Inspired by Italy's delectable pasta culture, our sunny summer spaghetti salad recipe is a cold side dish that will liven up your summer barbecues!
This easy recipe just requires spaghetti, salad dressing, and plenty of vegetables. You can even take our spaghetti salad to new heights by using your own homemade spaghetti noodles. Check out our guide to preparing homemade pasta.
Here's how to make the perfect spaghetti pasta salad!
1/4 of a cup of white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar
3 tbsp of grated parmesan cheese
1 1/2 tbsp of finely minced red bell peppers
1 tbsp of dried parsley
1 1/2 tbsp of minced dried onions
3/4 tsp of dried basil
3/4 tsp of dried oregano
1/2 tsp of garlic powder
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of sugar
1/2 tsp of black pepper
Directions
Directions for noodles
Select a large, clean surface in your kitchen and pour out your flour into a large mound.
Make a small nest, or small hole, in the center of the flour.
Crack your eggs directly into the nest, before adding salt and olive oil.
Gently break up the eggs and mix the salt and olive oil using a fork (be careful not to make the flour mound collapse, however!).
As the eggs break, use your hands to pull the flour and mix everything into a dough. Keep folding the dough inwards until you have a roughly-shaped ball.
Keep kneading the dough for 10 min, slowly but vigorously working the dough together until it's formed a smooth, non-sticky surface. If the dough is too sticky, then add some more flour. If it's too dry, you'll need to add a dash of water.
When you're happy with the dough's texture, roll it into a ball and wrap it in cling film. Leave the dough ball wrapped at room temperature for 30 min. While the dough is resting on the side, sprinkle flour over 2 large baking sheets to prepare for the next step.
After 30 min, you need to take the dough out of the cling film and slice it into 4 evenly sized pieces.
Take the first slice of dough and gently press it into a flat, oval shape using your hands.
Take the flattened-out piece of dough and pass it through the pasta maker to roll it flat. Repeat this 5 to 6 times for each dough ball. You can vary the settings to create a thinner or thicker sheet of pasta.
When you're happy with the dough's thickness, place it gently on the baking sheet and give it a good coating of flour. Turn the dough over and sprinkle the other side (be sure to flour all sides, or your spaghetti will stick together).
When you've flattened, shaped, and floured all of your dough, run each sheet of pasta through the pasta maker, but this time on the cutter setting. This setting slices your sheets into thin noodles for the Italian spaghetti salad.
The final step is to boil a saucepan of water, sprinkle in some salt, then cook your fresh, homemade pasta for just 2 min.
Directions for spaghetti salad
Start your spaghetti salad recipe by cooking your pasta in hot, salted water. Once cooked, drain the pasta, rinse under cold water and leave to cool down (remember, this a cold spaghetti salad!).
Chop, slice, and then dice all of your vegetables and place them into a large mixing bowl.
Take your Italian salad dressing and pour it over the ingredients, before seasoning with salt and pepper.
Toss the Italian spaghetti salad in the bowl to give all of the ingredients an even coating of dressing.
Serve your easy spaghetti salad with a fresh layer of chopped parsley and grated parmesan cheese.
Directions for Italian dressing
Prepare all your ingredients and finely mince the vegetables needed.
Place all of your ingredients into a large jar.
Stir thoroughly. Place the lid on the jar and shake the ingredients until they are well mixed.
Place the freshly made Italian salad dressing in the fridge to keep it cool until you're ready to make your spaghetti salad.
Spaghetti pasta salad recipe FAQ
There you have it, our easy to make, and even easier to eat, spaghetti salad recipe. It's guaranteed to liven up any garden party!
We often get a few questions about the recipe, so we decide to put together a quick FAQ to answer the most common queries. Keep reading to find out more about our spaghetti salad recipe.
Why should I make my own noodles?
A pasta salad with spaghetti noodles is homier when made with a spaghetti maker, rather than buying dried spaghetti from the store.
Homemade spaghetti takes a little longer to prepare and cook. Still, most of the hard work is done for you when you use a spaghetti maker. The taste is better, the noodles are fresher, and if you're hosting a summer garden party or barbecue, your homemade noodles are guaranteed to impress your guests.
Why make my own dressing?
A spaghetti salad recipe with Italian dressing is more authentic with a homemade Italian-style summer salad dressing. Once you've got all the ingredients ready, the dressing is super-easy to make. If you're already handmaking pasta, why not put in the extra effort for a delicious dressing to complement your Italian spaghetti salad?
Can I prepare spaghetti salad ahead of time?
The great thing about spaghetti salad is that it needs to be prepared ahead of time. It has to be cold, or it's just not spaghetti salad. That makes it perfect for summer parties and barbecues.
You can get the salad ready in the morning and then keep it in the fridge to cool while you prepare the rest of your food and await the arrival of your party guests. We recommend preparing the spaghetti salad 4 hours ahead of time for optimum taste and temperature.
What goes well with cold spaghetti salad?
This delicious salad is best served up as a side, and it goes particularly well with barbecue food. We love to serve our zesty spaghetti salad with slow-cooked pulled pork, barbecued chicken, or grilled burgers and sausages.
It's a great dish for just digging into, so leave it on the side, cook up your barbecue food, and let your guests take as much as they want.
How long does spaghetti salad last?
If you do happen to have any leftovers after the party, then you can leave your spaghetti salad stored in the fridge for 48 hours. We recommend storing the spaghetti salad in a resealable container to keep in the freshness.
It's best served cold, of course, so when you're hungry for the leftovers, all you need to do is serve it straight from the fridge - there's no need to worry about reheating, or anything else!
Can I freeze spaghetti salad?
Spaghetti salad, like any fresh salad, doesn't freeze very well, so we don't recommend doing this. With fresh vegetables, fresh pasta, and fresh salad dressing, you run the risk of losing all of that goodness if you throw it in the freezer for a few weeks or months.
Do I have to prepare homemade pasta?
We prefer using homemade pasta for our spaghetti salad recipe, but we also understand that you might not have the time to make everything by hand.
While homemade pasta is fresh and tasty, you can also use storebought, dried pasta straight from the packet. It won't be quite as fresh, of course, but it will still be super-tasty.
Dried pasta takes longer to cook in salted, boiling water than fresh pasta does, so follow the instructions that are provided on the package.
Ultimately though, knowing how to prepare homemade pasta is a skill that's going to impress your friends and family. It's easier than it looks and the taste is well worth it!
Dig in!
Our Italian spaghetti salad recipe is as easy as adding spaghetti noodles to vegetables and sprinkling with salad dressing. Of course, you can make homemade noodles and salad dressing to impress your guests. It's fresh, tasty, zesty, and perfect for summer. Bookmark our spaghetti salad recipe for your next garden party!
