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THIS is the Italian Pasta Salad everyone wants. Tender pasta, salami, mozzarella, briny olives, pepperoncini, and sun-dried tomatoes in a sharp, slightly sweet Italian dressing. This tastes like the pasta version of the Olive Garden house salad.
Why This Italian Deli Pasta Salad Recipe Delivers
- Intentionally overcook the pasta. This way it stays tender after being cooled.
- Make the dressing from scratch. It’s much easier than you think btw.
- And we choose the ingredients carefully. I use high quality ingredients and cut them in a way so they integrate with the pasta properly so it’s a unified experience.
I’ve been thinking about this recipe for a long time. I refined it over the years many MANY times. The version here is as close to perfection as I think you can get with this style. It’s nostalgic. It’s insanely flavorful and I think it surprises a lot of people. I often hear comments from people I make it for that go something like: “I knew I liked pasta salad but I didn’t realize it could be THIS good.”
Brian’s Pro Tips
Overcook the Pasta
Cook the pasta 25% past package instructions so it’s nice and soft. Pasta cooked to al dente will get firm and brittle as it cools in the fridge. It will also soak up all the dressing and make the salad crunchy and dry.
Season Like Sushi
A pro move I like to do while the pasta is still hot is season it with plain white distilled vinegar. This is similar to what sushi restaurants do when they season warm rice with rice vinegar. While the pasta is hot, it absorbs some of that acidity instead of the vinegar just sitting on the outside. It doesn’t make the pasta taste sour or vinegary, but it brightens the flavor, seasons the noodle from the inside, and keeps the finished salad from tasting bland once it’s cold.
Cool Before You Dress
Dressing while hot will loosen the emulsion of the dressing and make it break. It will also pull fat out of the salami making the salad a little greasy. I like to let the pasta come down to room temp or slightly above before adding anything to it.
Hold Back Some Dressing
The salad will continue to absorb dressing as it sits. I like to start by adding 150g and reserving some for topping when serving.
Key Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
These are some of the main ingredients I want to call out in this recipe. See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and amounts.
Red Bell Pepper
This is the secret ingredient that makes this dressing hit the nostalgia button in your brain. Without it, the dressing tastes good but its not capital I “Italian” dressing.
Oil Packed Sun Dried Tomatoes
I prefer oil packed sun dried tomatoes over the fully dried, raisiny kind because they’re softer, sweeter, more savory, and taste more like actual tomato. The fully dried ones are usually too tough for me straight out of the package, and even good ones can taste a little stale or bitter. If that’s what you have you can soak them in hot water for about 3 hours, drain well, then cover with neutral oil and refrigerate. This end product will be pretty close to the moister, softer oil-packed version.
Genoa Salami
Genoa is mild and fatty enough to melt into the salad without taking it over. Substitute with soppressata, capicola, or pepperoni if you prefer.
Fresh Mozzarella
Fresh mozz is nice here because it gives you fresh clean milk fat to contrast the sharp italian dressing. However, you want to use fresh mozzarella that is relatively dry and has some bounce to it. Avoid the really soft milky stuff I normally recommend for neapolitan style pizza. If the cheese is too wet it will break apart in the salad making it snotty and weird.
Neutral Oil
Olive oil tastes great, but it’s not the right oil for this vinaigrette for several reasons. I find that it has a bitter taste when blended with the immersion blender. It will also solidify in the fridge then break when it comes back to room temp. Use neutral oil like avocado, canola, or peanut.
How To Make Italian Deli Pasta Salad
1. Start Pasta Water. Bring medium-large saucepan with 2000g of water (2 quarts) to a boil. In the meantime make the dressing and chop the garnishes. By the time the dressing is blended and everything is chopped the water will be ready for you.
2. Make Dressing. Into a tall, narrow container, add 20g rinsed chopped red onion, 1 garlic clove, 15g roughly chopped red bell pepper, 25g grainy mustard, 25g red wine vinegar, 45g white distilled vinegar, 15g sugar, 5g salt, and ¼ teaspoon each dried oregano, dried basil, black pepper, and chili flake.
The container should be just wider than the immersion blender head. That tight fit helps pull the oil into the blade and keeps the dressing emulsified.
Blend with an immersion blender until the aromatics and mustard are completely broken down. With the blender running, slowly stream in 200g neutral oil, moving the blender up and down as the dressing thickens. Put a towel under the container to keep it from moving.
You are done when the dressing is opaque and about the consistency of thin ranch. That thicker body helps it cling to the pasta instead of separating into oil and acid, which can leave the salad oily and flat.
Can I just dump the oil in all at once? No. You will be left with broken oily mixture that wont cling to pasta.
3. Prep the mix ins.
- Slice100g kalamata olives into 2-3 pieces
- Small dice 60–75g red bell pepper (about half of a medium pepper)
- Chop 50-75g pepperoncini
- Chop 100g Genoa salami into 1” squares.
