• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
The Good Hearted Woman logo
  • Home
  • Recipes
    • Appetizers
    • Beverages
    • Bread
    • Comfort Food
    • Cooking Basics
    • Condiments
    • German Recipes
    • Main Dishes
    • Salads
    • Seafood
    • Side Dishes
    • Soups
    • Sourdough
    • Snacks
    • Sweets
    • 30-Minute Meals
  • Cozy Living
    • Arts & Crafts
    • For Music Lovers
    • Food Holidays
  • US Travel
    • One Day in...
    • Pacific
    • Rocky Mountains
    • Southwest
    • The South
    • Hikes Near & Far
  • Contact
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • Cozy Living
  • Road Trips
  • About Us
  • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipes
    • Cozy Living
    • Road Trips
    • About Us
    • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » Salads

    Garden-fresh Summer Pasta Salad

    August 12, 2013 • Updated: August 20, 2022 • by Renée B. • This post may contain affiliate links.

    Jump to Recipe   Print Recipe
    Prepared pasta salad in a glass serving bowl, ready to serve. Pin text reads: Summer Garden Pasta Salad with Creamy Cilantro-lime Dressing | fresh, fast, easy,

    This colorful, easy-to-make pasta salad is a cool mix of garden vegetables and fresh herbs, all held together with a creamy cilantro-lime dressing. Comes together in under 30 minutes; perfect as a light main, hearty side, or easy potluck dish.

    Prepared pasta salad in a glass serving bowl, ready to serve.
    Jump to:
    • Why You Will Love this Recipe
    • What Goes into this Recipe
    • How to Make Summer Garden Pasta Salad
    • FAQs & Expert Tips
    • More Garden Fresh Recipes
    • Garden-fresh Summer Pasta Salad

    Why You Will Love this Recipe

    We all have a few go-to meals that we pull out in a pinch. Fast, easy, and forgiving, this recipe is one of our summer favorites - a cool bowl of garden-fresh awesome with a little pasta thrown in.

    One of the things you will love best about this pasta salad recipe is how quick and easy it is to put together. If you have the dressing made already you can make it in less than 10 minutes!

    The thing that makes this recipe a real go-to, though, is its flexibility. You can use small pasta, any fresh or cooked garden vegetables, and small cooked beans. I don't think we've ever made this pasta salad the same way twice, and yet it's a winner every time!

    Make It a Meal

    Summer Salad, as we like to call it, is on our short list of 10-Minute dinners: meals that can be prepared in 10 minutes or less. When serving it as a complete meal, we often add a little chopped rotisserie chicken, leftover turkey, or a little cubed cheese to it for added protein.

    What Goes into this Recipe

    Summer Salad ingredients, labeled: veggies, cilantro dressing, beans, corn, pasta, fresh herbs.

    Salad Ingredients & Substitutions

    The ingredient list is very flexible. Choose any small pasta, any fresh or cooked garden vegetables, and any small cooked beans.

    ★ Pasta: Rotini and bowtie pasta work especially well for this salad.

    Sometimes we use a lot of pasta, and sometime much less, depending on whether we are going for a "pasta salad" or a "salad with pasta."

    ★ Summer vegetables: Use whatever garden veggies you love: tomatoes, zucchini (cooked or raw), cucumbers, onions, sweet peppers, fresh peas, snow peas, cooked eggplant, etc.

    Summer Salad is a great way to use up leftover veggies and "little bits of this and that."

    ★ Corn: The corn adds a welcome pop of sweetness to the salad.

    Tip: If you leave out the corn, add 2 teaspoons of sugar to the dressing.

    ★ Beans: We prefer using black beans when we have them, but small red beans, navy beans, calypso beans, or any small cooked beans will work.

    ★ Fresh herbs: Use your choice of fresh cilantro, mint, and basil; or use a mixture of two or all three.

    Dressing Ingredients

    This cilantro-lime dressing is super versatile all by itself! We try to keep a bottle in the fridge all the times, especially in the summer. Visit Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing for more ways to use this tasty dressing.

    Cilatro dressing ingredients on a tray, labeled: oil, mild green chilis, cilantro, lime, Greek yogurt, cumin, salt.

    ★ Cilantro: Use fresh cilantro.

    If cilantro taste like soap to you, try making the dressing with basil (or a 50/50 mixture of mint and basil) instead.

    ★ Greek yogurt: We use full-fat plain Greek yogurt when we make this dressing. You can also use 2% Greek yogurt with good results.

    We do not suggest using non-fat yogurt: it makes the dressing too runny for our tastes.

    ★ Diced green chilis: You can roast a couple of mild chilis yourself, or use a small can of diced green chilis. In this case, either one is a good choice.

    When I use canned chilis, I try to buy the whole ones in a big can and distribute them into freezer bags to be used as needed. This ends up being much less expensive than buying the little cans.

    ★ Lime zest: Make it a habit to zest every piece of citrus that goes through your kitchen before juicing it. When sealed in a small, air-tight bag, citrus zest freezes very well, and will keep for up to three months in the freezer.

