This delicious and creamy Caesar Pasta Salad is just what you need this summer! Perfect for family gatherings, backyard cookouts, or 4th of July celebrations! We absolutely love this spin on the classic Caesar salad.
Easy Caesar Pasta Salad
We absolutely love a good chicken caesar salad or shrimp caesar salad, so we figured why not turn it into a delicious pasta salad!? It is the perfect combination for an easy side dish recipe that you are going to be loving all summer long.
With an option to make your own homemade caesar salad dressing (included in the recipe card) or pick-up a store-bought dressing to make it even easier. This simple recipe is seriously the perfect marriage of tender pasta, creamy dressing, fresh lettuce, and those amazing crispy croutons! It is going to be a huge hit!
Looking for another pasta salad recipe? You have to try our Caprese Pasta Salad or Easy Lemon Pasta – it’s a family favorite!
What You Will Need
- crunchy croutons – grab a bag at your local grocery store or you can easily make your own homemade croutons, which is super easy!
- pasta noodles – we used farfalle noodles (or bowtie pasta), but you can use any of your favorite noodle varieties, like penne pasta, rotini pasta, elbow macaroni, etc.
- crisp romaine lettuce – perfect for adding that classic crunch that you are used to in the traditional caesar salad recipe.
- parmesan cheese – everything is always better with some shredded parmesan cheese on top!
- fresh cracked pepper – a fresh sprinkling of cracked pepper on this recipe is a must!
- caesar dressing – it is so so easy to make your own caesar salad dressing and it is so good, but you can also go to your local grocery store and pick-up a store bought version. We also have a dairy-free caesar dressing on the site!
How To Make A Caesar Pasta Salad
The first steps to making this creamy pasta salad are gathering the ingredients.
If you are making your own homemade caesar dressing, you will want to place all the ingredients in a wide mouth mason jar or bowl and mix to fully combine.
Now you can cook bowtie pasta to al dente, drain water, and let it cool.
Once you are ready to serve, you will put the cooked noodles, lettuce, croutons, and parmesan cheese in a large mixing bowl and mix to fully combine. Then pour on the creamy caesar dressing, as much as you want!
Give the cold pasta salad a sprinkling of freshly cracked black pepper. Then continue to mix and adjust any ingredients to your liking.
Can I Add A Protein to Caesar Pasta Salad
Absolutely! If you are looking to add a little protein to this recipe you can make it a chicken caesar pasta salad recipe by grilling chicken breasts, chopping them into chunks, and mixing them it in to make a more complete meal. Or keep it simple and grab a rotisserie chicken from the store if you don’t want to cook. You could also cook up some strips of bacon, break into bacon bits, and add that. Either one would make delicious additions!
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Caesar Pasta Salad
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Counter Top
- Cuisine: Italian-Inspired
Description
Caesar Pasta Salad – a delicious and easy Caesar Pasta Salad recipe with homemade Caesar dressing – the perfect dish for any cookout!
Ingredients
Dressing:
- 1/2 cup mayo of your choice
- 3 teaspoons dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons garlic, minced or grated
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons anchovy paste
- 1/2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, finely grated
Salad:
- 2 cups croutons (regular or gluten-free)
- 1 pound farfalle pasta (1 box) (regular or gluten-free)
- 2 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
- 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated (more if desired)
- fresh cracked pepper for topping
- optional add-ins: sliced grilled chicken or chopped bacon
Instructions
- Combine dressing ingredients in a small bowl or wide mouth mason jar with lid.
- Whisk to combine in the bowl or put the cover on your mason jar and shake to combine. Set aside.
- Boil pasta al dente, according to package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking and cool off the pasta.
- In a large bowl combine the pasta, croutons, romaine, parmesan cheese and top with as much dressing as you like (I would start with 2-3 tablespoons and add more as you want) and fresh cracked pepper.
- Toss to combine and then add additional dressing, parmesan cheese or pepper, as-desired.
Notes
- Add-ins: feel free to add in grilled chicken, chopped bacon or even a hard-boiled egg if you want to – they would all be added in at Step 4.
- Dressing: of course feel free to use store-bought dressing if that works better for you!
- Dairy-Free: to make this dairy-free use our Dairy-Free Caesar Dressing and non-dairy parmesan cheese!
- Gluten-Free: to make this gluten-free use gluten-free noodles.
- Make Ahead: I would recommend prepping all the components ahead of time, but combining shortly before serving just so the croutons and lettuce don’t get soggy!
- Storage: store leftover in an airtight container in the refrigerator and store for up to 3 days (Note: the lettuce and croutons will start to get soggy – fyi – this is best eaten within about 24 hours).
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6oz
- Calories: 256
- Sugar: 1.6 g
- Sodium: 265.2 mg
- Fat: 9.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 33.7 g
- Protein: 7.5 g
- Cholesterol: 7.4 mg
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