Tips For The Perfect Pasta Salad

Mrs. Miller’s Homemade Noodles is here to remind you that it is officially pasta salad season. Eating healthy starts with good decisions and our clean homemade noodles mixed up with your favorite veggies and dressing is always a good decision. And, there are countless options to make this summer treat a healthy choice. Want to make the perfect Pasta Salads all summer long? Here are 5 Pasta Salad Tips.

Choose the right type of pasta

First choice you will have to make is the type of pasta you want to use. While fresh pasta is delicious, its more delicate nature means doesn’t make it a great choice for pasta salads. Hearty store-bought pasta, like Mrs. Miller’s Homemade Noodles will hold up much better when tossed with dressing and other ingredients.

Size and shape considerations are the next step and we suggest a variety of sizes depending on the taste and experience you’re going for when preparing. The pasta you choose should be hearty and wide so the salad dressing, herbs, and cheese can completely coat the noodle. Our Old Fashion Wide Noodles are perfect for pasta salad you want to twirl and our Pot Pie Squares are better for chunky salads you want small bites of.

Cooking the pasta properly

We suggest cooking pasta in salty water. Serving foods cold tend to mute the flavors, so you will want to make sure your pasta is well seasoned while it cooks. Another tip is to cook the pasta past al dente so it can soak up the dressing and create a bigger burst of flavor. Remember to not overcook because it may get too soft and fall apart when tossing. Also, pasta tends to soak up everything around it, which creates flavor but it also dries out your salad to remember to reserve dressing to toss in just before serving.

Get your seasoning just right

Cold dishes need flavor. You should be checking you seasoning every step of the way to make sure you are getting it right. Start early, we mention the salty water tip above, be sure not to skip that. As you create your flavor profile be sure to error on the side of a bit too much, the cold temperature will mute your flavors a bit. When you are ready to serve a good mix or shake will wake those flavors up.

Dress the pasta salad while still warm

You should not be waiting until the pasta is completely cool to add the dressing. In fact, if you do, you’re missing out on an even more flavorful pasta salad. Toss the pasta with about two-thirds of the dressing while it’s still warm, and add the remainder before serving. The warm pasta will absorb the dressing a lot easier, creating a pasta salad that’s well-seasoned and full of flavor.

Don’t make your pasta salad too far in advance

Everyone loves to save time with meal prep, but making you pasta salad too far in advance can leave you with a bowl of soggy pasta. While pasta salad will keep for a couple of days, especially if you use Mrs. Miller’s Homemade Noodles, it is best to make it the day of or the day before you plan to eat it. The flavors will be locked in and still fresh and the pasta will still have that crisp texture.

Pasta salad is a dish that can be enjoyed by everyone and is well loved by all because, who doesn’t love pasta?! This popular picnic food can be made with a wide variety of ingredients so we highly recommend experimenting. We hope the above pasta salad tips help you create many perfect pasta salads to come. Be sure to bookmark and follow our Recipes Page for our creative pasta salad recipes.