🧀🥗 My Summer Tortellini Pasta Salad recipe combines juicy tomatoes, crispy cucumbers, sweet corn, creamy avocado, fresh basil, and Parmesan with a lemon vinaigrette dressing and cheese tortellini. Easy, ready in 15 minutes, and satisfying, it’s the perfect side dish or vegetarian main course!
Quick & Easy Cheese Tortellini Pasta Salad Recipe
I adore tortellini but typically use it in heartier winter recipes like my extra cheesy tortellini bake and sausage tortellini soup. So, when I first saw it used in pasta salad, I jumped at the chance to try it out myself!
- This tortellini pasta salad is the perfect way to take advantage of garden-fresh ingredients, offering tons of nutrients and flavors.
- Easy and ready in 15 minutes, this recipe provides loads of flavor and plenty of texture contrasts. The flavors and ingredients are similar to my reader-favorite Italian Chicken Pasta Salad!
- This recipe is healthy, vegetarian, perfect for hectic nights, potlucks, picnics, or parties. It makes a large enough batch that you can have some planned leftovers for work or school lunches, too.
Ingredients You’ll Need
To make this cheese tortellini salad, you’ll need:
- Cheese tortellini: Substitute any tortellini you like best
- Fresh produce: Avocado, corn, tomatoes, cucumber, fresh basil. Feel free to toss in any veggies you have on hand and need to use up! Red bell pepper or roasted red peppers, artichokes, red onion, and sun-dried tomatoes make great additions
- Grated Parmesan cheese: You could use another favorite crumbled or shredded cheese like feta, blue cheese, or cheddar. Or, include mozzarella balls
- Lemon vinaigrette dressing: Extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, apple cider vinegar, honey, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper (or red pepper flakes). A pesto dressing would also be delicious if preferred
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Cheese Tortellini Pasta Salad
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and cook the tortellini according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.
- Combine all the salad ingredients in a large bowl.
- Whisk the dressing in a small bowl.
- Pour the dressing over the veggies, add the cooked tortellini, and gently toss to combine.
- Season to taste, and enjoy right away at room temperature, or chill in the refrigerator.
Add protein
Want to make your tortellini pasta salad even more filling? Add leftover grilled chicken, poached chicken, cooked steak, shrimp, prosciutto, or salami if you don’t need to keep the recipe vegetarian.
Garden Fresh Tortellini Pasta Salad
Equipment
- 1 Glass Measuring Cup
Ingredients
Pasta Salad
- one 10-ounce package cheese tortellini, cooked according to package directions
- 1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced into bite-sized pieces
- 1 cup corn, fresh, or frozen that’s been thawed may be used
- 1 cup tomatoes, diced (cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half, may be substituted)
- 1 cup cucumber, peeled and diced
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves, laid loosely in measuring cup and thinly sliced
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese, or more if desired (feta, blue cheese, or your favorite shredded or crumbled cheese may be substituted)
Dressing
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon pepper, or to taste
- pinch cayenne pepper, optional and to taste
Instructions
- Cook tortellini according to package directions, drain, and set aside. While tortellini cooks, prep and chop the remaining ingredients.
- To a large bowl, add the avocado, corn, tomatoes, cucumber, basil, Parmesan cheese; set aside.
- To a large measuring cup or small bowl, add the olive oil, lemon juice (zest the lemon before juicing it), honey, Italian seasoning, lemon lest, salt, pepper, and whisk to combine. Pour dressing over vegetables.
- Add the tortellini and toss gently to combine. Taste and check for seasoning balance, making any necessary adjustments (more Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, pinch of cayenne, splash of lemon juice, etc.) before serving.
Notes
- Will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days, noting that the avocado will oxidize as time passes. Serve leftovers chilled or at room temp.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
©averiecooks.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
More Pasta Salad Recipes:
ALL OF MY EASY PASTA SALAD RECIPES!
Tomato and Mozzarella Pesto Pasta Salad — Tender pasta, cherry tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella are coated in Parmesan cheese and DELICIOUS pesto sauce!
