Tri-Color Pasta Salad
A bright family pasta salad with tri-color pasta, three peppers, sour pickle, baby corn, and red onion. A separate recipe file confirms the main sweet vinaigrette. The old master also preserves a creamy alternate dressing, so the final keeps both while correcting the creamy version's excessive salt.
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Cook the tri-color pasta according to the package directions until just tender. Drain and rinse briefly with cool water, then drain extremely well.
- While the pasta cooks, dice the yellow, green, and red peppers, pickle, baby corn, and red onion into small pieces.
- For the sweet vinaigrette, whisk the vinegar, oil, sugar, water, garlic powder, and salt until the sugar is mostly dissolved.
- Combine the drained pasta and chopped vegetables in a very large bowl. Pour on about three-quarters of the vinaigrette and toss thoroughly.
- Taste and add the remaining vinaigrette as needed. If using a 1 lb box of pasta and the salad seems dry, make only the extra dressing you actually need.
- For the creamy variation instead, whisk the mayonnaise, sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, black pepper, and vinegar until smooth. Add gradually to the pasta mixture until evenly coated.
- Chill 30-60 minutes if time allows, then toss again before serving.
Notes
Recipe #159
Category: Pareve Pasta Salad
Yield: About 8-10 servings
Method: Boil, chop, and toss
Prep: About 30 minutes
Cook: Per pasta package
Difficulty: Easy
Recipe Details
Kosher: Pareve when made with pareve mayonnaise for the creamy option. Texture: Tender pasta with crisp vegetables. Flavor: Sweet-tangy vinaigrette or creamy-tangy alternate.
One Dressing Batch First
The old family note says it often used 1 1/2-2 batches of vinaigrette. For the website version, start with one batch, toss very well, and add more only if the pasta actually needs it. Package sizes and pasta shapes absorb dressing differently.
What a Beginner Should Look For
The pasta should be tender but not mushy, vegetables should still be crisp, and the dressing should reach all the pasta without leaving a large puddle at the bottom of the bowl.
Cool Pasta, Dry Pasta
A quick cool rinse stops the pasta from overcooking, but it must be drained very well afterward. Water clinging to the pasta weakens either dressing and makes the finished salad taste diluted.
Beginner Tips
- Cut all vegetables into small pieces so every forkful gets a little of everything.
- Dissolve the sugar as much as possible before dressing the pasta.
- Do not pour on extra dressing just because the old note says 1 1/2-2 batches; taste first.
- For the creamy version, the corrected salt is 1 teaspoon, not 1 tablespoon.
- Chill before serving if you want the flavors more blended.
- Use the sweet vinaigrette for the classic family version.
- Use the creamy dressing when you want a richer deli-style salad.
- Add a second pickle for more tang.
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