Description
A festive and colorful pasta salad perfect for 4th of July celebrations, featuring red and blue dyed pasta mixed with fresh ingredients.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 pound package of rotini pasta, cooked and rinsed
- 3–4 drops of red and blue liquid food coloring
- 2 tablespoons water, separate
- 1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved (approximately 10 ounces)
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese, cubed or use mozzarella pearls
- 3/4 cup pepperoni, quartered
- 1/2 cup chopped black olives
- 1 (16-ounce) bottle of Italian dressing
Instructions
- Begin by cooking your pasta according to the package directions.
- Once cooked to al dente, drain the pasta well to remove excess water.
- In a large Ziploc bag, add 3-4 drops of red food coloring and 1 tablespoon of water. Repeat this process with another bag using blue food coloring and the remaining 1 tablespoon of water.
- Divide the cooked pasta into three equal portions, approximately 3 cups each.
- Place one portion of pasta into the bag with the red coloring and seal it. Place another portion into the blue bag and seal.
- Gently knead the bags to mix the pasta with dye, continuing until the color is uniform.
- If additional color is needed, mix 1 drop of food coloring with 1 tablespoon of water and add to the bag until the desired shade is achieved.
- Rinse the dyed noodles under cool water and drain well.
- Take the third portion of undyed pasta and mix it with a little olive or vegetable oil to prevent color bleeding.
- Place all three portions of pasta into a large bowl.
- Add in your desired extras such as tomatoes, cheese, pepperoni, olives, and your chosen dressing.
- Mix everything together until well combined and evenly distributed.
- Cover the pasta bowl and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving.
- Once chilled, serve your colorful pasta salad and enjoy.
Notes
- For a vegetarian option, omit the pepperoni.
- Feel free to add other vegetables like bell peppers or cucumbers for extra crunch.
- This salad can be made a day in advance for convenience.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Method: Chilling
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 250
- Sugar: 2g
- Sodium: 600mg
- Fat: 15g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 8g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 20g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 10g
- Cholesterol: 20mg