Confetti Pasta Salad
Creamy and delicious, this salad is even better if made ahead and refrigerated overnight.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 40 mins
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Scale
For the dressing:
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup half-and-half
- 1/4 cup favorite bottled Italian dressing
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
For the salad:
- 12 ounces elbow macaroni, cooked per package instructions
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup chopped green pepper (about 1/4 of a large bell pepper)
- 1/2 cup yellow mini tomatoes (about 7), quartered
- 1/2 cup red cherry or grape tomatoes (about 7 to 9), quartered
- 1/2 cup chopped orange pepper (about 1/4 of large pepper)
- 1 cup medium black olives, cut in half
- 1/2 cup red onion, peeled and finely chopped (about 1/3 of a red onion)
- 4 ounce block of medium cheddar cheese, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
Make the dressing:
- In small mixing bowl, combine mayonnaise, half-and-half, Italian dressing and Dijon mustard.
- Taste dressing and adjust seasonings (salt and pepper), if needed.
- Refrigerate until ready to use.
Make the salad:
- Add salt to a large sauce pot filled with water and bring to a boil.
- Add macaroni noodles and cook per package instructions.
- Remove from heat, drain, rinse with cold water, drain again and set aside to cool.
- In large mixing bowl, add peppers, tomatoes, red onion, black olives, cubed cheese and stir to combine.
- Add cooled macaroni to veggies and stir to combine.
- Add about 1/2 of the prepared dressing and mix well.
- Cover and refrigerate at least two hours.
- When ready to serve, add more dressing (macaroni will absorb the dressing and it will appear dry).
- Taste and add more salt and pepper, if needed.
- Serve.
Find it online: https://tootsweet4two.com/confetti-pasta-salad/
