Chat with us, powered by LiveChat

Serve an Easy Pasta Salad Bar for Your Next Party

Feed a Crowd with a Pasta Salad Bar

There’s something very intimidating about cooking ‘real food’ for a large group of people, especially if you’re on a budget.

Shoot, some days I feel like I can barely get food prepared to feed my family, so to feed a crowd means exponentially more time. And then there’s the idea of wanting to have food ready for the party without doing a lot of prep as the guests arrive, since I’m always behind and time challenged! I’m always on the lookout for simple party food ideas that people will enjoy.

Why a Pasta Salad Bar is the Perfect Party Solution

  1. Cheap food for a large group
  2. Can be allergy-friendly – omitting the most common allergens is easy, especially when people get to make their own
  3. Flexible amounts – you can literally feed any size crowd without hassle
  4. Easy to prep in advance
  5. Styles and flavors fit people’s preferences

I served a pasta salad bar for my daughter’s First Communion party this spring, and it was a huge hit. I provided pasta (regular and gluten-free), lettuce for salad if anyone was grain-free, a few homemade salad dressings and a huge number of toppings, and people could make their own flavors as they chose. We had homemade rolls and sliced turkey as well for “sliders” and it was just perfect.

A few guests complimented me on the fact that everything was ready to serve when we all walked in together after Mass and that I made it look easy. As someone who is always running around like a chicken with her head cut off, that was a huge accomplishment for me, so I knew I needed to share this system with you all!

Related: Gluten-Free Pasta Salad

Topping Options for the Pasta Salad Bar

Pasta Salad Bar for a party with a big group all the amazing toppings to choose from

When I’m making a pasta salad to go for a party, another reason I love it is because I can usually make one with ingredients I have on hand. For the pasta salad bar, I just used ALL the things!

For example:

  • Finely chopped vegetables:
    • cucumbers
    • colored peppers
    • cauliflower
    • green onion
    • red onion
    • tomatoes (or halved cherry toms)
  • Cubed cheese: mozzarella and cheddar
  • Feta cheese
  • Sliced green olives
  • Crumbled bacon (that went fast!)
  • Chopped dill pickles
  • Spinach and lettuce (this also serves as an “out” for those who don’t want pasta)

You could easily add meat to make it the centerpiece of the meal, but we had the turkey sliders for this one.

We offered both wheat and gluten-free pastas. Choose curly pasta if you can, anything with lots of texture, so that the dressing has lots of surface area to stick to. Also, if you’re not a fan of pasta for health reasons – it’s a more processed food than we usually eat – you could totally do a “cold grain salad bar” with cooked rice, quinoa, spelt, etc. (like this salad).

I made 3 different dressings so people could really choose their flavor:

Pasta Salad Bar for a party with a crowd 3 different homemade dressings available

Here’s where to find the recipes:

I also had made Pinch of Yum’s Magic Green Sauce (SO delish!) and when we had leftovers for dinner the next night, I made a pasta salad with it. HIGHLY recommend trying that!

Pasta Salad with Magic Green Sauce

Tips for Party Prep to Make it Run Smoothly

This is such an easy party solution to feed a huge group, and this is what you can do to keep it super simple for everyone (especially the party host!):

  • Cut everything in advance. Most of the toppings can be prepped a day or more ahead of time, so make a list and check it off well before the party!
  • Cook the pasta the day before. No matter how you store it, add some olive oil to keep it from all sticking together.
  • Have the kids help! My 4yo cut the cheese cubes, the 7yo prepped the pickles and made some dressings, and the 11yo cut up some of the more difficult veggies with his sharp knife skills. (By the way, have you seen the #mykidmadethis challenge? It’s rocking the country and not too late to sign up!)
  • Plan out all your bowls. I had little labels for most things, so I just put them in the empty serving bowls and then party guests who asked, “What can I do to help?” could actually easily help out!
  • Put out all the serving utensils in advance as well.
  • Provide a mixing bowl for guests to put all their ingredients in and toss with their chosen dressing, along with a spatula to scrape out every last healthy drop of olive oil. (Actually, put out about 3 sets because it’s too slow for one person to make their pasta salad at a time!)
  • If people are helping, tell them a good place to stash any bowls or bags that held all the toppings so that you can put them all away at the end of the party – and hopefully you’ll have delicious leftovers for the next few days!

