Summer Tortellini Salad

This summer tortellini salad is one of the best potluck salad recipes. It is easy and quick to make and loaded with veggies and feta.

This summer tortellini salad is one of the simplest and most delicious pasta salad recipes. It contains lots of vegetables like peas, mushrooms, and peppers, and it's coated in a light vinaigrette dressing with herbs.

And the best part: It makes the perfect potluck salad; I can't even count how often I've prepared it for one grill party or another.

Check out more potluck salad recipes: Napa Cabbage Salad with Ramen Noodles, German Potato Salad, or German Noodle Salad.

Recipe ingredients

Tortellini:

• You can use any sort of tortellini you like for this dish, but I like the cheese version best.
• The size of the tortellini is not important; I have already made this tortellini salad recipe using large or small tortellini, fresh or dried. Dried are OK, if that is what you have, but I think the fresh ones taste better.
• Fresh tortellini have a very short cooking time, about 3 minutes, while dried tortellini need a longer cooking time. Always check the packet's instructions when cooking the tortellini.
• If you use dried tortellini, you will need about 4.5-5.5 oz/ 125 - 150 g dried tortellini. Once cooked, they will weigh more or less 9 oz/ 250 g.

Vegetables:

• Red onions, frozen peas, mushrooms, and bell peppers.
• Defrost the peas by adding them to the cooking tortellini towards the end of their cooking time and finely slice the onions, mushrooms, and bell peppers.

Raw or cooked mushrooms

• You might wonder about the mushrooms not being cooked, but don't worry; fresh mushrooms taste wonderful when added raw to a salad.
• However, if raw mushrooms are definitely not your thing, you can either add the sliced mushrooms together with the frozen peas to the cooking tortellini or fry the mushroom slices in a little olive oil for 3-4 minutes until their released juices evaporate.

Herbs:

• As this is a summer salad with tortellini, I use fresh herbs most of the time.
• However, frozen herbs are a suitable replacement in winter. Dried oregano is fine as well, but don't be tempted to use dried parsley or dried chives; they are not good.

 How to make summer tortellini salad?

• Cook tortellini according to package instructions. Drain well and mix with a bit of olive oil.
• Chop the veggies and the herbs, and make the dressing.
• Mix pasta, vegetables, herbs, and ¾ of the dressing.
• Refrigerate the summer tortellini salad for at least 2 hours.
• Stir in the remaining dressing, add feta, adjust the taste, and serve.

Recipe FAQ

Recipe

Summer Tortellini Salad

This summer tortellini salad is one of the best potluck salad recipes. It is easy and quick to make and loaded with veggies and feta.

5 from 1 vote

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Course: Salads

Cuisine: American, German

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 354kcal

Author: Adina

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Ingredients 

• ▢ 9 oz fresh tortellini 250 g, Note 1
• ▢ 1 cup frozen peas 150 g
• ▢ 1 bell pepper red or yellow
• ▢ 1 red onion
• ▢ 9 oz mushrooms 250 g
• ▢ lots of fresh herbs like parsley oregano and chives
• ▢ ⅛ cup herb vinegar or regular white wine vinegar, 30 ml
• ▢ 1 teaspoon mustard
• ▢ 1 garlic clove grated
• ▢ pinch of sugar
• ▢ ½ cup olive oil 125 ml
• ▢ 1 cup feta 100 g, Note 2
• ▢ fine sea salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

• Cook tortellini: Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the tortellini according to the packet's instructions, adding the peas during the last 2 minutes of the cooking time. Check that the tortellini are cooked through. Take one out, and cut it in the middle; you will see if the dough is cooked all the way through.

  9 oz fresh tortellini/ 250 g + 1 cup frozen peas/ 150 g
• Drain well and place in a large bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, stir well, and leave to cool while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
• Chop vegetables: Slice the bell pepper and the red onion into fine strips and slice the mushrooms (Note 2). Chop the herbs finely.

  1 bell pepper # 1 red onion + 9 oz mushrooms/ 250 g + lots of fresh herbs like parsley
• Make the vinaigrette by whisking together the vinegar, mustard, grated garlic clove, sugar, and some salt and pepper. Slowly add the remaining olive oil while whisking continuously until the mixture emulsifies.

  ⅛ cup herb vinegar/ 30 ml + 1 teaspoon mustard + 1 garlic clove + pinch of sugar + ½ cup olive oil
• Marinate: Add the vegetables and the herbs to the pasta bowl. Add about ¾ of the dressing and stir well. Leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
• Adjust taste: Just before serving, add the rest of the vinaigrette, stir well, and adjust the taste with salt and pepper.
• Crumble the feta on top and serve.

  1 cup feta/ 100 g

Notes

1. Tortellini: Use the filling of your choice (I prefer cheese).
2. Feta from a block of cheese, don't use already crumbled feta.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/6 of the salad | Calories: 354kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 32mg | Sodium: 433mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 5g

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