Italian Chicken Pasta Salad — Easy, ready in 20 minutes, and healthy! Bursting with fresh flavors from juicy tomatoes, cucumber, basil, parmesan, and tender chicken tossed in a tangy lemon vinaigrette!
BLT Pasta Salad — EASY, ready in 15 minutes, feeds a crowd, and PERFECT for potlucks and parties. Creamy ranch dressing perfectly coats the pasta and BACON. Guaranteed family FAVORITE!
Smoky Chicken, Peppers, and Spinach Pasta Salad – Juicy chicken, crisp bell peppers and pasta with smoked paprika! Fast, easy, healthy, and a hit with everyone! Great for picnics, potlucks, or easy weeknight dinners!
Chinese Chicken Pasta Salad – Big juicy chicken chunks and texture galore from the rainbow of crispy veggies! Fast, easy, fresh, and healthy! Great for picnics, potlucks, and easy dinners!
Mandarin Orange Chicken Pasta Salad – EASY, ready in 30 minutes, and packed with Asian-inspired flavors! Juicy sesame chicken, pasta, and lots of healthy vegetables! PERFECT for potlucks, picnics, parties, and planned leftovers!
I have Not made this, but plan to. When i was 1st looking. I assumed the avocado woulda been blended. But you used cubes. Im only bringing it up bcuz it seems all over the ‘net is “creamy avocado” sauces. I LOVE avocado. Eat em like crazy ,but i have tried over and over to blend it. Make sauce , etc. I can’t get it to work. So. I guess im saying. #1this looks delish as is, #2 would you or has any1 , used a creamy blended avocado in this?
I made this salad in 2015 long before that trend of blended avocados hit hard. Just make it as is is my suggestion.
For blending an avocado, simply make sure it’s nice and ripe, and if necessary, add an additional liquid or similar from mayo, sour cream, milk, olive oil, etc depending on what flavor/consistency you’re going for.
One of the main reasons why I love your blog is the way you explain your dishes. They sound and look amazing!
Thanks for appreciating my explanations!
I’m a sucker for pasta. I can’t have it in the house, or it will be gone … and FAST. This will give me a good excuse to buy it. :)
Well, you should know by know that this is my jam. LOVE IT!
It was the perfect way to soak up the last bits of summery garden veggies before we’re onto nonstop pumpkin :)
I love using tortellinis in pasta salads, they add so much flavor, as always gorgeous dish with fabulous colors, pinning!
Minus the cheese and pasta, I swear, I’ve eaten this the last three days! I got a ton of corn, cukes, and tomatoes in my CSA, and I’ve been addicted tot he ACV and Italian seasonings combo. LOVE. It’s summer taste at it’s best.
Unrelated – pepperonata is DELICIOUS and kind of similar in herbs/veggies. I’ve been eating that for dinner the last two nights and its on deck for tonight. I eat in phases, what can I say? ;)
This is the time of year when CSAs are just blowing up and you have produce coming at you left and right, almost faster than you can use it, and working it into salads like this is how to handle it!
Never even heard of or tried pepperonata. Off to google it!
This one looks like it would definitely be a crowd pleaser!
Hello! This is perfect! I’ve got cucumbers and basil in my garden along with some ripe avocados just begging to be in this salad! I’m off to get me some tortellini!
Love it when you have the ingredients on hand, and homegrown no less!
Tortellini is my favorite pasta ever and this salad looks perfect. I have so many veggies come in from my CSA I can’t wait to use them in this salad.
It’s the perfect salad for using up veggies and sometimes (like this time of year) CSA’s go bonkers! And for trying to make use of everything and sometimes some random veggies, this would be perfect.
Your pasta salads have all been fabulous and this one looks great too! A friend just gave me a good supply of tomatoes and I have everything for this except tortellini–so I ‘ll be having something very close to it for lunch. I’m going to make a double batch of the vinaigrette to use on my salads this week. I’ll have to get some tortellini and make it again later this week.
It’s such a great, fresh, lighter salad that’s perfect for the veggies that we all have on hand this time of year. Enjoy the extra vinaigrette and the salad, with and without the tortellini :)