This summer pasta salad with tomatoes and parmesan is my farewell to summer! Tossed with a spicy sambal caesar-ish dressing, this is truly epic! This summer pasta salad recipe is sure to impress everyone as your side dish for your last days of summer entertaining or to bring to potlucks! It’s a mix of all my favorite summer staples, like bursted confit tomatoes, cucumber, raw corn, tons of herbs and a creamy dressing. It’s quite perfect and tastes fantastic!

What ingredients do you need for this summer pasta salad recipe?

Vegetables: We are using tons of vegetables like confit cherry tomatoes, cucumber, raw fresh corn, smashed green olives (but you can opt for black olives!), fresh herbs and more! You can opt to add your favorite vegetables, too like bell pepper, avocado, or even roasted eggplant.

I think even some super thinly sliced shallots or red onions (even pickled red onions) would be great here!

Pasta: We are using rigatoni here, but you can use fussili, tri-color rotini is also fun or also penne. I would recommend short cut pasta shapes for this pasta salad, so don’t use pasta like spaghetti or bucatini.

Cheese: I love the sharp tang of parmesan for this recipe, BUT you can use any of your other favorites like feta cheese, or even goat cheese.

The sauce: We are making a sambal caesar-ish salad but all the above ingredients would work well with a pesto sauce and an Italian dressing as well!

This is a vegetarian recipe, but add any of your favorite proteins like leftover shredded chicken, or canned tuna as well!

Instructions to make this summer pasta salad

Confit your tomatoes

In an oven safe pan, add in your cherry tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper and olive oil, roast for 30-40 minutes at 400 degrees until jammy and bursted. Set aside to cool when done.

Cook your pasta

At the same time the tomatoes are in the oven, cook your pasta in a large pot of salted water according to the package directions, drain and rinse with cold water when done.

Prep your veggies

While your tomatoes are in the oven and your pasta is cooking, prep your veggies. Slice your cucumbers and raw corn. You can cook the corn if you prefer, but I kind of like it raw. Get your herbs ready. Smashed and roughly chop your olives. Set aside.

Make your sauce

In a bowl, mix together mayo, sambal, dijon mustard, worschehire, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, and fresh garlic.

Assemble!

In a large bowl, toss in your cooled pasta, confit tomatoes (with any leftover juices), cucumber, corn, olives, herbs like oregano, parsley and basil and finish with shaved parmesan. Toss in your sauce, serve!

Tips, Tricks and Substitutions

How can I store this pasta salad? Cover and store your pasta salad in the fridge! What you can also do is mix all your ingredients together, keep the dressing/sauce separate, and when you’re ready to eat and assemble you can toss it all together! But, I personally like to toss the sauce before, and let it sit until ready to eat.

How do I stop my pasta salad from becoming dry? When you’re prepping this ahead, maybe save a little bit of dressing to toss at time of serving. You can also add a little drizzle of olive oil to loosen it up, and give it a good stir before serving to ensure the sauce is fully incorporated again.

Is pasta salad better made the day before? YES! I personally think so. The flavors of all the vegetables, especially the tomato that is roasted, make this dish so delicious with the sauce made the day before.

Do I need to roast my tomatoes? No, you can opt to just slice in half and serve them without roasting, this would essentially cut the time to wait for the final dish in more than half, so you do you if you’re in a pinch!

More salad recipes you’ll love

• Italian Chopped Salad
• Little Gem Caesar Salad with Panko Breadcrumbs
• Peach and Burrata Caprese Salad

If you do make this Summer Pasta Salad recipe (first of all, thank you!!), be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram and through social media so I can be sure to see what you’re making! If you’d like to stay in touch and get the latest to your inbox, sign up for our Newsletter here as well!

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Watch How To Make This Recipe