    ★ Oil: We use a light-tasting olive oil or Canola oil. Use any light, neutral oil.

    How to Make Summer Garden Pasta Salad

    Cilantro Dressing

    Layer all the dressing ingredients in a blender cup and blend until smooth.

    Dressing ingredients in a tall blender cup, unmixed.

    Summer Salad

    We usually make this salad with leftover pasta. If you need to cook the pasta, do so ahead of time, according to the package directions. When the pasta is done, rinse it under cold water and drain, then chill until ready to use. Cooked pasta will last up to 5 days in the refrigerator.

    Gently toss salad ingredients - vegetables, beans, corn, fresh herbs, and cooked pasta - together in a large salad bowl.

    Summer salad of beans, cilantro, pasta, onions, tomatoes, corn, without dressing, in a glass mixing bowl.

    Pour prepared dressing over the top.

    Closeup of cilantro dressing poured over ummer salad of beans, cilantro, pasta, onions, tomatoes, and corn.

    Toss to coat everything. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

    The salad is ready to eat immediately; however, it is even better when given a little time to marinate, and be made up to a day ahead of time.

    Pasta salad with cilantro dressing stirred in.

    FAQs & Expert Tips

    Recipe Variations

    There are hundreds of different summer salad combinations, depending upon what vegetables, beans, and pasta you use. The salad below was made with leftover grilled eggplant, small red beans, and bowtie (farfalle) pasta.

    Pasta salad with bow-tie pasta and summer vegetables in a serving bowl. Garnished with corn, tomatoes, and lime slices.
    Should this pasta salad be made ahead of time?

    We recommend making summer pasta salad ahead of time to give the flavors a chance to marry and meld. While the salad is ready to eat once it is assembled, it will be all that much better after marinating 4-8 hours, and up to 24 hours.

    Once prepared, pasta salad will last 4 to 5 days in the refrigerator.

    Prepared pasta salad in a glass serving bowl. Corn and tomatoes in foreground.

    More Garden Fresh Recipes

    • Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing
    • Grilled Eggplant & Tomato Stacks
    • Cheesy Zucchini Casserole with Tomatoes
    • Roasted Ratatouille with Pan-fried Onions

    For more recipes and cozy living tips, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook for all of the latest updates.

    Prepared pasta salad in a glass serving bowl, ready to serve.
    5 from 4 votes

    Garden-fresh Summer Pasta Salad

    This colorful, easy-to-make pasta salad is cool bowl of garden-fresh herbs and vegetables, all held together with a creamy cilantro-lime dressing. Comes together in under 30 minutes; perfect as a light main, hearty side, or easy potluck dish.
    Print Pin Add to Shopping List Go to Shopping List
    Course: Main, Salad, Side Dish
    Cuisine: American
    Diet: Vegetarian
    Prep Time:15 minutes
    Total Time:15 minutes
    Servings: 8 servings
    Calories: 260kcal
    Author: Renee
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Equipment

    • 1 Blender or immersion blender

    Ingredients

    US Customary - Metric
    • 4 cups cold cooked pasta rotini, bow-tie, etc.; ~6 ounces dry pasta
    • 2 cups chopped or sliced summer veggies tomatoes, onions, eggplant, zucchini, etc.
    • 1½ cups black beans drained and rinsed; or small red beans
    • 1 cup sweet corn give or take
    • ¼ cup chopped fresh herbs i.e., basil, cilantro, mint
    Cilantro Lime Dressing
    • 1½ ounces fresh cilantro 1 cup, rough chopped
    • ⅓ cup olive oil
    • ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
    • 4 ounces mild green chilis 1 small can
    • 2 cloves garlic rough chopped
    • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
    • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
    • zest & juice of 1 lime

    Instructions

    Cilantro Dressing

    • Layer all the dressing ingredients in a blender cup and blend until smooth.

    Salad

    • We usually make this salad with leftover pasta. If you need to cook the pasta, do so ahead of time, according to the package directions. When the pasta is done, rinse it under cold water and drain, then chill until ready to use.
      Cooked pasta will last up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
    • Gently toss salad ingredients - vegetables, beans, corn, fresh herbs, and cooked pasta - together in a large salad bowl.
    • Toss to coat everything. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
    • The salad is ready to eat immediately; however, it is even better when given 30 minutes (and up to 24 hours) to marinate.

    Notes

    The ingredient list is very flexible: Choose any small pasta, any fresh or cooked garden vegetables, and any small cooked beans.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1serving | Calories: 260kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 214mg | Potassium: 322mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 751IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 46mg | Iron: 2mg
    This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.
    Have you tried this recipe?Mention @TheGoodHeartedWoman or tag #thegoodheartedwoman!

    Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, including Amazon affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended. Please check out our disclosure policy for more details.

