Classic Italian Pasta Salad

Our favorite combination of vegetables for this salad is cubed zucchini, red pepper, cherry tomatoes, red onion and sliced Baby Bella mushrooms. We don't care for Wish-Bone dressing as it's really salty for us, I usually make an italian dressing from scratch. This makes a GREAT all in one meal for summer if you throw in leftover rotisserie chicken or sliced pepperoni. The longer this salad sits, the better it gets--I usually like to make it the night before, toss the ingredients in a big bowl with the dressing and then toss it again right before serving.

I thought this deserved a rating, and it's very similar to my own version of the "suddenly salad" classic pasta salad. Even better, we can use our favorite italian dressings or homemade and tweaked a bit. The best part is that the fresh veggies in it are adaptable and taste so much better than the dehydrated stuff in the boxed pastas.

I used half Wish-bone Italian dressing and half mayonnaise, as suggested in the footnotes. We liked the creamy texture and subtle taste.

To make this pop with flavor and taste homemade, add some olive oil, a fair amount of red wine vinegar and a generous amount of garlic powder and oregano...to taste. The salad dressing is a good base, but just a base... I've made it this way for years and people ask me to bring it to gatherings.

our go to pasta salad recipe. we use wacky mac colored rotini in this recipe

It was okay, but there was a tinny flavor that I think came from the commercial dressing. I like the mix of ingredients, so I'll try it next time with homemade dressing.

this is ok

This was great. I used bow-tie noodles, broccoli, yellow and red tomatos, green pepper and cucumbers.

I use canned green beans (drained), sliced black olives, sliced green olives, diced red onion, celery and grape tomatoes, with italian dressing. We love it!

I had some cooked noodles leftover from another dish and found this recipe. I just had to about cut it in half. It was quick to mix together. My mom made something similar but added salad surpreme seasoning. As this was not going to a pot-luck, and I wasn't concerned about appearance, I just added some shredded cheddar instead of the cubed. It was what I had. For the veggies, I used a bag of steamed Normandy vegetables. I am not a fan of raw broccoli and similar vegetables. Only wished it refrigerated well. It was good fresh, but got mushy by the next day.

Used penne with cucumbers, onion, carrot and radishes. No cheese and we did add olives. I did add a bit of olive oil and red wine vinegar to the wishbone dressing.

I halved this and it made three good meal(lunch) portions for our appetites. I make my own homemade Italian dressing so I did not use wishbone brand. For the halved recipe, I did not need nearly 1/2 C of dressing as it would have been way too much and hid the flavor of the vegetables. I used yellow squash, orange and green bell peppers, and tomatoes.

This is my regular recipe except the cheese and the olives. Sometimes simple is just the best, and I've never found a home made dressing that has just the right flavor for this. Wish bone really is the best for pasta salad. I always make this a day ahead to let the pasta and the veggies absorb the dressing, then add another big squirt right before serving.

I used the wishbone dressing with a very large pasta salad mixture for a BBQ. I did not add cheese but did add several heads of broccoli, some ears of corn and some mixed veggies. I left out the onions because I know several of my guests don't like them. I was happily surprised at how tasty the wishbone dressing is on pasta salad! Despite using 3 bags of pasta (and a ton of veggies) I did not use the entire bottle of dressing because I hate salads that are dripping in dressing. Instead I added just enough to give the salad a mild zesty flavor that made it tasty yet appealing to all palettes. I will definitely use the wishbone dressing again in future pasta salads as it was a winner! (And soooo easy too!) (I gave this recipe four stars only because I did not include all of the ingredients in my dish)

Would Definately have again.

Good recipe. For veggies I used 1/2 cup of chopped onion, 1 cucumber, 1 cup of shredded carrots, 1 whole chopped tomato and added shredded cheddar and tbsp of Italian seasoning. Works well with salad seasoning!

pasta salad is always good. add stuff to taste

Was a very good pasta salad. We added bacon to it to make it a main course meal.

My family loves this recipe

This is a very useful basic recipe. I would use rotini or fusilli rather than rotelle (wagon wheels). Some other possible substitutions and/or add-ins include: sprinkles of ground black pepper, Italian seasoning (or even herbes de Provence), garlic powder (not garlic salt), and Italian hard grating cheeses (Parmesan, Romano, aged Asiago); less bottled dressing, but augmented with EVOO & red wine vinegar; chopped or sliced Kalamata olives instead of ripe black olives; halved or quartered pepperoni slices or ¾-inch squares of sliced salami; ¾-inch squares of sliced provolone instead of cubed cheeses; or small cubes of Muenster instead of cheddar or mozzarella; submarine sandwich dressing; a couple of sliced & drained pickled pepperoncini; halved grape tomatoes, pear tomatoes or cherry tomatoes (quarter them if they're large); grated or shredded carrot (not sliced); diced red or sweet onion, or scallions. Importantly, keep a close eye on the total sodium content of the salad, as many of these things bring a lot of salt (dressings, mayo, olives, meats, cheeses, pepperoncini).

so very good!!

I usually make a pasta salad that calls for more ingredients than this one, but I didn't have a lot on hand. This was perfect for a side dish. I used red and green bell peppers, red onion and zucchini. I had the Wish Bone Italian Dressing on hand, and I just added a sprinkling of Italian seasoning. Quick, easy and tasty. (I like all the variation ideas listed in the footnotes, although I didn't try any of them yet.)

A great combination of veggies and pasta. I did make the creamy dressing, combining Italian dressing with mayonnaise about half and half. Yes I will make it again!

I’ve been making this for years. Always a hit at a cookout.

This was an excellent base in which to add your own veggies and fixins. The dressing is wonderful so I double it.

It was fantastic! Everyone raved about it, only thing was I used an entire bag of pasta(doubled the veggies) and used 1/3rd- 1/2 of a bottle of dressing. Used it for 3 Bbqs and nothing was left

I've been making this dish for the last few years, and it's become a favorite that has been requested by friends who are hosting grad parties, when I offer to bring something! Even the kids ask for it and want me to bring it! The veggies I use are: cauliflower, orange pepper, carrots, and fresh mushrooms, and I include sliced ripe olives and sharp cheddar cheese. I took the suggestions from several reviewers' comments and add 1/2 cup red wine vinegar along with 1/2 cup Wish Bone Robusto Italian dressing and 1/2 cup Hellmanns real mayonnaise. I make it a day ahead, which really melds the flavors together, then add more Italian dressing just before serving. It gets better over that day. I usually double the recipe and I get rave reviews. I also love that it's so easy to make, and I often have most of the ingredients on hand. It's definitely a winner!

nice easy salad to make. Served it with pork and it went down well with the family.