📋 Healthy Greek Pasta Salad Recipe (Potluck Salad)

5 from 2 votes

📋 Healthy Greek Pasta Salad Recipe (Potluck Salad)

A delicious and refreshing Healthy Greek pasta salad recipe made with creamy feta cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes and fresh herbs in only 20 minutes. It's the perfect summer pasta salad for potlucks, BBQ's or picnics!

Course Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine Greek, Mediterranean

Keyword greek, mediterranean, pasta salad

Special Diet Vegetarian

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Total Time 20

Servings servings

Calories 123kcal

Author Terri Gilson

Equipment

Ingredients

4 cups tri-color fusilli (500 g bag)
⅓ cup medium red onion diced
1 large tomato diced
½ a seedless English cucumber diced
1 red peppers seeded and diced
¾ cup light feta cheese
⅔ cup black Kalamata olives I also use the pre-sliced ones if I feel extra lazy -they don't look as nice, but they save you the hassle of dealing with pits and/or chopping
4.5 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
4.5 teaspoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic minced
3 tablespoon each chopped fresh mint and basil

Garnish

additional fresh basil and mint, as desired
fresh lemon wedges, if desired

US Customary - Metric

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Instructions

Cook pasta in water (as per package directions) until tender (al dente), but still firm. Drain. Put in the fridge to cool while preparing the rest of the ingredients. If you are in a hurry, run the pasta under cold water before placing in the fridge to speed up the cooling time.
In large bowl, combine cooled, cooked pasta and remaining ingredients, tossing well. Refrigerate until cold (it's best served cold). Serve.
May be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Notes

Expert Recipe Tips:

- Use al dente pasta. Slightly undercook the pasta (cook it just to al dente) so it holds up better after refrigeration and doesn’t become mushy once dressed.

- Cool pasta completely before mixing. Warm pasta will absorb too much dressing and make the salad oily or soggy. Speed up cooling by rinsing with cold water and spreading it on a baking sheet to cool evenly.

- Toss pasta with a little olive oil before chilling. To prevent sticking while it chills, toss the drained pasta with a small amount of olive oil (separate from the dressing) before refrigerating.

- Add dressing just before serving (IF making more than 1-2 hrs ahead). If prepping this salad in advance, store the dressing separately and toss it with the pasta and vegetables 1-2 hrs before serving. This preserves the freshness and keeps the salad from drying out.

- Fresh is best — don’t skip the fresh herbs and lemon juice. The fresh mint, basil, and lemon juice are what set this salad apart. Dried herbs or bottled lemon juice will flatten the flavor profile.

- Finely chop the garlic for better distribution. If using fresh garlic, mince it very finely (or use a microplane) to avoid overwhelming bites and to help it mix better into the dressing.

- Marinate the salad (if you have time). Let the salad rest in the fridge for 1–2 hours after assembling to allow the flavors to meld — especially the garlic, lemon, and herbs.

- Garnish last-minute. Add fresh herb garnish and a squeeze of lemon juice just before serving to refresh the look and taste of the salad.

- Use block feta and crumble it yourself. Pre-crumbled feta often includes anti-caking agents and tends to be drier. Crumbling a block of light feta cheese results in a creamier texture and better flavor.

- Balance acidity to taste. If the lemon is too sharp for your palate, stir in ½–1 teaspoon of honey or ¼ teaspoon - ½ teaspoon of agave syrup to mellow the dressing without compromising its brightness.

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