    More Salad Recipes

    • Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing
    • Classic Bay Shrimp Louie
    • Vietnamese Chicken Salad (Goi Ga)
    • Classic Tuscan-Style Panzanella Salad
    7896 shares
    • Share
    • Tweet
    • Yummly
    • Flipboard

    About Renée B.

    Renée is writer, music maker, artist, and storyteller. In her spare time, you can find her writing love songs about cowboys, exploring the moss-covered nooks and crannies of the Pacific Northwest, and making music with her talented singer-husband.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      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.

    1. Nathan says

      September 01, 2022 at 11:11 am

      5 stars
      This really does look like an ideal pasta salad for summer, such a great mix of ingredients! Very excited to try it for myself. Thanks for the recipe!

      Reply
    2. Mirlene says

      September 01, 2022 at 10:53 am

      5 stars
      This pasta salad was the perfect summer salad to have. The cilantro dressing was to die for! Its so delicious.

      Reply
    3. Caitlin says

      September 01, 2022 at 10:49 am

      5 stars
      This is the best pasta salad recipe ever - the cilantro is a game changer!

      Reply
    4. Ieva says

      September 01, 2022 at 10:37 am

      5 stars
      This cilantro dressing was one of the best pasta salad dressings I've ever tasted! So good! Love how flexible this salad is!

      Reply
    5. Cherryl Davies says

      June 14, 2014 at 8:24 am

      I am always on the look out for fast, easy meals to take on the road as I drive all day and am trying to lose some weight. There are no healthy meals to be found on the road. I have found that I get bored with the same old tossed salad lunches everyday. I would appreciate any healthy options that travel well.

      Reply
      • Renée ♥ says

        June 14, 2014 at 10:42 am

        Great comment! This one travels very nicely, and stays good for a couple of days. I will see what I can do about coming up with some new ideas along the same line. Thanks for the idea!

        Reply
    6. Theresa says

      August 21, 2013 at 5:48 pm

      I usually don't eat alot of pasta salads because I'm gluten intolerant. I substituted quinoa pasta shells for this recipe. Love it. Had family over for the afternoon and served this, they loved it too. Plus, on a side note they were eating gluten free and had no idea..lol Thanks for a delicious recipe. Will definitely use this one again. Super quick and delicious.
      Thank you,
      Theresa

      Reply
      • Renée ♥ says

        August 21, 2013 at 6:40 pm

        So glad you like it!! I should try out that quinoa pasta - that's a new one for me. Thanks for the tip!

        Reply
    7. Heather says

      August 13, 2013 at 7:41 pm

      I LOVE pasta salads!! Thanks for linking up to Good Tastes Tuesday!

      Reply

    Primary Sidebar

    Adorable middle-aged couple in forest setting. (i.e., Me & Mr B)

    Join me & Mr B for the best in home cooking and cozy living - from the beautiful Pacific Northwest and beyond.

    More about us →

    Follow Us

    • Pinterest
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Twitter

    fresh recipes

    • Homemade Chocolate Covered Cherries
    • Classic Hot Buttered Rum
    • Cinnamon Roll Wreath (Danish Pastry Ring)
    • Orange Tea Ring (Danish Wreath)
    • Team Colors 7 Layer Dip
    • Orange Spiced Cranberry Sauce

    game day eats

    • Team Colors 7 Layer Dip
    • Crispy Sauerkraut Fritters (Easy Air Fryer Recipe)
    • 20 Best Game Day Food Ideas
    • Sweet & Spicy Grilled Buffalo Wings
    • Cool Buffalo Blue Cheese Dip
    • Roasted Garlic Spinach Artichoke Dip

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Disclaimer
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Statement
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Accessibility Statement

    Follow

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates
    • Facebook
    • Pinterest
    • Instagram
    • Twitter

    Contact

    • Contact
    • Meet Me & Mr B

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2023 The Good Hearted Woman. All rights reserved.

    7896 shares
    7.9K shares
    We Value Your Privacy
    To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
    Functional Always active
    The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
    Preferences
    The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
    Statistics
    The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
    Marketing
    The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
    Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
    View preferences
    {title} {title} {title}
    We Value Your Privacy
    We use cookies to make this website a better place. Cookies help to provide a more personalized experience and relevant advertising for you, and web analytics for us. To learn more about the different cookies we use, check out our Cookie Policy.
    Functional Always active
    The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
    Preferences
    The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
    Statistics
    The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
    Marketing
    The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
    Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
    View preferences
    {title} {title} {title}
    We Value Your Privacy
    To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
    Functional Always active
    The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
    Preferences
    The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
    Statistics
    The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
    Marketing
    The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
    Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
    View preferences
    {title} {title} {title}
    We Value Your Privacy
    We use cookies to make this website a better place. Cookies help to provide a more personalized experience and relevant advertising for you, and web analytics for us. To learn more about the different cookies we use, check out our Cookie Policy.
    Functional Always active
    The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
    Preferences
    The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
    Statistics
    The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
    Marketing
    The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
    Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
    View preferences
    {title} {title} {title}