This pasta salad is made with tortellini, white beans, tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and artichokes tossed in a lemony basil vinaigrette for an Italian-inspired pasta salad that’s perfect for hot summer days! Eat it cold straight from the fridge, or serve it at room temperature at your next summer party.
Summer is in full swing and the Fourth of July is right around the corner, which means it’s officially salad season!!
Aka the time of year when it’s too hot to actually cook anything, so we just throw together random salads for every meal.
It’s kind of lazy, and kind of amazing, and I totally love every second of it.
It’s also perfectly serendipitous that salad season coincides with backyard barbecue, pool party, and beach season. Because all these random giant salads are ideal for taking to a party and sharing with friends, if you’re in the market for such a thing.
So, today, I’m sharing another one of my favorite go-to summer salads.
This recipe requires less than 30 minutes to throw together, including boiling your tortellini, chopping all your veggies, and making the vinaigrette. It’s truly the quintessential summer dish.
Let’s start with the tortellini. While you could technically use any short pasta you love, there’s just something extra special about tortellini in pasta salad; I grabbed a package of cheese tortellini from the refrigerator section of the grocery store (aint nobody got time for homemade tortellini when it’s 90 degrees out). I’m usually drawn to whole grain or lentil-based pastas because they tend to be more flavorful and filling than straight up white flour pasta, but I’ve never come across whole grain tortellini before, so I just grabbed the best quality one I could find, and didn’t worry for even one second about it. Life is far too short to stress out about tortellini.
Once your tortellini is cooked and has been rinsed in cold water to cool it down, this salad goes something like this:
tortellini + a can of white beans + a can of artichokes + cherry tomatoes + fresh mozzarella + red onion.
Finally, a simple lemon basil vinaigrette gets poured over everything, and tossed to combine.
Voila!
Tortellini Salad.
It’s bright, fresh, lemony, and full of flavor + texture. The little bites of fresh mozzarella are a-mazing with the fresh cherry tomatoes and basil, and the artichokes and white beans add great texture (as well as a boost of protein + fiber) to the dish.
Eat it right away, or stick it in the fridge and eat it all week long for quick, no-cook lunches at the pool, beach, park, or office.
If you’re into summer salads, be sure to check out my Feta Pesto Pasta Salad with Arugula and Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Pesto Caprese Farro Salad, Thai Kale Salad with Peanut Ginger Dressing, Peach, Pecan & Blue Cheese Kale Salad, and Roasted Green Bean & Potato Salad. Or, just grab My Go-To Salad Dressing recipe and start building the summer salad of your dreams!
I hope you love this simple summer tortellini pasta salad as much as I do! If you try it out, let me know what you think by leaving a comment below or tagging me in a picture of it on Instagram. I love seeing my recipes in your kitchen! Stay cool, friends!
- 1 10oz fresh tortellini pasta*
- 1 15oz can white beans**
- 1 14-oz can artichoke hearts***
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 a small red onion
- 8oz fresh mozzarella pearls, ciliegine, or other small fresh mozzarella balls
- 2 whole lemons (juice + zest)
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, black pepper, and garlic powder
- 1. Bring a small pot of water to a boil on the stove over high heat. Once boiling, add tortellini and cook for 6-8 minutes (or according to package instructions) until tender. Once finished, drain tortellini and rinse under cold water to cool.
- 2. While tortellini cooks, open, drain, and rinse your cans of white beans and artichokes in a fine mesh strainer or colander. If the artichokes are whole, cut them into quarters.
- 3. Halve the cherry tomatoes, thinly slice the red onion, and drain off any liquid that may be in the fresh mozzarella.
- 4. Put all pasta salad ingredients, including the drained and rinsed tortellini, into a large bowl.
- 5. To make the vinaigrette, either put all ingredients into a small blender/food processor and pulse just until basil is finely chopped, OR very finely dice the basil by hand, then add it to a small bowl with all remaining ingredients, and whisk to combine. Pour dressing over the bowl of tortellini + veg, and toss to combine.
- 6. Serve immediately, or cover and store in the fridge for up to 4 days. This recipe serves four as a meal, or more like 8 as a side dish at a party.
- *I chose cheese tortellini for this recipe, though pesto or spinach would both taste great here as well! Use whatever you can find/your family loves.
- **White beans, northern beans, white kidney beans, or cannellini beans all work here (and are, essentially, the same bean labeled differently).
- ** *I find canned artichokes in water on the shelves at most major grocery stores- including Trader Joe's- but you can also find them frozen or jarred. If you can't find them canned, you're looking for about 6-8 whole artichoke hearts, or a heaping cup of them, measured after cutting into quarters.