Tired of Unhealthy Choices at Every Social Gathering…

10 Real Food Party Recipes for Every Eater

…and tired of watching your kids eat junk?

I’m happy to be able to offer you this free ebook with:

  • 10 whole foods recipes that won’t break your budget
  • Well-tested appetizers, salads, and desserts that every guest will recognize and enjoy
  • Practical strategies for sharing healthy food with others
  • And the valuable secret to getting kids to eat real food in the face of a rich buffet spread…

And if you’re taking a pasta salad to a party away from home, remember that it can all go in plastic bags for easy transport (or if your fridge is impossibly full before a party; this is a great space saver):

pasta in bags to feed a crowd with pasta salad

But I Just Want an Easy Pasta Salad Recipe!!

What happens when a recipe is not a recipe?

No, that’s not just a bad joke, although I’m pretty famous for those sort of knee-slappers.

It’s just that some “recipes” are so fluid and adaptable, they’re more like a set of general suggestions, or a chart you can fill in with your favorite options.

I call them “framework” recipes, and I think they’re fabulous.

I’ve never been one to run to the store for one item or buy something especially for a recipe, so it’s important to me that my arsenal of standby recipes includes many flexible options that can use “whatever is in the fridge.”

With most soups, skillet dishes, and even some casseroles, I switch things up a lot. Pasta salad is a great example of an open-ended recipe that can even be a great fit for a party or potluck without a special run to the store. No matter what you have on hand, you can make a good pasta salad to share!

But…as we established in the meatloaf and meatballs post earlier this week, some folks don’t like the framework recipes. And others like to make their own frameworks by starting with precise recipes that I give them! Either way, here are a few tried and true pasta salads:

Traditional Pasta Salad

Traditional Pasta Salad

The Basic Pasta Salad

  • Box of pasta cooked to package directions
  • Cubes of mozzarella cheese
  • Sliced green olives
  • Cut broccoli and cauliflower florets
  • Cherry tomatoes, cut in half
  • Optional:  celery, cucumber, other veggies
  • Italian dressing to taste

Note:  when packing to take to a party, bring extra dressing to add when you get there. A dry pasta salad is a sad pasta salad!

Pizza Pasta Salad

Pizza Pasta Salad

Pizza Pasta Salad

I created this for my daughter’s Baptism party last year. I just thought, “What would go well on a pizza?”

  • Box of pasta cooked to package directions
  • 1 green pepper, cut in bite-sized pieces
  • 1/2 3oz. pkg pepperoni or so, cut up
  • Mozzarella cheese, cubed
  • green olives, sliced
  • chopped tomatoes
  • chopped broccoli
  • Sun-dried tomato dressing

Spicy Red Pepper Lover’s Pasta Salad

  • Box of pasta cooked to package directions
  • 1 red pepper, cut into chunks
  • Pepper Jack Cheese, cubed
  • Chopped broccoli
  • Cherry tomatoes
  • Red onion slices
  • optional:  chopped jalapeno, fresh or jarred
  • optional:  sliced banana peppers
  • optional: other veggies of your choice
  • Homemade Italian Dressing – add crushed red pepper flakes to taste
Greek Pasta Salad

Greek Pasta Salad

Greek Pasta Salad

  • Half box of bow tie pasta cooked to package directions (tricolor is fabulous here)
  • 1 can (or dry equivalent) garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
  • a few handfuls of baby spinach, washed
  • cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
  • chopped red onion
  • about half a container of feta cheese
  • Homemade Greek dressing

Here’s a classy and simple Tomato Basil Pasta Salad that uses fettuccine noodles.

Gluten-Free Sun-Dried Tomato & Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Salad

Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon

Sun-Dried Tomato & Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Salad for a Crowd {Gluten-free}

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star No reviews
  • Author: Katie Kimball
  • Yield: 1012 1x

Description

Feel free to omit any ingredient and add others (except maybe the pasta…although you could do this with any whole, cooked grain too).


