This vibrant Spaghetti Salad features tomatoes, cucumbers, black olives, green olives, red onion, and feta cheese. The pasta and veggies are tossed with homemade Italian dressing made with pantry staples. It’s a crowd-pleasing cold pasta salad perfect for making ahead and sharing with your friends and family as a side dish at Spring and Summer picnics, potlucks, BBQs, or parties.
Quick and easy 20-minute Spaghetti Salad
This crowd-pleasing cold spaghetti salad comes together in just 20 minutes! It’s simple enough to serve as an everyday side dish with your weeknight dinner or for a special occasion when entertaining guests or having company. The spaghetti is mixed with fresh tomatoes, cucumber, olives, red onion, and feta cheese. The homemade Italian-inspired dressing combines olive oil, lemon juice, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. It’s a perfect cold pasta salad that can be made in advance to bring and share at Summer festivities, potlucks, barbecues, picnics, and cookouts! Serve it as is, or add protein to turn it into a complete meal. For more pasta salad inspiration, check out this delicious Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad or family-favorite Broccoli Ranch Pasta Salad with Bacon, Tomatoes, Sweet Peas, and Cheddar Cheese.
Why this recipe works
- This flexible recipe is easily adjustable to what you have available. You can use any kind of pasta (not just spaghetti), various vegetables, and cheese. You can make dressing from scratch or use store-bought Italian or Greek.
- It can be made beforehand and only gets better after being refrigerated. Great for making ahead!
- This cold spaghetti salad is perfect for sharing. Bring it to picnics, potlucks, backyard barbecues, block parties, cookouts, and other festivities. It’s a perfect pasta salad for Spring, Summer, or year-round.
- Perfect for entertaining: it works as an appetizer, side salad, or lunch. You’ll love how vibrant and colorful it is – a great dish to impress your guests.
The ingredients
- Pasta. You can use any shape you like, including spaghetti, fettuccine, linguine, bucatini, or angel hair pasta. You can also use short-cut pasta, such as bow-tie, penne, rigatoni, fusilli, or orecchiette.
- Tomatoes. I used grape (or cherry) tomatoes in two colors. They make a beautiful presentation, but you can use regular tomatoes, too.
- Cucumber. Use two medium cucumbers or one large one.
- Olives. Use pitted black and green olives.
- Feta cheese has a soft texture and briny flavor. Perfect for mixing in with the spaghetti salad.
- Red onion provides a zesty bite. You don’t need much – only about ¼ cup of chopped onions.
Homemade Italian dressing
- Salad dressing ingredients include extra virgin olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. I recommend using freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice (not bottled) and extra virgin olive oil. I also like adding one tablespoon of honey to balance the flavors.
- Combine all the dressing ingredients in a mason jar and whisk with the fork (or close the jar with the lid and shake it vigorously to blend the flavors).
How to make spaghetti salad
This cold spaghetti salad only takes 20 minutes to make. You can serve it immediately or refrigerate it for up to 4 days. Below is the overview. The detailed recipe (with amounts) is at the bottom of this post (on the recipe card).
- Cook the pasta in boiling water according to the package instructions. Drain, rinse with cold water, and drain again. In the meantime, proceed with the rest of the recipe.
- Make salad dressing in a large bowl by combining extra virgin olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, honey, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
- Prepare the veggies. Add sliced tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, and olives into the same large bowl with the dressing. Toss to combine.
- Assembly. Add drained cooked pasta and feta cheese to the bowl with veggies. Toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
Can you make it ahead?
Cold spaghetti salad only gets better as it sits (refrigerated) so the flavors can blend. You can make it up to a day in advance. Or, make it in the morning, refrigerate it in an airtight container, and serve it for lunch or dinner the same day.
Variations and substitutions
- Pasta. Even though it’s a spaghetti salad, you can use any kind of pasta you like (or have available!). This includes linguine, fettuccine, angel hair pasta, or bucatini. You can also use short-cut pasta: small shells, fusilli (spiral pasta), bow-tie pasta (farfalle), penne, rigatoni, or rotini.
- Veggies. My favorites are asparagus, bell peppers, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, marinated artichokes, and zucchini.
- Add leafy greens, such as arugula, garden greens, or lettuce.
- Cheese. This recipe uses feta cheese. You can also add small Mozzarella balls (pearls), sliced Mozzarella, or cubed Parmesan. Or, add grated Parmesan.
- Salad Dressing. Make a dressing from scratch or use store-bought Italian or Greek dressing.
- Don’t like red onions? Try chopped green onions.
- Lime or lemon will work great. Freshly squeezed juice is always the best!
Delicious add-ins
- Add prosciutto, bacon, or pepperoni. You can briefly crispy up the prosciutto in the preheated oven at 350 F for about 10 minutes.
- Add a protein, such as leftover chicken, rotisserie chicken, sauteed or grilled shrimp, or salmon, to turn spaghetti salad into a quick and easy weeknight dinner!
- Add pine nuts as a topping. I like to toast pine nuts briefly (and carefully!) in the oven for an even richer flavor.
