One of my favorite soups is a minestrone. I love all the veggies and pasta in it, so I thought it would be a great idea to turn that soup into a summer side dish! Minestrone Pasta Salad has all the great flavors from the original dish, and it’s super easy to make.
You can use whichever kind of pasta you’d like for this salad. I used a small shell, but a bow tie or macaroni will work perfectly as well. Cook the pasta as directed on the box. Drain it and through it into a large bowl.
Believe it or not, cooking the pasta was the hardest step of this recipe. The next few steps are incredibly easily. Just chop up all of the veggies and throw them into the bowl, along with the noodles. The pour in the Italian dressing, grated cheese, and sliced basil. Toss to combine!
Serve the Minestrone Pasta Salad at room temperature or cold out of the fridge. Garnish with a bit of shredded cheese and sliced basil. This salad is great to make in advance and take to parties, gatherings or BBQ’s. It keeps well in the fridge, and gets better the longer it sits. Enjoy!
- 1 pound small pasta shells, cooked and drained
- 1 large zucchini, diced
- 1 large yellow squash, diced
- 2 small carrots, diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 1 can kidney beans, rinsed
- 1 (14oz) can diced tomatoes
- 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, sliced
- 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1 cup light Italian dressing
- salt and pepper
- Cook pasta according to box directions. Drain and transfer to a large bowl.
- Add the chopped veggies, drained beans, diced tomatoes, sliced basil and shredded parmesan cheese to the pasta. Toss with the dressing to thoroughly combine. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Can be made a couple days in advance and stored in the fridge. Enjoy!
- Cooking note: If you find that your pasta salad has dried out the day after, just toss with a bit more of the dressing!
