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This Mediterranean tortellini salad features tender cheese-filled tortellini tossed with olives, red peppers, and feta cheese in a spicy tomato sauce with chili flakes. It’s an easy, flavorful summer side dish that’s also perfect for lunches and meal prep!
From my orzo salad with pears, crunchy walnuts, and gorgonzola cheese to those fun tortellini antipasto skewers, and this family favorite chicken tortellini, we love using tortellini in every which way around here!
Which brings me to this amazing salad. With briny olives and tangy feta, this tortellini salad is PACKED with delicious, bold Mediterranean flavors. I make mine with four cheese tortellini, but any kind goes. The tomato sauce dressing is a little sweet, a little tangy, and a little spicy. It’s seriously addictive. Whip up this easy tortellini pasta salad for lunch, dinner, or as a side. It’s one of my favorite spins on mayo-free pasta salad, and just as perfect for summertime meals.
Things to Love About This Tortellini Salad
- Mediterranean-inspired flavors. This is an easy recipe loaded with sweet roasted peppers, briny olives, and tangy feta with tomato sauce, with a hint of crushed chili heat.
- A fresh spin on pasta salad. Tortellini is a fun twist that lends even more flavor to this pasta salad. You can swap out cheese tortellini for your favorite meaty or vegetarian filling.
- No mayo. Tomato sauce rounds out the cheesy tortellini and makes this tortellini salad rich and saucy without mayo. It’s light, fresh, and delicious. That being said, there’s always the option to swap in a creamy dressing or vinaigrette, whichever you prefer.
Ingredients You’ll Need
These are the ingredients you’ll need, but as with most pasta salad recipes, just about everything is flexible! I’ve included notes below and more variation ideas later on. Scroll down to the printable recipe card for the full recipe details, followed by a step-by-step with photos.
- Tortellini – You’ll need a package of your favorite fresh or frozen tortellini. I use four-cheese tortellini, but you can substitute a veggie or meat-filled variety. It’s up to you. And if you don’t have tortellini, feel free to swap it for another pasta, like penne, shells, rigatoni, etc.
- Roasted Red Peppers – My favorite is the jarred roasted red bell peppers from Mezzetta. I’ll also sometimes substitute store-bought peppers with homemade red pepper relish. I always have it in the pantry!
- Olives – These can be green olives, black olives, kalamata, or any mix of olives you’d like. If you dislike olives, leave them out.
- Red Pepper Flakes – You can skip these if you’re sensitive to spice, and simply stick with salt and freshly cracked pepper for seasoning.
- Tomato Sauce – Choose your preferred jarred tomato sauce or spaghetti sauce. You can replace store-bought with homemade sauce, too.
- Basil – Fresh basil chopped into thin ribbons is best. You can substitute dried basil in a pinch (in this case, you’ll need 3x the amount of dried basil).
- Feta Cheese – You could also use goat cheese or parmesan.
Tips and Variations
- Immediately rinse the tortellini after cooking. Once you’ve boiled the tortellini, immediately drain and rinse the pasta under cold water. This stops the pasta from cooking further, which can make it mushy.
- Salt the pasta water. The secret to flavorful pasta? 1-2 heaping spoonfuls of salt added to the water before boiling. This applies to any pasta dish, cold or warm.
- More add-ins. I love adapting this tortellini salad with more Mediterranean-inspired add-ins like capers, sun-dried tomatoes, toasted pine nuts, mozzarella pearls, chopped artichoke hearts, and even a little anchovy paste for some umami richness.
- Add pesto. For a flavor boost, stir in fresh basil pesto, spinach pesto, or parsley pesto. You could also skip the tomato sauce and replace it with pesto instead for a pesto tortellini pasta salad.
- Add protein. Bulk up this pasta salad with protein like sliced pepperoni, salami, prosciutto. You could also toss in chopped grilled chicken or shredded air fryer rotisserie chicken.
- Different dressing. If you’d prefer to swap the tomato dressing for something else, borrow the Italian dressing from my Italian pasta salad, or try any of my homemade salad dressings. Many of them double for pasta salad dressings, too!
What to Serve With a Cold Tortellini Salad
This Mediterranean tortellini salad is a fantastic summer side dish. It pairs well with grilling recipes like spatchcock chicken, juicy Macedonian kebabs, and seafood, like mahi mahi. I also love to serve this tortellini salad with veggie sides, like grilled vegetables with halloumi, a fresh zucchini salad, or a shrimp Caesar salad. Try these blondies for dessert afterward!
Make Ahead and Storage
This cold tortellini pasta salad is great for meal prep. Make it up to 2 days ahead and keep it refrigerated. You can also store any leftovers airtight in the fridge.
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Tortellini Salad
Ingredients
- 19 ounces pack of frozen four-cheese tortellini
- 1 cup roasted sweet red peppers, chopped (I use Mezzetta)
- ½ cup pitted green olives
- 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes, or to taste
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 4 basil leaves, thinly sliced
- 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
- Cook the tortellini. Boil the tortellini according to package directions. Drain and rinse; let completely cool.
- Assemble the salad. In a serving bowl, combine cooked tortellini, chopped red peppers, green olives, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and tomato sauce; stir until thoroughly mixed.
- Garnish and serve. Add ribbons of basil leaves over the salad, and sprinkle with feta cheese. Serve cold.
Notes
- This salad can be made 1 to 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
How to Make Tortellini Pasta Salad
This easy tortellini salad comes together in no time flat following the steps below.
- Cook the tortellini. First, boil the tortellini (or your choice of pasta) according to the directions on the package. For extra flavorful pasta, add a tablespoon of salt to the boiling water beforehand. Afterward, drain the pasta and rinse it well under cold water.
- Assemble the salad. When the tortellini is cooled, combine it with chopped red peppers, olives, and chili flakes, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss everything together with the tomato sauce.
- Garnish and serve. Add the basil and crumble over the feta cheese. For best results, chill the pasta salad in the fridge for an hour or two before serving.
More Pasta Salad Recipes
I need to save this recipe so I can make it for dinner one night!
Great pasta choices Kate!
This sounds amazing. I’m going to have to try this one night.
I love this! How refreshing for a warm weekend. I am a total morning person too, leaves more day ahead of me. Your posts are so fun to read, wish I could write like you:)
I could eat this salad every day for lunch, love the hint of spice!
The tortellini look so good. I especially love the ‘veggie’ themed serving dish they’re in.
This is just beautiful! Pinned! Have a great Sunday, sweetie! 🙂