salads Archives - Chattavore

Whether you’re celebrating a summer holiday with friends or just planning a quiet night of outdoor dining with the family, you can never have too many cold side dishes! Here are eight of my favorite cold sides that you can make ahead for a cookout!

Cookouts are all about grilling, but who wants to go to a cookout and just eat grilled meat and chips? Okay, I am sure that there are some people. I was one of those people until I discovered that pasta salad doesn’t have to come out of a box. Having a selection of delicious cold side dishes to take to a cookout at your disposal is always a good thing. The best thing about these sides is that they can be made ahead, sometimes even a day or two, so you don’t have to rush around making them. I like to make cold sides to pack in my lunch as well. What are your favorite cold sides?

Potato Salad

I don’t really love potato salad. I never really have. I’ll eat it if it’s being served, but I never make it. Except this potato salad.

Loaded Baked Potato Salad

Loaded with bacon, cheese, green onions, and sour cream, this loaded baked potato salad is a crowd-pleaser that will make the mayo-haters in your crowd happy!

Check out this recipe

Pasta Salad

I used to think that pasta salad meant Suddenly Salad or the goopy stuff you tend to find on restaurant salad bars. My mom never served pasta salad when I was a kid and they did not appeal to me. When I started making my own, I discovered that a lightly dressed pasta salad with tons of flavorful ingredients could really hit the spot!

Tortellini Pasta Salad

This pasta salad combines all of your favorite Italian sub ingredients with a tangy vinaigrette and cheesy tortellini. SO delicious and it doubles as a main dish!

Check out this recipe

Classic Macaroni Salad

My grandmother’s classic macaroni salad is loaded with cheese, pickles, celery, and peppers in a classic, creamy dressing.

Check out this recipe

This classic macaroni salad is another treasure from my grandmother's collection. It's easy and just a little different from the norm.

BLT Pasta Salad

BLT pasta salad is exactly what it sounds like: bacon, lettuce, and tomatoes tossed with pasta and a creamy dressing. It’s perfect as a side dish or a main dish!

Check out this recipe

Chattavore.com | BLT pasta salad is a BLT sandwich in a bowl!

Broccoli Salad

Broccoli salad is one of my faves…I love to make it as a side but also just to pack in my lunch. Even with a creamy dressing, it’s pretty healthy!

Honey-Sesame Broccoli Salad

This isn’t your classic broccoli salad, but it is every bit as delicious!

Check out this recipe

Honey-sesame broccoli salad is a delicious and light side dish for your picnic, weeknight dinner, or your lunchbox! | chattavore.com

Classic Broccoli Salad

This IS the classic broccoli salad. It’s full of ALL the good stuff: bacon, sunflower seeds, sliced almonds, dried cranberries, and pickled red onions, tossed with a creamy dressing. Can’t go wrong with the classic!

Check out this recipe

Deviled Eggs

Deviled eggs can be a real crowd pleaser! The classics are always great, but you can’t go wrong when you add some unexpected flavors, either. I make deviled eggs even easier by cooking my eggs in the Instant Pot, which results in perfect, falling off the egg shells!

Classic Deviled Eggs

You can pack these deviled eggs on ice to avoid any spoilage. They’re so good, though, that they won’t be around for long!

Check out this recipe

Pimento Cheese Deviled Eggs

What could be more southern than a deviled egg stuffed with pimento cheese? These are so yummy and so easy! Buy good pimento cheese at the store to make them even easier.

Check out this recipe

What’s better than cheesy tortellini with fresh antipasto ingredients? These tortellini pasta salad has all of those components in one bowl. It’s perfect as a main dish or as a side to serve at your next picnic or cookout!

Pasta salad used to be one of those foods that I just did not like. I honestly don’t know what it was about them, unless it was the fact that to me, pasta was something that should be served hot. Also, my mom really never made pasta salad so most of my experience with pasta salad was creamy pasta salads on salad bars that had so much mayo that you could not distinguish their individual ingredients.

As an adult, I’ve discovered a love for pasta salads, though. It could be the fact that they are ridiculously easy to make. It could also be the fact that they are ridiculously easy to serve. I mean, what’s not to love about a cold salad that you just grab from the fridge and dish from the bowl?

Make It How You Want It

The other clear advantage to pasta salads is their adaptability. The pasta salads of my youth were mostly “macaroni salads” (including my grandmother’s macaroni salad, which I honestly do not remember her making but it is delicious). However, pasta salads are definitely NOT limited to macaroni, nor are they limited to only creamy dressings.

My personal favorite pasta salad is the BLT pasta salad that I make that was inspired by a menu item at Southern Star. A friend of mine makes a fantastic bacon ranch pasta salad. And then there is this tortellini pasta salad…

Inspired By Antipasto Ingredients

A few years back I discovered a chopped salad on Smitten Kitchen that was inspired by the ingredients of an Italian sub, one of Philip’s very favorite sandwiches. The salad was hearty and did not disappoint. Every time I buy the ingredients I will eat the salad for at least a week.

I wanted to make something along the lines of that salad but with pasta instead. A tortellini pasta salad seemed to fit the bill because I❤tortellini. I mean, cheesy stuffed pasta, right?

This antipasto tortellini pasta salad is infinitely adaptable. I’m not Italian, but as I was researching antipasto ingredients it certainly seemed like there were few rules. You can use what you have on hand and it is definitely going to be delicious.

I used salami, pepperoni, mini bocconcini (mozzarella balls), sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, artichoke hearts, a sprinkle of basil, and a tart vinaigrette. Roasted red peppers, chickpeas, prosciutto, marinated mushrooms…there are lots of delicious things you could toss in there. Just let it chill in the fridge for a bit and you have a perfect tortellini pasta salad!

Shared on Meal Plan Monday on Southern Plate!

Mary

Yield: 4 main dish serves or 8-10 side dish servings

Tortellini Pasta Salad

15 minPrep Time:

8 minCook Time:

23 minTotal Time:

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Ingredients

For the dressing

2 tablespoons red wine, white wine, or sherry vinegar
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 tablespoon ground black pepper

For the pasta salad

9-10 ounces refrigerated cheese tortellini, cooked according to package directions (one regular sized package or 1/2 of a large package)
1/2 cup julienned or diced salami
1/2 cup julienned or diced pepperoni
2 canned artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/4 cup kalamata olives, diced
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, julienned or diced
4 ounces mozzarella pearls, diced bocconcini, or diced fresh mozzarella
1/4 cup julienned fresh basil
salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

Whisk the vinaigrette ingredients together in a small bowl or shake together in a small jar.
Rinse the cooked tortellini with cold water and allow it to stand until cooled, shaking the colander occasionally to drain the water away.
Combine the cooked tortellini in a large bowl with the remaining ingredients. Pour the vinaigrette over and toss to combine. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. The salad will keep covered in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.

https://chattavore.com/tortellini-pasta-salad/