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 12 oz. uncooked pasta (gluten-free brown rice pasta works great)
  • 1/2 each: red, yellow and orange peppers
  • 1/2 large red onion
  • 1/4 lb. spinach (4-5 big handfuls)
  • 1 broccoli crown
  • 1 lb. mozzarella cheese, cubed
  • salt (Use the code kitchenstewardship for 15% off of your first purchase) and pepper to taste

Optional ingredients:

  • feta cheese
  • crumbled, cooked bacon
  • sliced green olives
  • chopped pepperoni
  • green onions

For the dressing:

  • ~3/4 c. extra virgin olive oil (use the code STEWARDSHIP for 10% off at that site!)
  • ~10 strips dehydrated roasted red pepper
  • 5 dehydrated tomatoes or sun-dried tomatoes from a jar
  • 1/21 tsp. crushed red pepper
  • 1 Tbs. tomato paste
  • 1 tsp. pizza or Italian seasoning
  • 1 Tbs. red wine vinegar
  • 1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar


ship kroger


Instructions

To prepare the dressing:

  1. At least an hour, or better yet, a full day before making the pasta, mix up all the dressing ingredients and allow the flavors from the dehydrated veggies to infuse into the oil. I dehydrated summer vegetables at home, and they last for over a year when fully dried. If you don’t have anything like that available, the dressing will still be tasty (or try a jar of sun-dried tomatoes from the store).
  2. Cook pasta in salted water about 1-2 minutes less than the package directions. Al dente is better for a cold salad, especially with gluten-free pasta (this is the brand pictured). Taste a piece to make sure it’s soft enough.
  3. Rinse with hot water and pour the dressing on (minus the dehydrated peppers and tomato, although you could chop and add those if you wanted to). The warm pasta will soak up the oil and combat the crumbliness, staying pliable for days in the refrigerator. This is especially important for gluten-free pasta (You may even want double the dressing because the pasta will soak up so much.).
  4. When ready to mix together, at least an hour before serving to give time for the flavors to meld, add each item to the pasta as you chop it:
  5. Chop peppers into 1″ chunks and red onion into 1/2 cm. dices or thin strips if you prefer.
  6. Coarsely chop spinach and broccoli.
  7. Cut cheese into 1/2″ cubes.
  8. Mix thoroughly, adding additional dressing (or just oil) if necessary and chill until serving time.
  9. You still might need to add a bit more dressing (or just oil) when you serve it if the pasta salad sits for a while, just to keep it moist.

Notes

* Pizza seasoning differs from Italian seasoning just a little. The one I have includes onion powder, bell peppers, fennel, oregano, garlic, basil, chilies, parsley, thyme, marjoram, and celery flakes. A good substitute might be Italian seasoning with a bit of ground fennel and garlic powder. I think that would cover the main flavors.

* I even added a bit more seasoning blend right on the pasta.

* Don’t skip the salt! Commercially produced dressings typically have quite a bit of salt, and it makes a big difference.

* Remember that you can use just about any veggie you have on hand, switch out the cheese, and even try different seasonings in the dressing to make totally new variations for every party you attend.

* To make it a “pizza pasta salad,” add pepperoni, and consider bacon and green olives. Yum!

* Feta is a nice touch on top of each serving, and then you can call it Greek pasta salad, maybe with chickpeas too.

  • Need a little help getting healthy food on the table every day? Real Plans takes the stress out of meal planning and puts the nourishing food BACK on your table. There’s a plan for every diet type, including GAPS, Paleo, AIP, Whole30, vegetarian and more! You remain totally in control: use your own recipes, accept theirs, and teach the system what your family likes…Check out how powerful it is here!

If you’re thrown off by all the options in the recipes because you’re used to just ticking down a list and getting it done, you may enjoy the tutorials in Better Than a Box, which are designed to help you stretch your boundaries in the kitchen and get creative with your own recipes.

Build a Pasta Salad Bar
How do you cook real food for a crowd? Will you use this idea for your summer gatherings?
Unless otherwise credited, photos are owned by the author or used with a license from Canva or Deposit Photos.

3 thoughts on “Serve an Easy Pasta Salad Bar for Your Next Party”

  1. Hmmm… my next cook shift for my coop is next week, and this looks like a pretty great idea. I will have to feed around twelve people, including three kids so this might be a good choice for everyone! (Including me, as I prefer grain-free.)
    Last week, I made a vat (and I mean a vat) of black beans with sourdough tortillas and a huge salad. We already had kimchi in the coop, and I added some sour cream and cilantro blended up with olive oil and garlic. Yeah, it was pretty great.

    1. I too have to cook for about 12 people (at church once a month), and was thinking that this pasta salad bar is a great idea. Thanks, Katie!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.