This Summer Zucchini Pasta Salad is loaded with fresh zucchini, tomatoes, kalamata olives, basil, onion, cannellini beans, feta cheese, and a simple oil and vinegar dressing.
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I can hardly remember a summer when my father-in-law hasn't had a crazy abundance of zucchini growing in his garden. You'd think I'd have a collection of recipes at the ready every year. But here we are again with zucchini that just keeps on coming!
Sure, I make the usuals like zucchini bread and zucchini Parmesan. But there's only so much of both that we can eat before it's too much. So with one whole zucchini sitting in our fridge, I decided to do something different and throw it into a pasta salad.
I saw a zucchini pasta salad idea on Facebook that sounded pretty good and decided to try it. I tweaked the recipe to our liking and added a couple other ingredients. It turned out to be a refreshing and tasty summer pasta salad and a great way to use up some of our zucchini!
Summer Zucchini Pasta Salad
I used rotini pasta for this salad recipe, but you can use your favorite small cut pasta. You could also use grape tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes (I used black cherry tomatoes from our garden) and black olives instead of kalamata. I basically used what I already had on hand.
The first step in making a pasta salad is making the pasta! Cook the rotini pasta according to package until it's al dente, about 8-10 minutes.
Drain the pasta, rinse with cold water, and set aside to cool completely. Then, add the pasta into a large mixing bowl.
Add the tomatoes, zucchini, olives, onion, beans and basil to the mixing bowl. Stir to combine.
Then, add the feta cheese, and stir to combine once more.
In a small mixing bowl, add the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. There's a lot going on in this salad so I kept the dressing simple. Stir the dressing ingredients together and pour over the pasta salad. Stir to combine.
Serve the pasta salad immediately or allow it to chill in the fridge until ready.
Summer Zucchini Pasta Salad
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 8 oz. rotini pasta
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes quartered
- 1 cup zucchini diced
- 1/2 cup sliced kalamata olives
- 1/4 cup red onion minced
- 1 - 15 oz. can cannellini beans rinsed and drained
- 2 tbsp. fresh basil chopped
- 4 oz. crumbled feta cheese
For the dressing:
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package. Drain, rinse with cold water, and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add tomatoes, zucchini, olive, onion, beans, and basil. Stir to combine.
- Add crumbled feta and stir again to combine.
- In a small bowl, add oil, vinegar, and salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Pour dressing over pasta salad and stir to combine.
- Stir immediately, or chill in fridge.
You might be thinking, "Raw zucchini? What?" It's honestly such a good addition to pasta salad! The zucchini flesh soaks up some of the dressing flavor while the skin adds a nice crunch. So don't be afraid to toss it into a pasta salad!
Did you make this Summer Zucchini Pasta Salad recipe? Share it on social media using the hashtag #holokahome. Don’t forget to tag me @holokahome!
