• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Recipes
    • All Recipes
    • Comfort Food Faves
    • Cooking Tips
    • Easy Weeknight
    • Gatherings
    • Kid-Friendly
    • Meal Prep
    • Pantry Staples
  • About Me
  • Work With Me
  • Cookbooks

The Healthy Epicurean logo

Home » Recipes » Pasta

Modified: Sep 16, 2022 | Categories: Pasta

Italian Tortellini Salad

Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

The best Italian pasta salad made with cheese filled tortellini, uncured salami, tomatoes, cucumber, fresh mozzarella and pepperoncini, all tossed in the best Italian dressing!

This salad is the perfect side dish for all of your summer potlucks!

Overhead shot of Italian Tortellini Salad in a white bowl
PIN THIS RECIPE FOR LATER!

The perfect summer potluck dish:

Italian Tortellini Salad

I am a sucker for pasta salad of pretty much any sort.

You know I love pasta in general, and in the summertime, I love pairing a fabulous pasta salad with all my favorite grilled foods and accompaniments.

I'm drooling right now just thinking about some grilled salmon with pesto or chicken legs with BBQ sauce, some fresh watermelon and a pile of this tortellini goodness.

The salad itself is an incredible mix of creamy cheese tortellini, salty salami, juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, squeeky fresh mozzarella and briny pepperoncini.

I also absolutely love taking this salad camping.

I make the dressing in advance, chop all of the veggies and prep the other salad ingredients, then toss it together about an hour before we're ready to eat it.

And when I share it with friends or family, there are seriously never any complaints, just pure delight.

If you bring this Italian Tortellini Salad to a party, you'll be the hero.

Tortellini in a white colander.

How to make the BEST homemade Italian salad dressing

The Italian dressing on this salad is to-die-for, and you likely have all (or almost all) of the ingredients in your pantry and fridge:

  • White or red wine vinegar
  • Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • Garlic
  • Italian seasoning
  • Salt
  • Freshly cracked black pepper
  • Crushed red pepper flakes
  • Good olive oil

You'll want to put this dressing on all the salads. (That's my goal here.)

Italian Salad Dressing in a mason jar

How to make the pasta salad

  • Whisk together the dressing ingredients.
  • Grab a pot, fill it with water and get it on the stove. Crank up the heat and bring it to a boil.
  • Cook the tortellini according to the package directions. Drain, rinse with cold water to cool off and set aside.
  • The next step is to chop the salad ingredients. This includes tomatoes, cucumber, salami, parsley and pepperoncini.
  • Next, mix together the fresh mozzarella, cooked and cooled tortellini, and the chopped veggies, herbs and meat and the dressing.
  • Toss until everything is coated. Be sure to season the salad to taste!
  • Let the salad hang out in the fridge for a bit. This gives the salad a chance to come together and will taste more delicious!
  • I know it's difficult to wait, but it's worth it!
Italian Tortellini Salad Ingredients in white bowls

Storage Instructions

Store this salad in a glass bowl with a lid fitted on top.

I use a glass bowl because the acidity from the dressing will react with metal if you use a metal bowl. It will not react with glass.

This salad stays good up to 3 days. If it gets dry, add a bit of olive oil and some additional salt and black pepper, if needed.

Chef's Tip

Cook the tortellini according to package directions. Each brand has a different recipe and they may require different cooking times.

You want the tortellini to be cooked to al dente (a little bite, but not tough to chew).

If the tortellini is overcooked, it will fall apart and become soggy once it's tossed with the salad dressing.

Overhead shot of Italian Tortellini Salad in a white serving bowl
PIN THIS RECIPE FOR LATER!

Other summer side dishes you'll love:

  • Healthy Potato Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette
  • Summer Succotash with Grilled Corn
  • Green Bean Potato Salad
  • Strawberry Cucumber Salad
  • Healthy Broccoli Salad with Sweet Lemon Dressing
  • Fennel and Grape Potato Salad
Print

Italian Tortellini Salad

Italian Tortellini Salad
Print Recipe

The BEST Italian dressing tossed with cheese tortellini, salami, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, cucumber and pepperoncini.

  • Author: Julie Andrews
  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 10 mins
  • Total Time: 25 mins
  • Yield: Serves 8
  • Category: Salad
  • Method: No-Cook, Stove-Top
  • Cuisine: Italian, American

Ingredients

Scale

Italian Dressing:

  • ¼ cup white and/or red wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • ½ teaspoon coarse salt
  • ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • ⅓ cup olive oil

Tortellini Salad:

  • 9-ounce package fresh cheese tortellini, cooked and cooled
  • 3-ounces natural salami, cubed
  • 2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
  • ½ medium English cucumber, diced
  • ½ cup fresh mini mozzarella balls
  • ½ cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped, divided
  • ½ cup pepperoncini, chopped (optional)

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar, Parmesan, garlic, sugar, Italian seasoning, salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper flakes. Slowly whisk in olive oil.
  2. Fold in the cooked tortellini, salami, tomatoes, cucumber, mozzarella and half of the parsley until combined. Top with the remaining parsley and pepperoncini (if using). Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.*

Notes

Cooking Tip: After refrigerating and right before serving, stir again to coat with dressing. Add a bit more olive oil if necessary.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: ⅛ of recipe
  • Calories: 260
  • Sugar: 3g
  • Sodium: 270mg
  • Fat: 16g
  • Saturated Fat: 5g
  • Unsaturated Fat: 11g
  • Trans Fat: 0g
  • Carbohydrates: 19g
  • Fiber: 1g
  • Protein: 11g
  • Cholesterol: 21mg

Keywords: easy, tasty, best, side dish, quick, party ideas, potluck, summer, fourth of July

Did you make this recipe?

Did you make this recipe? Share a photo and tag us on Instagram and Facebook @thegourmetRD. We can't wait to see your creation!


« Summer Succotash with Grilled Corn
Healthy Monster Cookies »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Connie Meulemans says

    June 21, 2022 at 3:14 pm

    Egads Jules! Gotta try this ASAP!!

    Reply
    • Julie Andrews says

      June 24, 2022 at 10:02 am

      I think you'll love it! 😉

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

recipe categories

hi, i’m julie!

chef, registered dietitian & mom
passionate about simple, healthy cooking

*formerly the gourmet RD*

More About Me

Subscribe to my newsletter

FREE Kitchen Essentials Guide

This free guide is your ticket to a well-stocked kitchen and more enjoyable cooking! From pantry and freezer staples to fresh ingredients, these are the ingredients you’ll find most often in my recipes. With a bit of prep, you can skip that extra trip to the store and instead pour yourself some wine.
Pantry Guide Preview

Shop my kitchen favorites

Footer

↑ back to top

More

Privacy Policy

Terms & Conditions

Media Kit

Newsletter

Thank you for subscribing!

As seen in...

Prevention Magazine

NBC News

Well + Good

The Healthy

Verywellfit

Real Appeal

Aaptiv

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Copyright 2021 © The Healthy Epicurean All rights Reserved.
  • 258