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This Pineapple Salsa Pasta Salad is such a light and delicious pasta salad for summer! Made with the best flavors of pineapple salsa – pineapple, lime juice, cilantro, red pepper, red onion and jalapeños – it’s full of my favorite flavors!
Pineapple Salsa Pasta Salad
When it comes to summer picnics and potlucks, pasta salad is a perfect side dish! It’s quick and easy to put together and can be made so many different ways. In this pasta salad, I combined my love of pineapple salsa and pasta salad and the result is perfectly scrumptious! The hubs and I could not stop eating it. So much delicious flavor! I’m totally in love with the combination of sweet and savory. It’s a savory recipe for a dessert lovers heart!
So to get started making this pasta salad, you want to chop up your pineapple and veggies and boil your pasta. Pretty quick, simple and straightforward! Combine everything together and then toss it with the dressing.
The dressing for this pasta salad was where the trick was. I toyed around with a mayo-based dressing, which is popular for pasta salads, but did not care for the flavor of the mayo with the flavor of the pineapple salsa. So instead I turned to plain Greek yogurt and some sour cream. The Greek yogurt is wonderful because it not only lightens up the pasta salad, but it has just enough sweetness to really complement the sweetness of the pineapple without taking away from the lime and cilantro flavor that I really love.
In addition to the Greek yogurt and sour cream, there’s some pineapple juice, lime juice, a little garlic, apple cider vinegar, and a touch of sugar. Lot’s of tasty flavor!
Toss everything together and your pasta salad is ready to go! I personally like to let it sit in the fridge for a little bit before serving to give the flavors a chance to really come together, but you could also serve it right away. It makes a great last-minute dish and a great make ahead dish. Does it get any better than that?!
Everyone will be sure to love the light, sweet and savory flavors all in one! We certainly went nutty over it!
You might also enjoy:
Strawberry Feta Balsamic Pasta Salad
Three Potato Salad
Spicy Sriracha Shrimp Tacos
Baked Buffalo Chicken Sliders
Pineapple Salsa Pasta Salad
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: about 8 servings
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Stove
- Cuisine: American
Description
This sweet and savory Pineapple Salsa Pasta Salad is light, summery and delicious! It’s full of my favorite pineapple salsa flavors – pineapple, lime juice, cilantro, red pepper, red onion and jalapeños.
Ingredients
- 12 oz dry bowtie pasta
- 2 1/2 cups diced fresh pineapple, reserve the juice
- 3/4 cup diced red pepper
- 3/4 cup chopped red onion (about ½ small onion)
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 jalapeños, seeds and ribs removed, finely chopped
Dressing
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup reserved pineapple juice
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 3 tbsp lime juice (about 1 ½ limes)
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 clove garlic, minced (about 1/2 teaspoon)
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Drain and allow to cool.
- Cut fresh pineapple into bite-sized pieces and reserve some of the juices for the dressing. Chop the red pepper, red onion, and cilantro into bite-sized pieces. Finely chop the jalapeños after removing the seeds and inner membranes.
- Add the pasta to a large bowl and add the pineapple, red pepper, red onion, cilantro and jalapeños. Toss everything together and set aside.
- Mince the garlic clove for the dressing.
- In a separate measuring cup, combine the dressing ingredients and whisk until well combined.
- Pour the dressing over the pasta and toss to combine.
- Serve or cover and store in the fridge for up to 4-5 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 267
- Sugar: 11.4 g
- Sodium: 586.3 mg
- Fat: 4.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 50.3 g
- Protein: 9.5 g
- Cholesterol: 4.8 mg
I made this for a bbq for the Fourth of July and it was a big hit…..I actually try quite a bit of your recipes and am never disappointed……keep creating!!!!!
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed it and it was a hit!
yes it is straightforward, and I followed the recipe exactly as you instructed. My sister and I have been cooking for many many years and this for both of us was not a good combination. I’m happy that your husband genuinely loved it, we didn’t at all. It leaves an aftertaste. We truly believe that combination does not work. I also made your Strawberry Ice Box Cake which I also commented on, that was a winner and I will be making that recipe again. 🙂
In Reply to LIn, I know Lindsay puts a great deal of effort into her recipes and this site. There are so many that we love. I also think that when you have a site you should expect to get good and not so good reviews that’s part of the game. I’m not in any way putting her down. I am saying it didn’t work for us at all. I read reviews on recipes all the time and it helps determine what people would like to try. The same way I think people should only rate a recipe after trying it….not rating on what it looks like…?
I love this site and the creations Lindsey put up. And I too enjoy her and her site.
Lindsay, generally like your recipes but this one was not for me or my family. I made this recipe today with the intention of taking it to a BBQ tomorrow. After making it and tasting it, I can’t take this anywhere. I had to throw it out. I make it exactly like the recipe instructed. I thought perhaps it was just me, so I had someone else try it. They could not try more than one bit. It’s pretty to look at but that was it for us.
🙁
Can you tell me what about it you didn’t like? It’s fairly straightforward. My husband genuinely loved it and was still talking about it just the other day. I’m genuinely not sure what could’ve been such a problem.
Though I haven’t made the Pineapple Salsa Pasta Salad yet (but plan to), I felt a need to respond regarding Martha’s dislike of the salad. I know you put so much effort into perfecting all of your recipes and I just want to remind everyone, that some people just don’t like certain combinations of flavors. I do personally think that cilantro is not only an acquired taste, but it can also leave an aftertaste (and 1/2 C would be a lot for me). However, I don’t think anyone should rate a recipe poorly just because they didn’t like the taste of it. We also need to know what modifications to make based on our own personal preferences, too. While, I know “sugar” is your true love (and I’m sure a much more rewarding way to share your talent and creativity), but I, for one, want to encourage you to continue creating savory dishes for those of us who can’t indulge in sugar the way most others can. I appreciate all that you do!
I agree with you, Lin. It’s quite amazing how different opinions can be with the same recipe. It’s a challenge to actually create a recipe that everyone likes LOL. And of course cilantro is one of those things that some people just don’t like. I personally can’t get enough of it LOL. This pasta salad is nice because it’s easy to adjust. You could certainly add less cilantro to start and then add more to your preference. And it’s actually part of my plan to do savory recipes more regularly. I already have a few that are coming up! I’m so glad to hear you’re looking forward to seeing more savory! Thank you!
Looks and sounds amazing!!! I’m totally going to make this for the 4th!! Love all your recipes!
Do you not use gram measurements for your savory dishes? I truly appreciate the fact that you use the metric…makes life so much easier and it makes things so much more accurate (even in culinary things). Thank you!! 🙂
I didn’t measure by weight with this recipe, but I will keep that in mind for future savory dishes. I hope you enjoy it!