosciutto slices rolled and chopped into rounds
1 cup artichoke hearts canned or jarred, drained & quartered
2 cups cherry tomatoes halved
1 cup olives pitted & halved (black, kalamata, green or a mixture)
½ cup roasted red peppers jarred , sliced
8 oz fresh mozzarella mini balls or chopped into chunks
¼ cup red onion sliced thin
¼ cup fresh basil sliced thin

For the Italian vinaigrette:

½ cup olive oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons pesto
Salt & black pepper to taste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the rotini and cook according to the package instructions until al dente. Drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process. Let it cool completely.
In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, and pesto until smooth and emulsified. Season with a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooked pasta, salami, pepperoni, prosciutto, artichoke hearts, cherry tomatoes, olives, roasted red peppers, mozzarella, red onion, and basil.
Pour the vinaigrette over the pasta salad and toss until everything is evenly coated. Make sure the dressing gets into all the nooks and crannies — those flavors are everything!
Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving to let the flavors mingle. Give it a gentle toss before serving, and if needed, add a little more olive oil or a splash of vinegar to refresh it.

Notes

Erren’s TopTips

Don’t skip the rinse.
Rinsing the pasta after cooking might feel weird, but trust me—it cools it down fast and stops the cooking process. No one wants mushy pasta in a cold salad.

Cut small, toss big.
Make sure everything is bite-sized. You want the perfect forkful with a little bit of everything—pasta, cheese, meat, veggie, boom. Uniform pieces = better flavor in every bite.

Use a real pesto.
Go for a pesto with fresh basil and real Parmesan, not the shelf-stable jar that lives forever in your pantry. The better the pesto, the better the dressing. Homemade is great, but refrigerated store-bought is a solid shortcut.

Add the herbs just before serving
If You're making ahead, add the herbs just before serving to keep them from wilting too much.

Let it chill (literally).
Once it’s tossed together, give it at least 30 minutes in the fridge before serving. That rest time helps the flavors soak into the pasta instead of just sitting on top.

Make it your own.
Don’t like olives? Skip them. Have sun-dried tomatoes instead of roasted red peppers? Go for it. This salad is super flexible, and it’s hard to mess up once you’ve got the basics down.

Storage & Freezing Instructions

Fridge:
Store the pasta salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. It actually gets better after a day because the flavors continue to mingle. If it looks a little dry after sitting, just drizzle in a splash of olive oil or vinegar and give it a quick toss to bring it back to life.

Freezer:
This pasta salad is not freezer-friendly. The texture of the fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil won’t hold up to freezing and thawing. But! You can freeze any leftover chopped salami, pepperoni, or prosciutto to use in your next batch.

Nutrition