This summer, we’ve added a few favorite salads to our dinner table and all three have been a step from the traditional lettuce in a bowl. If you haven’t yet checked out our favorite Cucumber Avocado and Tomato Salad you must! It’s my husband’s favorite and he’s suddenly buying more avocados with a request for it (truth be told, he’s actually become pretty good at whipping this one up himself!) We’re also crushing on Lisa’s Dill Pickle Pasta Salad she shared on the blog this summer too.
Here’s a salad that combines delicious pasta (we use spaghetti for a fun change but you can also use spirals or seashells for more fun options) and healthy garden vegetables, especially if you suddenly have a bunch of zucchini and tomatoes!
Spaghetti Salad
Ingredients
- 1 small box thin spaghetti, broken into 1 inch pieces
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, chopped in half
- 2 medium zucchini, diced
- 1 large cucumber, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 large red onion, diced
- DRESSING:
- 1 bottle (16 ounces) Italian salad dressing
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon celery seed
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse in cold water. Add cherry tomatoes, zucchini, cucumber, green and red bell pepper, and red onion in a large bowl.
- To make the dressing: Whisk together italian salad dressing, parmesan cheese, sesame seeds, paprika, celery seed, and garlic powder. Pour over salad and toss until coated. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight.
- *Dressing Hack* After reading tips online about it, I searched out and found McCormick Perfect Pinch Salad Supreme Seasoning on our recent US shopping trip. This mixture can be added to Italian salad dressing in this recipe as an easy hack. I'm not sure what we have that would nail the same flavor here in Canada, but it's worth a look in the local spice aisle to see if you can find something similar.
This one has been declared my 12-year-old son’s favorite salad, and it keeps well as leftovers for a few days too!
This looks like heaven!!!!! Can’t wait to make this!
Looks delicious! Bookmarking for later!
Noms…This looks so good!
I actually made something just like this last night for dinner. Great minds think alike 😉
Looks amazing! Have to try this.
Looks yummy! I’ve never thought to use spaghetti in a pasta salad.
Thanks for the recipe
.I have an excess of cucumbers this year…this will work perfectly
I’ve never heard of using spaghetti but everything looks delicious and I love the healthy ingredients
How creative!!
I know its no diff but I would have to use fusilli pasta, spaghetti noodles should be served hot to me.
Looks delicious
This looks different, always looking for new salad recipes!!
I cant wait to try this Spaghetti Salad thanks for sharing your recipe
This looks like a great supper idea for back to school.
oh my gosh! this looks so delicious and refreshing. Spaghetti salad is brilliant. Never had it before but it is bookmarked and cannot wait to try it
I like pasta and vegetables and this is a great recipe to get both!
It looks interesting but i’m on a very low carb diet and pasta and fruit are out! For a little while anyway. May visit this recipe later on down the road of weight loss.
Never thought about using spaghetti in a pasta salad, but I am definitely going to try it out! Thanks for the recipe.
I love salads like this and will make this soon
This is new to me. It sounds really good.
This looks delicious! I will have to give it a try.
now this is something to try! and I have all ingredients on hand!
This is really different and delicious sounding.I am intrigued enough to give it a try.I love all the ingredients so I think I will enjoy it very much.
This sounds like a delicious spin on pasta salad. I’ve almost always used elbows or small shells for salad, I would never have thought to use spaghetti.
what a great recipe! would be a hit with the family!
everything looks so tasty and has a healthy component yay!
This sounds absolutely delicious. Definitely need to try it.
Thanks for the recipe . I have been looking for summer salads that are not mayo based.
Yum! This is a very cool salad; one I think everyone would enjoy!
Oh yum! It looks really flavourful!
That looks and sounds so good!
Still a favourite around here 🙂
Can’t believe I’ve been making pasta salad all my life and NEVER thought of spaghetti salad!!! This looks way too good!
Oooh this looks amazing! Thanks for the recipe, deff going to try
Sounds yummy, nice and light.