Summer spaghetti salad with Italian dressing | Easy spaghetti salad

Summer spaghetti salad made with lots of colorful veggies, & homemade Italian dressing. This easy Italian spaghetti salad is loaded with colorful fresh vegetables, parmesan cheese, & Italian seasoning.

What I like about homemade Italian dressing is that you can control what goes into it.

You can make this cold salad in advance & let it chill in the refrigerator. It saves a lot of cooking time 🙂

The light, fresh & beautiful colors of Italian spaghetti salad makes it a real summer treat.

You can make this cold spaghetti salad within 30 minutes. It tastes best when served chilled.

This summer Italian spaghetti salad is made with Italian seasoning & flavors. But it is not an authentic Italian Spaghetti salad. It is more of an American version of Italian spaghetti salad.

Ingredients to make spaghetti salad

• Pasta - Spaghetti. I have used whole wheat spaghetti.
• Fresh vegetables - I have used carrots, capsicum (red, yellow & green), cucumber, cherry tomatoes.
• Olives - I used black pitted olives.
• Mozzarella cheese
• Red onions
• Homemade Italian dressing

For making the homemade Italian dressing

• Extra virgin olive oil - It has its own unique flavor & pairs up beautifully with the salad.
• White wine vinegar - I have used white wine vinegar. It has amazing flavor & is less acidic than plain vinegar. If it is not available then you can use plain vinegar. If you are using plain vinegar then reduce the quantity of vinegar for this recipe or add it as per taste.
• Fresh Parmesan Cheese - For the authentic Italian taste add it to the salad.
• Honey - The sweetness of honey balances the acidity of the vinegar. You can reduce the quantity of honey but do add it. It balances the acidic flavor.
• Garlic - Fresh minced garlic gives a little punch to the taste buds.
• Italian seasoning - Gives the true Italian flavors. It consists of a mix of thyme, oregano, basil, onion powder, & garlic powder.
• Fresh basil - You can skip adding it. Italian seasoning has dried basil in it.
• Salt - add as per taste
• Black pepper - add as per taste.
• Red chili flakes - Optional. It gives a spicy kick to the taste buds. If you do not like spicy then skip adding it.

How to make Summer spaghetti salad with easy Italian dressing

Preparations:

• Dice the capsicum, carrots & cucumber. Slice the olives. Peel & finely chop the garlic & onions.
• Cooking the spaghetti - Boil water in a large pan. Add salt to it. Add spaghetti & cook it according to the package directions. Drain & rinse with cold water. Add 2 teaspoon olive oil & toss it. Set it aside. (image 1, 2 & 3)
• Heat a teaspoon of oil in a pan. Sauté the carrot & capsicum on high heat for 2 minutes. Remove from heat & set it aside. (image 4)

Making the spaghetti salad

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together olive oil, white wine vinegar, honey, garlic, basil, Parmesan cheese, salt, black pepper & red pepper flakes. (image 5)
2. Add the sautéed capsicum & carrots, cucumber, olives, cherry tomatoes, cheese cubes & cooked spaghetti. (image 6)
3. Toss it to combine everything well. (image 7 & 8)
4. Taste & adjust the seasoning as per taste.
5. Cover with a cling wrap & refrigerate for an hour. Taste best when served chilled.

Cooking Tips

• After cooking the spaghetti, drain it. Rinse it with cold water. It will stop the cooking process immediately. Also, the excess starch is rinsed with the water that can make the spaghetti sticky.
• Next, pour some olive oil on top of spaghetti & toss. The spaghetti will not stick to each other.
• I like to make homemade Italian dressing for my cold spaghetti salad. You can always customize the recipe for the dressing as per your taste. Like add more chili flakes or skip it. Add some lemon juice to it for more fresh flavors.
• Once you made the salad dressing, taste it & adjust salt & spices as per taste.
• I like to sauté the carrot & capsicum a little bit & then add it to the salad. Make sure they retain the crunch. It enhances the flavor & aroma of capsicum. You can add then raw too. But this small tip makes a huge difference.
• After making the salad let it chill in the refrigerator for an hour in an airtight container. It tastes best when served chill.

Variations that you can make

• You can make this salad with zucchini noodles.
• Add some shredded chicken, or pepperoni, or salami slices.
• You can add the vegetables of your choice. Add blanched broccoli, boiled corns or sliced celery, etc.

FAQs

Some more quick summer recipes:

• Corn Salsa
• Pasta Salad
• Mango Salsa

If you make this recipe, please leave a comment and a starred review below.

And, consider following me on social media so we can stay connected. I’m on Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube!

Print Pin

Summer spaghetti salad with Italian dressing | Easy spaghetti salad

Summer spaghetti salad made with lots of colorful veggies, & homemade Italian dressing. This easy Italian spaghetti salad is loaded with colorful fresh vegetables, parmesan cheese, & Italian seasoning.

Course Salad

Cuisine American

Prep Time 12 minutes minutes

Cook Time 3 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 4 people

Calories 380kcal

Author Preeti

Ingredients

To make Spaghetti salad:

• 350 grams spaghetti noodles (I have used whole wheat spaghetti)
• ½ cup red capsicum diced
• ½ cup green capsicum diced
• ½ cup yellow capsicum diced
• 1 large English cucumber diced
• 2 small carrots diced
• ½ cup cherry tomatoes halved
• ¼ cup finely chopped red onion
• ¼ cup sliced pitted black olives
• ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
• ¼ cup mozzarella cheese cubes
• 1 ½ cups homemade Italian dressing (recipe given below)
• salt to taste
• 1 teaspoon black pepper powder or as per taste
• 1 teaspoon red chili flakes optional

To make Italian dressing:

• ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 2 garlic clove finely minced
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh basil
• ¼ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
• salt to taste
• ½ teaspoon black pepper or to taste
• 1 teaspoon Red chili flakes or to taste
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning or use ½ teaspoon dried basil+½ teaspoon dried oregano + ¼ teaspoon dried thyme

Instructions

Preparations

• Dice the capsicum, carrots & cucumber. Slice the olives. Peel & finely chop the garlic & onions.
• Heat a teaspoon of oil in a pan. Sauté the carrot & capsicum on high heat for 2 minutes. Remove from heat & set it aside.
• Cooking the spaghetti - Boil water in a large pan. Add salt to it. Add spaghetti & cook it according to the package directions. Drain & rinse with cold water. Add 2 teaspoon olive oil & toss it. Set it aside.

Making the spaghetti salad

• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together olive oil, white wine vinegar, honey, garlic, basil, Parmesan cheese, salt, black pepper & red pepper flakes.
• Add the sautéed capsicum & carrots, cucumber, olives, cherry tomatoes, cheese cubes & cooked spaghetti. Toss it combine everything well.
• Taste & adjust the seasoning as per taste.
• Cover with a cling wrap & refrigerate for an hour. Taste best when served chilled.

Video

Notes

1. After cooking the spaghetti, drain it. Rinse it with cold water. It will stop the cooking process immediately. Also, the excess starch is rinsed with the water that can make the spaghetti sticky. Pour some olive oil on top & toss. The spaghetti will not stick to each other.
2. You can make the dressing in advance & let it chill in the refrigerator. The dressing may firm up when kept it the refrigerator. Take it out 30 minutes before making the salad. Let it come to room temperature. Shake it well before use.
3. Skip adding fresh onion, garlic, cucumber & herbs, if you are planning to freeze it.
4. If you are following this recipe then consume it within 24 hours.
5. If you are using onion powder, garlic powder & dried herbs then you can store it up to a week.