Tortellini Salad

4.88 from 16 votes

This fresh, vibrant, and utterly delicious Tortellini Salad feeds a crowd on a dime. The best part: you can put it together in minutes!

Prep Time5

Cook Time10

Total Time15

Course: Brunch, Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine: Italian

Total Cost: $15.57 recipe/ $1.29 serving)

Servings: cups

First, cook the tortellini according to the package directions. Then drain well and cool in a very large bowl in the fridge.
While the tortellini is cooking, slice the summer squash and the zucchini into 1/4-inch rounds and then quarter the rounds. Add them to a large bowl and sprinkle with salt and mix.
Slice the cherry tomatoes in half. Slice the red onion in 1/4 inch half moons and soak it in cold water to dull its sharp flavor. Chop the parsley, and if the baby spinach leaves are large, chop them as well.
Once the tortellini has cooled, top it with the cherry tomatoes, red onion, zucchini, squash, baby spinach, and sliced black olives. Then drizzle with 1/2 cup of Italian dressing.
Next, top the salad with chopped Italian parsley and Parmesan cheese. Then drizzle with the final 1/4 cup of Italian dressing. Finally, mix, and serve! Wasn't that easy?

*I chose cheese tortellini to keep the flavor profile simple, but you can use any kind of tortellini.

**Soak the red onion in cold water for a few minutes to dull the sharp flavor.

***I use our homemade Italian dressing, but you can also use store-bought.

Ingredient Substitutions:

Tortellini: If you can't access this ingredient, substitute it with rotini, farfalle, penne, orecchiette, or gnocchi. (And call it Pasta Salad!)
Cherry Tomatoes: If you're not a fan of tomatoes, try using red bell peppers instead.
Red Onion: You can substitute with green onion, white onion, or yellow onion.
Summer Squash and Zucchini: Try cucumber or carrots.
Black Olives: Substitute with green olives or capers.
Baby Spinach and Italian Parsley: Adds herbaceous peppery notes. Substitute the spinach with kale or arugula. You can also switch the parsley with fresh basil.