I previously reviewed this recipe and I am back to add that I recently used Bacon Bits in this salad and they work great.They soften up almost immediately and give a nice flavor and texture.Also,you have to use the McCormick Supreme Salad Seasoning.It took me a while to find it but it is right with all the other spices at the grocery store.That is definately what makes this salad better than any other I have tried.
I previously reviewed this recipe and I am back to add that I recently used Bacon Bits in this salad and they work great.They soften up almost immediately and give a nice flavor and texture.Also,you have to use the McCormick Supreme Salad Seasoning.It took me a while to find it but it is right with all the other spices at the grocery store.That is definately what makes this salad better than any other I have tried.
This is a great recipe! I made this last night and it was hit. The only thing I will do differently next time is to use a different type of pasta such as bowtie or penne. Even broken up the spaghetti is a little hard to handle with fork when eating.
We really love this recipe and have made it numerous times. Since I haven't changed anything in the last three batches, I'll share our modifications:
1. We use Rotini instead of spaghetti and specifically Barilla Plus Rotini. Really adds to the protein and fiber and is much easier for us to eat.
2.We also use Light Zesty Italian dressing to eliminate 2/3 of the calories from the salad dressing.
3. We use real crumbled bacon rather than frying it ourselves. I use 1 cup. (When my wife makes the recipe she uses pepperoni...I almost always volunteer to make it)
4. Finally, I use three tomatoes rather than two.
We hope you find these modifications useful in your enjoyment of this wonderful pasta salad.
I served this as at a party of mine and it was a huge hit! I prepared it the night before and let it sit in the fridge overnight as suggested.
I really liked this a lot. I made a bunch of changes based upon what was in the fridge/ cupboard though. I used bowtie pasta instead of spaghetti. I used bacon and hickory farms beef stick instead of all bacon because I didn't have enough bacon. I still didn't have enough meat so I added in some chunked up hickory farms cheeses. I used sun dried tomatoes instead of fresh in case people were nervous about eating fresh tomatoes due to the salmonella problems. I did find the Superme salad mix but doubt I used a full 1/4 cup of it. I got a bottle of a tuscan dressing at trader joes and the salad really only need one 8 ounce bottle IMHO. I dressed the salad with half let it refrigerate over nite and then added the rest just before serving time. No parmesan since I had chucnk of cheese in it.
This is very good! And I don't really like pasta salad. For those asking about the salad seasoning mix - I used McCormick's Salad Supreme - in the spice isle. I hope that was right. I also used real bacon pieces in the bag and Newman's Parmesan and Roasted Garlic dressing. Fabulous!
This salad was awesome. I used the McCormic Salad supreme seasoning (in the spice aisle) as another reader suggested and it was great. Thanks Kari.
I halved the recipe and omitted the olives. Added extra parmesan cheese and a handful of chopped pepperoni. I like to save about 1/4 cup of dressing and coat before serving. I did use spaghetti but will try this with mini sea shells next time and chopped red roasted peppers.
When I make pasta salad from now on this will be the recipe I use. Very good. I did use bow tie pasta and creamy italian dressing and it made for a pretty presentation as well. Angela
Way too much onion and dressing in this recipe. However the freshness of the vegetables was very appealing.
