With the temperatures heating up outside cold food is on the menu and this weeks Sunday Supper theme is Chillin with lots of tasty chilled recipes to help get dinner on the table.
Tortellini Pesto Salad is a favorite chilled pasta salad and a must make for summer dinner or an easy lunch.
It's perfect to make early in the morning while the weathers cool and pop it into the fridge for an easy, no fuss dinner after a day of playing in the sun.
The sun-dried tomatoes in the dish add a nice little touch of sweetness that pairs perfectly with the pesto and feta.
The kids were a little confused and kept thinking they were craisins. I received a few strange looks before the kids confronted me with why I had added craisins to the pasta salad. They looked at me like I was crazy when I told them I made this several times last summer and they loved it but after a few bites they were headed back for seconds and my lunch for the next day was devoured by my ravenous teens.
Make sure to add Tortellini Pesto Pasta Salad to your summer dinner rotation, it's tossed together in under 20 minutes!
Here's how to make the Pesto for Pasta Salad:
In a blender or food processor combine:
- 1 cup Basil Leaves
- 1 cup Spinach
- 1/3 cup Almonds
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
Pulse until combined and pureed.
Slowly drizzle in 2/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil and puree until smooth.
I love the color and smell of pesto. It's so gorgeous.
Cook 1 1/2 pounds fresh Cheese Tortellini according to directions.
Add pesto and toss to coat.
Chop 6-8 sun dried tomatoes that come in oil.
Add chopped sun dried tomatoes and 1/2 cup feta cheese.
Toss until well combined.
Refrigerate Tortellini Pesto Salad until ready to serve.
A perfect dinner to enjoy on your patio with a large glass of wine on a warm summer evening.
Other favorite Pasta Salad Recipes we love are:
- Mediterranean Pasta Salad
- Tortellini Kale Pesto Pasta Salad
- Italian Tortellini Pasta Salad
- Mediterranean Couscous Pasta Salad
- Italian Antipasto Pasta Salad with Basil Vinaigrette
- Creamy Parmesan Veggie Pasta Salad
Yield: 6
Tortellini Pesto Pasta Salad
Tortellini Pesto Salad with Feta and Sun-dried Tomatoes is an easy Pasta Salad recipe to make ahead of time and done in under 20 minutes from Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch.
Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 10 MinTotal time: 30 Min
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds Fresh Cheese Tortellini, Cooked According To Directions
Spinach Pesto
- 1 cup Fresh Basil
- 1 cup Fresh Spinach
- 1/3 cup Almonds or Walnuts
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 2/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Assemble
- 8 pieces Sun-dried Tomatoes In Oil, Chopped
- 1/2 cup Feta Cheese
Instructions
Pesto
- In a blender or food processor combined basil, spinach, almonds, parmesan cheese and salt.
- Pulse until combined.
- Slowly pour in extra virgin olive oil and process until smooth. Scrape sides as needed.
Assemble
- Toss with cooked tortellini with pesto until coated.
- Add sun-dried tomatoes and feta cheese. Stir until evenly distributed.
- Refrigerate until cold or ready to enjoy.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
483.48Fat
18.90Sat. Fat
7.77Carbs
58.24Fiber
3.69Net carbs
54.55Sugar
2.01Protein
21.53Sodium
967.68Cholesterol
65.92The nutritional information and metric conversions are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data. If this important to you, please verify with your favourite nutrition calculator and/or metric conversion tool.
- Antipasto Tortellini Pasta Salad from Neighborfood
- Broccoli Salad from Flavor Mosaic
- Cold Peanut Noodles from girlichef
- Korean Salad from Noshing With The Nolands
- Quinoa Fruit Salad with a Creamy Yogurt Dressing from Simply Gourmet
- Watermelon, Mango and Arugula Salad from Take a Bite Out of Boca
25 comments
What a clever idea Serena! And I love pesto, such a great condiment! :-)
What a wonderful pasta salad! The pesto dressing is perfect. I love how it can be made ahead, too.
Tortellini in a cold pasta salad is divine. I must try this version. Looks delicious.
That is one gorgeous salad, Serena! The sun-dried tomatoes DO look a little bit like craisins. I don't mind a little fruity sweetness in my salads so that would have been perfectly all right with me too.
Thanks Manu! It's a favorite with all the fresh basil!
I miss tortellini SO much, this would be a fabulous recipe
So many of my favorite ingredients in this! It is beautiful, and I love the tortellini!
I absolutely love pesto!!! Your salad sounds delicious!
I need to try and make some pesto. My daughter will love this recipe.
Oh Serena, I adore your salad, could go for a bowl right now please!!
I would be all over this! I love pesto pasta anyway, and using tortellini just takes it so far over the top. Thanks for posting this!
I love a good pesto, and I love tortellini! What a great idea to combine the two! This looks yummy and IS going on to my "make soon" list! HUGS
This is the pasta salad of all pasta salads. Pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, feta... I would devour this in one sitting!
Seriously, tortellini anything is calling my name but with pesto? I've got to have it!
This looks great! I love the addition of sun dried tomatoes too! (I thought it might have been bacon at first). Pinned for later. I could see this as a great addition to a summer potluck!
Love this recipe! We made something similar a while back with the Red Pesto. I think I am going to try yours next!!
I love new variations on pesto so will give this a try - Cathy from Delaware Girl Eats
What a perfect warm weather dish!
How cute is that? Sun dried tomatoes as craisins...Sigh. Makes me miss my nieces and great-nephew. Anyway, Serena, your pesto salad with feta, spinach and all my favorite savories looks sublime!
Some of my favorite ingredients in one dish! Can't go wrong with that. Cute story about the craisins :)
This looks amazing! I am making it this weekend for my bbq! Thanks for sharing!!
I made this Friday night to take out on our boat on Saturday. It was delicious - exactly the recipe i was looking for! To be honest, I didn't really have time to make pesto, so for the FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE, I used a jarred pesto - I used Kroger's Private Selection Pesto. However, it was amazing. The flavors of the pesto, sun dried tomato, and feta were perfect with the cheese tortellini. We ate the entire container of pasta salad on the boat. I will definitely make this again.
If I use jarred pesto sauce, what amount should I use for this recipe?
I can't tell you can exact amount but I would add enough until the pasta is well coated.
how much premade pesto did you use?
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