- Add capers instead of olives, or add them in addition.
- Add other toppings, such as fresh herbs (basil, thyme, or oregano), chopped green onions, or chopped chives.
- Make it spicy by adding red pepper flakes.
Cooking tips
- Cook pasta al dente for the best texture. This texture works best with the spaghetti salad, especially if you want to make it ahead. To cook pasta al dente, you usually have to boil it 2 minutes shorter than normal. For example, if the package instructions tell you to boil pasta for 10 minutes – cook the pasta in boiling water for 8 minutes instead.
- Rinse cooked pasta under cold water before adding to the salad. This step is important. You want spaghetti to retain its texture and not get mushy. Also, since you’re mixing the spaghetti with feta cheese, you don’t want the pasta to keep releasing the starch that will mix with the feta – that will also result in a mushy and creamy texture.
- Make it gluten-free. Use the gluten-free pasta of your choice. Lentil or chickpea gluten-free pasta will taste great here.
- Make it dairy-free. Use dairy-free, vegan feta cheese instead of regular feta.
- How to serve it? Serve it warm, at room temperature, or cold.
Storage Tips
This cold spaghetti salad gets only better better as it sits in the fridge. It’s best to serve it within 2 days, but you can keep it refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Can you make it ahead?
This is one of those recipes that tastes even better the next day once all the flavors blend. It’s a perfect side dish to bring to potlucks or to make for the holidays. Here are some tips on how to make this ahead.
- Assemble all of the salad ingredients in a large, airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 4 days. Of course, it’s best to serve it within 24 hours.
- Add extra salad dressing before serving. The spaghetti salad tends to soak up the dressing as it sits in the fridge. You can quickly make the same dressing from scratch or use store-bought Italian or Greek dressing. Add this extra dressing immediately before serving to freshen up the salad.
Other pasta salads you might like
- Corn Pasta Salad with Bacon and Creamy Pesto Dressing
- Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad
- Summer Pasta Salad with Peaches, Spinach, Tomatoes, Prosciutto, and Mozzarella Cheese
- Broccoli Ranch Pasta Salad with Bacon, Tomatoes, Sweet Peas, and Cheddar Cheese
- Greek Tortellini Salad with Tomatoes, Avocados, Cucumbers, and Feta Cheese
- Chicken Pasta Salad with Apricots, Spinach, Bacon, and Feta
Spaghetti Salad
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Ingredients
Pasta
- 16 oz spaghetti
Salad dressing
- ¼ cup lemon juice freshly squeezed
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 tablespoon honey
- salt and pepper to taste
Salad ingredients
- 12 oz cherry tomatoes red and yellow (sliced in half)
- 2 medium cucumbers sliced
- ⅓ cup red onion chopped
- ⅓ cup black olives sliced
- ⅓ cup green olives sliced
- 4 oz crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
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Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package instructions.
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Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and immediately rinse it with cold water. Drain again.
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While the pasta is cooking, proceed with the rest of the recipe.
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In a large bowl, combine the salad dressing ingredients: olive oil, lemon juice, honey, and Italian seasoning. Mix. Season generously with salt and pepper.
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Add sliced cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, chopped red onion, and olives to the bowl with the dressing, mixing the dressing thoroughly with the veggies. Let them marinate while the pasta is cooking. The tomatoes should release juices.
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Add drained and rinsed spaghetti and crumbled feta cheese to the bowl with marinated veggies. Toss to combine.
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Season with salt and pepper. Add more lemon juice, if desired.
Notes
Helpful tips
- Use any shape of pasta you like, including spaghetti, fettuccine, linguine, bucatini, or angel hair pasta. You can also use short-cut pasta, such as bow-tie, penne, rigatoni, fusilli, or orecchiette.
- Rinse cooked pasta under cold water before adding to the salad. This step is important. You want spaghetti to retain its texture and not get mushy.
- Salad dressing options. Make a dressing from scratch or use store-bought Italian or Greek.
- Veggies. Add bell peppers, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, marinated artichokes, and zucchini.
- Add leafy greens, such as spinach or arugula.
- Cheese. Other options besides feta are small Mozzarella balls (pearls), sliced Mozzarella, and cubed or grated Parmesan.
- To make it gluten-free, use the gluten-free pasta of your choice. Once cooked, rinse the pasta with cold water to prevent it from getting mushy.
- Make it dairy-free. Use dairy-free, vegan feta cheese instead of regular.
- How to serve it? Serve it warm, at room temperature, or cold.
Tips for making it ahead and meal-prep
- This is one of those recipes that tastes even better the next day once all the flavors blend.
- Assemble all of the salad ingredients in a large, airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 4 days. Of course, it’s best to serve it within 24 hours.
- Add extra salad dressing before serving. The spaghetti salad tends to soak up the dressing as it rests in the fridge. You can quickly make extra dressing from scratch or use store-bought Italian or Greek. Add this extra dressing immediately before serving to freshen up the salad.
Nutrition
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