This Easy Pesto & Feta Pasta Salad is a simple, flavour-packed salad made with spiral pasta, basil pesto, feta, cheese, mayonnaise and cherry tomatoes. It’s easy to prepare and ideal when you need a tasty salad for sharing.
The creamy pesto coating works beautifully with the salty feta and fresh cherry tomatoes, while the spiral pasta holds onto plenty of that delicious dressing.
Video showing how to make pesto and feta pasta salad
How quickly can I make this pesto and feta pasta salad?
I love simple dishes that are full of flavour without the fuss. This dish is exactly that, only six simple ingredients but it can become a family meal in under 20 minutes!
Such a quick and easy recipe, sure you could make some of it from scratch but sometimes quick is best!
Can I serve this pasta salad as a main or side dish?
The other reason I love this dish so much is it can be a side dish or a complete meal on its own! So versatile you can serve this as is, or add leftover protein such as chicken or tofu. The addition of olives, pine nuts, seeds or almonds would be lovely as well.
What do I need to make this salad?
You only need a handful of simple ingredients to make this pesto and feta pasta salad. The ingredients are as follows:
- Pasta spirals
- Pesto (Basil and pine nut flavoured ideally)
- Feta cheese (Danish style)
- Edam cheese
- Mayonnaise (Traditional style)
- Cherry tomatoes
- Cracked pepper
What is pesto?
Pesto is a flavourful Italian sauce traditionally made by blending fresh basil, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, garlic and olive oil. It has a fresh, herby flavour and is commonly stirred through pasta or used in salads, sandwiches and other dishes. An absolutely divine combination!
Can I make my own pesto from scratch?
Yes! You can make your own pesto at home but it is so simple and cost effective to buy store bought.
If you prefer to make your pesto from scratch, simply blend fresh basil with pine nuts, parmesan cheese, garlic and olive oil until it reaches your preferred consistency, then season to taste.
Can this salad be made dairy-free?
Yes, you can omit the mayonnaise and cheese if you are dairy free. I just like adding the mayo to this dressing as it helps it go further and creates a lovely creamy dressing.
How long does pesto and feta pasta salad keep?
This salad will keep well in the refrigerator for up to three days when stored in an airtight container. Keep it chilled until you are ready to serve, and give it a good stir before enjoying any leftovers.
More salad recipes to try
If you are a fan of salads be sure to check out some of my favourites from my website here. I have lots of simple and delicious salad recipes using fresh ingredients and easy techniques.
Easy Pesto & Feta Pasta Salad recipe
Easy Pesto & Feta Pasta Salad
Easy Pesto & Feta Pasta Salad is a creamy, flavour-packed pasta salad with basil pesto, feta and cherry tomatoes, perfect for sharing.
Ingredients
- 400 grams Pasta Spirals
- 100 grams Countdown Pesto, Basil & Pinenut
- 100 grams Countdown Traditional Mayonnaise
- 30 grams Cheese, grated
- 30 grams Countdown Danish Style Feta
- 250 grams Cherry Tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 teaspoon Cracked Black Pepper
Instructions
- Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and add the pasta spirals, cook for 8 minutes, drain well and rinse under cold water and set aside
- In a small bowl add the pesto, mayonnaise, grated cheese and cracked pepper and mix to combine
- Add the drained pasta to a large bowl or serving dish, pour over the pesto mixture, the halved cherry tomatoes and crumble half the feta.
- Stir gently with a large wooden spoon to fully combine.
- Crumble over the remaining feta and serve straight away or chill until ready to serve.
- Will keep for up to three days if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition Information
Yield 6 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 270Total Fat 16gSaturated Fat 3gUnsaturated Fat 12gCholesterol 18mgSodium 163mgCarbohydrates 26gFiber 3gSugar 3gProtein 6g
JustAMumNZ.com, occasionally offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site. This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although justamumnz.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
I really hope you love this Easy Pesto & Feta Pasta Salad as much as we do. It’s such a simple and versatile salad, and one I’ll be making again and again.
If you give this recipe a go, I’d love to hear how it turned out for you in the comments. You can also leave a ⭐ rating in the recipe card above, it really helps others find and enjoy this recipe too.
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Happy baking,
Anna x
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