Greek Pasta Salad
- PREP 10min
- COOK 10min
- TOTAL 20min
Greek pasta salad is an excellent salad to have in your back pocket. It’s simple to shop for and quick to make. Serve this as a side dish or turn it into dinner and top it with grilled chicken, some shrimp, or crispy tofu.
For a well-seasoned and developed flavor, we use brine two ways in this salad. First, we take a couple of tablespoons of juice from a jar of pepperoncini peppers, which adds some pep and spice. Second, we purchase feta packed in brine, and take advantage by adding a couple of tablespoons of the cloudy, salty liquid to the dressing. The pepperoncini and feta brine are optional, but if you have them on hand, use them.
You Will Need
Salad Dressing
1/4 cup (60 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup (60 ml) red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons (30 ml) brine from jar of pepperoncini peppers or use fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons (30 ml) brine from feta, optional, see tips
1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt plus more to taste
Pasta Salad
8 ounces short-cut pasta, such as bow-tie, fusilli, or penne
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
3 small tomatoes, chopped, 1 ¼ cups
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 ¼ cups kalamata olives, pitted and halved
8 ounces feta cheese, cut into ½-inch cubes
4 pepperoncini peppers, thinly sliced, optional
Directions
Place the sliced onion into a small bowl and cover with cold water. Set the bowl aside for 10 minutes so that the raw flavor on the onion calms a little. Drain, and then rinse the onions before adding them to the salad.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until tender, 6 to 10 minutes (check the package for recommended cook time). Drain and rinse well under cold water.
While the pasta cooks, in the bottom of a large bowl, make the dressing. Whisk the olive oil, red wine vinegar, pepperoncini brine, feta brine, oregano, salt, and black pepper together until well blended.
Add the drained and rinsed pasta to the dressing and mix well.
Stir in the drained and rinsed red onion, tomatoes, bell pepper, olives, feta cheese, and sliced pepperoncini peppers.
Taste for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper as needed. Serve or for the best results, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 5 days.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Feta brine: We buy feta cheese that’s packaged in brine. That cloudy liquid is salty, creamy, and delicious whisked into our dressing. If you don’t find feta sold in brine, that’s okay. The salad still tastes great, but if you can find it, buy it. The feta is better, and you can use the brine to season all sorts of things (this pasta salad, included).
- Nutrition facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values.
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