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Simple Pasta Salad with Bacon

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Simple Pasta Salad with Bacon is not your average pasta salad. It doesn’t feature a heavy mayonnaise based dressing; rather, a light, tangy vinaigrette, diced bacon, sweet tomatoes, and salty feta cheese. All the flavors come together beautifully and your guests will be coming back for second helpings!

  

 

Simple Pasta Salad with Bacon

Not going to lie, I didn’t really grow up eating pasta salad. I just didn’t see the appeal of cold pasta and vegetables. I have since matured and when done right, this is my FAVORITE salad. The pasta is great, I adore anything with bacon, and I could DRINK this salad dressing. The recipe was shared with me years ago by a friend in Kansas City. I have made a couple adjustments but this is my GO TO!

I chose to use Jovial Foods Gluten-free pasta this go around and it was perfect! If you have a friend with a food allergy, this pasta is a great alternate. Was delicious cold, texture was great, and honestly; I don’t think any of my other guests were even aware of my sneaky little swap!

It also pairs well with diced chicken breast and shrimp if you need something a little more filling.

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Greek Pasta Salad with Bacon

  • Author: Marissa Allen
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: 8-10 servings
  • Category: salad
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Description

Delicious Greek Pasta salad recipe tossed with an easy, tangy, vinaigrette.

Ingredients

  • 5 C Lettuce or spinach, washed and roughly chopped
  • 1 C cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 6 pieces of cooked bacon, chopped
  • 1 avocado, chopped
  • 1cucumber, chopped
  • 1/2 red onion, diced
  • 1/2 C feta cheese, crumbled
  • 2 C cooked bowtie pasta

dressing

  • 3/4 C oil (avocado oil, vegetable oil, canola oil; just avoid olive oil― the flavor is too strong)
  • 1large clove of garlic, minced
  • 1/4 C apple cider vinegar
  • 4 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1/4 tsp dried oregano

Instructions

  1. Prepare the salad dressing: You can add all the ingredients to a mason jar with a lid and shake or add the ingredients to a bowl and whisk till combined well. Refrigerate.
  2. Assemble the salad: Add the greens to the bowl. Layer all the ingredients in lines over the top (optional)
  3. When ready to serve, toss with the vinaigrette! If you don’t plan to serve immediately, hold off on adding the avocado so that it doesn’t brown prematurely.

Keywords: salad, pasta salad, greek, italian