Pasta Salad Bar
Pasta bar ideas for a party! A pasta salad bar is a great idea whenever you have a group of people over. This is one of my favorite recipes for picky eaters when entertaining a group. I often made a pasta salad buffet for family meals. When the kids choose their own ingredients to make meals, they tend to eat them!
Calories:
Ingredients
- Please note that I am offering quite a few selections for your salad bar. Choose just a few of your favorites and let your family and friends put together their own pasta salad!
Pasta
- I usually offer two types of pasta when there is a crowd. Choose your favorites or select what works for the food preferences of your guests.
- Macaroni elbow
- Rotini
- Whole wheat
- Gluten free
- Small cheese tortellini
Protein
- If the pasta salad is a side dish I usually only offer eggs and a cheese or two as the protein selection. If it's a main meal, shrimp, cut up chicken or steak are great options.
- Grilled shrimp
- Cut up grilled chicken rotisserie works great as a time saver or in the winter
- sliced or quartered hard-boiled eggs
- Pepperoni bites my kids loved those
Cheeses
- Feta
- Cubed cheddar
- Mozzarella fresh small balls, or cubed
- Parmesan grated
Fresh Vegetables
- You can have so much fun with appetizing looking colors! Use what you have what is in season or what you are growing in your garden! To make eating easy, try to cut or cube your veggies so they are of similar size.
- Cucumbers - sliced or cubed
- Tomatos cherry tomatoes or full sized tomatoes cut into cubes
- Carrots - sliced
- Onions - chopped my favorite to serve is red onion because on the color
- Red Pepper - cut up
- Green Pepper - cut up
- Radishes
- Asparagus steamed to crisp tender and cooled
- Zucchini
- Corn boiled and sliced off the cob, cooked from frozen, or canned
Canned or Preserved Veggies and beans
- The bean are a nice vegan and vegetarian protein option.
- Black beans
- Chick peas
- Corn
- sliced or whole kalamata olives seed removed!
Dressings and other flavor boosters
- Added flavorings! Use a store-bought salad dressing or one you've made yourself.
- I like serving this in a lidded jar so folks can shake up the dressing.
- Italian Dressing
- Greek Dressing
- Fresh basil
- It is also nice to offer a fresh chopped herb for a final flavor addition and a pretty color topping.
- Fresh parsley
- Fresh green onions
- Fresh chives.
Instructions
- Prepare and cool your pasta. I recommend doing this the night before! I like using elbow macaroni type pasta for this. But, use what you have! The most important thing is, do not overcook. After you have cooked it, drain it and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. Place in a large bowl add some salad dressing or some olive oil and gently mix to gently coat the pasta. This will prevent your pasta from sticking as it cools. To cool faster, place in the fridge.
- Decide on the toppings you would like. I have provided some suggestions above. But, the sky is the limit!
- It's a great idea to prep your veggies the night before too! That way this is easy to serve and you
- It all depends on what your guests like or, you can do a theme. For example, I love making a Greak type pasta salad. Easy to do by just selecting cucumbers, red onions, olives, and feta cheese. By all means swap out the dressing to Greek!
Notes
This is a great meal when trying to use up what you have in the fridge. It's a great way to use up those odds and ends that aren't enough to make a family meal! Use what you have. Cut up string cheese. Make