- Dice 100-150g fresh mozzarella into ¼-inch cubes
- Blot 100g oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes with paper towel and give medium sized chop (about 1/2”). See my note above about oil-packed vs dried.
4. Salt the water and boil the pasta. Stir 45g of salt into the boiling water. Add 235g of rotini and stir. Boil for approximately 11 to 12 minutes OR about 20% longer than your box instructions say. You do not want this pasta Al dente. Taste a piece before you drain it. You want it fully tender with no chalky center.
Why rotini? The spirals trap dressing and catch all the small pieces in the twists. Fusilli or cavatappi would be ok subs instead if you cant find.
5. Drain and toss with vinegar. Drain the pasta and do not rinse it. While still hot, add 25g white distilled vinegar and a squiggle of olive oil (1-2 tsp). Fold gently and let cool down to roughly room temp. That should take about 10-15 minutes.
6. Combine. Once pasta has cooled, drop in the mix-ins along with 150g of the dressing and 75g of coarsely-grated aged parm. Then fold everything together. Do this gently to avoid smushing up the overcooked pasta.
Hold the rest of the dressing back. Cold pasta keeps absorbing and you’ll probably want another splash later. There is also a little extra for future Italian salads if you want.
Serve immediately or chill and serve anytime in next 2 days. Top with a drizzle of extra dressing and grated parm.
Storage & Make-Ahead
This salad is nice when served immediately, but is better after a few hours in the fridge. You can make it ahead up to 2 full days in advance. After day 2 the pasta will start to degrade from sitting in vinegar for too long.
Serve This Pasta Salad With…
- Dad Ribs: Sticky St. Louis ribs with homemade BBQ glaze
- Jerk Chicken: One of my best Chicken recipes to pair with the best pasta salad
- Crockpot Italian Beef: Flavorful Chicago-style Italian beef with less work
- Homemade Pastrami on Rye: Peppery smoked pastrami piled on caraway rye
Italian Deli Pasta Salad with Homemade Dressing
Ingredients
Pasta Salad
- 2000 g water
- 45 g salt, (for pasta water)
- 235 g dried rotini
- 25 g white vinegar
- 2 tsp olive oil, or neutral oil
- 100 g pitted kalamata olives, chopped
- 60-75 g red bell pepper, small diced
- 50-75 g pepperoncini, diced
- 110 g Genoa salami, 1" square dice
- 150 g Italian dressing, plus additional as needed, recipe below
- 100-150 g fresh mozzarella
- 100 g oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, 1/2" chop
- 75 g aged parmesan, coarsely ground
Italian Dressing
- 20 g red onion, chopped and rinsed
- 5 g garlic
- 15 g red bell pepper
- 25 g grainy mustard
- 25 g red wine vinegar
- 45 g white distilled vinegar
- ¼ tsp dried oregano
- ¼ tsp dried basil
- ¼ tsp red pepper flake
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- 15 g granulated sugar
- 5 g salt
Instructions
- Bring water to a boil in a medium-large saucepan while you make the dressing and prep the mix-ins.
- To make the dressing, add red wine vinegar, white distilled vinegar, rinsed chopped red onion, garlic clove, chopped red bell pepper, grainy mustard, sugar, salt, and oregano, basil, black pepper, and chile flake to a tall, narrow container. Blend with an immersion blender until completely broken down.
- With the immersion blender running, slowly stream in neutral oil, moving the blender up and down as the dressing thickens. Blend until opaque and about the consistency of thin ranch.
- To prep the mix-ins, dice mozzarella into ¼ cubes, cut olives into 3 pieces, chop pepperoncini, small dice bell pepper, chop salami into 1" squares, and chop sun-dried tomatoes into roughly ½" pieces.
- Add 45g salt to the boiling water. Add rotini, stir and boil for 11 to 12 minutes, or about 20% longer than the box instructions, until fully tender with no chalky center.
- Drain the pasta without rinsing. While still hot, toss with 25g white distilled vinegar and about 2 tsp olive oil. Toss gently and let cool, about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Add the mix-ins, about 150g of the dressing, and grated Parmesan to the cooled pasta. Fold together gently so you do not break up the tender pasta.
- Serve immediately topped with a drizzle of additional dressing and grated parm.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, but choose a short shape with texture. Fusilli, cavatappi, or farfalle will catch dressing and small mix-ins well. Smooth tubes and long noodles make the salad feel separate because the good stuff slides right off.
Absolutely. Leave out the salami and increase the olives and pepperoncini by about 25g each for salt and punch. Chopped marinated artichokes are also good in here. Just make sure you use nice oil packed chokes instead of the cheap water packed variety.
Yes, I like jovial or barilla brand GF pasta. Gluten free pastas are more fragile so be extra careful when mixing.
A countertop blender works well, but you’ll need to make a 2x batch to make sure the blades can grab everything. You can also whisk by hand in a stable bowl. Just try your best to mince the aromatics small so they blend in. If you make it by hand expect the dressing to be a little looser.
