Julie Clark
Updated:
Poppyseed Pasta Salad
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This poppyseed pasta salad is the perfect picnic side dish. Loaded with veggies, feta cheese and homemade poppy seed dressing.
You’re invited to a summer picnic and need to bring a side dish. Traditional Italian pasta salad is always a good idea, but you’re feeling like a little change and need something just slightly different.
This Poppyseed Pasta Salad is for you! It’s loaded with pasta, carrots, cucumber, broccoli and cherry tomatoes, then topped with feta and drizzled with a homemade poppyseed dressing. It’s colorful, fresh and a must for your picnic checklist this summer!
About Poppyseed Pasta Salad:
- Flavor: This salad has a mild flavor with just a hint of tangy and sweet. Most of the flavor comes from the dressing, and I think you’ll find yourself drizzling the dressing over salads as well.
- Texture: Pasta salads are full of texture. The pasta is tender, but the vegetables are crisp and crunchy. Add a creamy cheese and you’ve got all the best textures in one.
Love summer salads? Try our strawberry spinach salad, bowtie pasta salad or fresh peach salad.
Ingredients Needed
- Choose carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions and broccoli to give a good color palate and make it look appetizing.
- You’ll also need a fun pasta shape like gemelli, and feta cheese.
- The dressing is a mix of olive oil and red wine vinegar, seasoned with sugar, salt, shallot, poppy seeds, garlic and ground mustard.
a note about poppy seed dressing
There are two types of poppy seed dressing. One has a base of oil & vinegar and the other is creamy. To make a creamy poppy seed dressing, simply whisk in a couple tablespoons of mayonnaise.
You can use either for this recipe, but we prefer the oil & vinegar base. And you can mix it in a cute shaker jar.
How to Make Poppyseed Pasta Salad in 4 Steps
- Boil and cook pasta according to package directions, then drain pasta and rinse with cold water. I used gemelli pasta, but use any shape you have in your pantry.
- Place the pasta in a large bowl. Add the chopped vegetables and feta cheese to the cooled pasta.
- In a bowl or shaker jar, combine the dressing ingredients. Shake well. Pour over the pasta salad.
- Mix to combine and store in the fridge until serving. (If you want the salad really cold, refrigerate for 2 hours. Pour the dressing over the top right before serving.)
Make It Ahead
You can make the pasta salad in advance, but I recommend adding the dressing right before serving. You can make up the dressing in advance so the flavors have time to blend.
Make it a meal.
If you’re looking a main dish recipe to go with this pasta side dish, try one of these:
Recipe Variations
- For extra crunch in your poppyseed pasta salad, try adding walnuts, pecans or crunchy almonds.
- Add rotisserie chicken or other cooked chicken for a poppy seed chicken pasta salad.
- Many people have asked about putting fruit in poppy seed pasta salad. Try red grapes, mandarin oranges or dried cranberries.
- Replace the granulated sugar with honey.
- Chopped romaine lettuce is a great way to make the salad go further.
Lemon and poppyseeds go so well together, especially in lemon poppy seed bread and lemon poppy seed rolls and lemon poppy seed raspberry muffins.
Poppyseed Pasta Salad
This poppyseed pasta salad is the perfect picnic side dish. Loaded with veggies, feta cheese and homemade poppy seed dressing.
Servings 8
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Chill Time 2 hours
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 16 ounces gemelli pasta
- 1 cup broccoli florets
- 1 cup sliced carrots
- 1 cup sliced cucumber
- 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
- ½ cup chopped green onions
- 1 cup feta cheese
For the dressing:
- 1/2 cup mild olive oil
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon minced shallot
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon ground mustard
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions, then drain and rinse with cold water.
- Place the pasta in a large bowl. Add the chopped vegetables and feta cheese to the cooled pasta.
- In a bowl or shaker jar, combine the dressing ingredients. Shake well. Pour over the pasta salad. Mix to combine.
- Refrigerate until serving. (If you want the salad really cold, refrigerate for 2 hours. Pour the dressing over the top right before serving.)
Notes
Refer to the article above for more tips and tricks. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
The calories shown are based on the recipe serving 8, with 1 serving being ⅛ of the salad. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information. The information in the nutrition box are calculated through a program and there is room for error. If you need an accurate count, I recommend running the ingredients through your favorite nutrition calculator.**
Nutrition
Calories: 424kcal | Carbohydrates: 52g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 17mg | Sodium: 381mg | Potassium: 330mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 3053IU | Vitamin C: 16mg | Calcium: 142mg | Iron: 1mg
Delicious. Family loved it