Fresh Greek Inspired Pasta Salad

Sep 28, 2020 | Dishes, Meal Prep

pasta salad, fresh salad, salad on table, pasta salad with herbs
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This fresh Greek pasta salad is amazingly easy, fresh, and delicious. I love a flavorful, light, and versatile salad full of fresh ingredients.

The best part about a pasta salad is that you can customize it to your own personal taste. For a vegetarian salad, simply don’t add the chicken. All other additions are completely optional as well- see that I do not have olives added to mine 🙂

Salads and soups are definitely my favorite make ahead meal. Pasta salads make for the perfect meal prep because they don’t even have to be reheated and are a super easy cold meal. If you’re more inclined for an easy hot meal, try my tortellini soup.

Thanks to my Cook’s Illustrated Magazine-I learned several great tips for cooking with onions and tomatoes. For juicy tomatoes that cause everything they touch to also taste like tomatoes- put the diced tomatoes in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Letting the tomatoes set like this will pull the excess juices out while simultaneously flavoring them. For onions that have a strong bite just soak them in ice water, and it will help neutralize their pungency and keep them crisp. 

pasta salad, fresh salad, salad on table, pasta salad with herbs
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Greek Inspired Pasta Salad

An easy pasta salad to meal prep or serve for a crowd. Made with all whole and fresh ingredients to taste and feel good
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time1 hour
Course: Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Keyword: Greek pasta salad, meal prep, pasta salad

Ingredients

  • 1 lb chicken breast cubed
  • 1/4 c olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp pepper
  • 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
  • 3 c cooked pasta noodles cavatappi, penne, farfelle or other small noodles all work
  • 1 roma tomato diced
  • 1 english cucumber chopped
  • 1/2 red onion sliced thinly or diced
  • 1 bell pepper diced; any color works
  • 1 c kalamata olives
  • 1 avocado diced
  • 1/2 c feta cheese
  • 1/2 c olive oil
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp oregano

Instructions

  • Marinate the chicken in olive oil, salt, pepper, and oregano for 30 minutes up to overnight. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until cooked through completely
  • Add diced tomatoes to a collander and sprinkle with salt and cover it with a paper towel to draw water out of them. In a bowl of ice water, add sliced onions. Let both bowls sit for 15 minutes
  • Cook noodles according to packaging
  • In a large bowl, add diced chicken, drained tomatoes, sliced onions, noodles, olives, cucumber, bell pepper, feta, and avocado
  • In a small bowl, mix olive oil, salt, pepper, and oregano. Pour and gently mix over pasta salad
  • Refrigerate and serve cold

Notes

Soaking the onions in ice water takes the bite out of them and makes them less strong. This step is optional. 
Letting the tomatoes soak with salt brings the excess water out of them and prevents them from leaking juices all over the rest of the salad. This step is also optional. 

Keep this fresh Greek pasta salad covered and refrigerated for up to 5 days.