Hi Reader,

Tis the season for pasta salads! From picnics to potlucks to summer cookouts, nearly every summer meal benefits from a pasta salad.

But the difference between good pasta salad and GREAT Pasta salad comes down to one crucial thing.

Do NOT rinse your pasta after cooking.

When you rinse pasta you remove the starch that allows the dressing or sauce to coat to the pasta. If you have had a flavorless pasta--chances are the pasta was rinsed!

Do THIS instead.

I recommend tossing a bit of the dressing with the warm noodles and spreading out the pasta onto a sheet pan. The warm noodles will begin to absorb the dressing (hello flavor!) and because the noodles are spread out, the time to cool is drastically cut down--and your noodles need to cool down before adding toppings.

✳️One Exception: If you opt to use rice-based noodles or certain brands of gluten-free noodles, go ahead and rinse under cold water after cooking. They produce a lot of starch that NEEDS washed away to let the dressing adhere. ✳️

Now grab my favorite pasta salad recipes below and impress all your dinner guests!

Pasta Salads To Impress

• ​The Classic I Grew Up With My mom always added a "secret" ingredient that made everyone wonder why hers tasted SO much better than everyone else's.
• ​​For the Bacon Lover: If you love a BLT, this pasta salad was made for you. And don't snooze on that dressing -- WOW! I bet it will shock you to see what I add to it -- but in this case, it is so worth it!​​
• ​Caprese Pasta Salad: Now this pasta salad tastes like summer! Fresh tomatoes, creamy mozzarella, and a balsamic dressing are simply dreamy together. I like to add leftover diced grilled chicken to it and call it dinner. ​​
• ​Asian Noodle Salad: Packed with tender noodles, a sweet and savory sesame soy dressing, and tons for fresh vegetables, this creative pasta salad is a unique (and FAVORITE) option for a potluck.
• ​An Antipasto Board in Pasta Salad Form: Think briny olives, savory salami, fresh veggies, and zippy, tangy dressing. Oh yes, it really is THAT good!
• ​Does this Count?! In my book, YES! Made with noodles, a rich peanut dressing, and tons of veggies, this is not technically a pasta salad but it always goes over well at parties and makes an incredible light dinner.

Which one are you trying first?