A cold pasta salad with creamy mayonnaise dressing tossed with pasta, crispy chopped bacon, shredded green lettuce, diced tomatoes, cheddar cheese, and red pepper flakes. Serve this quick and easy BLT Pasta Salad for bbqs, summer holidays during May, June, July, and August, potlucks, and as a side dish.
BLT Pasta Salad brings back memories of summer potlucks with family. It’s served cold and it’s refreshing during the hot summer months. I love the combination of crisp green romaine lettuce with juicy cherry tomatoes, crunchy bacon, and cold pasta. I often refer to this summer salad as my bacon pasta because it’s loaded with all my favorite summer potluck recipe ingredients.
Since it’s the first grill of the season, I want it to be special. I’ve been waiting for this day for months. If you like classic summer side dish recipes with a twist, then you’ll love this pasta salad side dish. It has incredible flavor and tastes just like a BLT sandwich that we’ve all come to love.
This time of year I love to hit up visit a few local farmer markets. I stock up on anything that is in season and store in the refrigerator then plan meals around each hull. What I dislike the most about stocking up on fresh fruits and vegetables is that some of it does go bad pretty quickly.
It’s a constant struggle to finish everything before it spoils. Often, I’ll make a summertime pasta salad or try my hand at new salad recipes with fresh summer produce to use up all those fresh garden vegetables. This salad is just one of many salads that is perfect to serve for dinner, lunch, a potluck, graduation party, summer holidays, and backyard barbecues.
How to Make BLT Pasta Salad
- Cook bacon according to package directions.
- Cook pasta.
- Drain pasta and rinse under cold water.
- Make the dressing.
- Add pasta to bowl.
- Stir in chopped bacon, cheddar cheese, sliced tomatoes.
- Toss to combine pasta salad and dressing well.
Tasty Variations and Flavor Additions
- red onions
- shallots
- dill
- green onions
- salt
- garlic powder
- freshly minced garlic
- mustard
- pickles
- apple slices
- spinach
- pepper jelly
- fig jelly
- elbow macaroni
- rotini pasta
- homemade ranch dressing
- black pepper
- sour cream
- vinegar
- turkey bacon
- flavored mayo
- roma tomatoes, or grape tomatoes
- pepperjack cheese, sharp cheddar cheese, monterey jack cheese, feta cheese, blue cheese, goat cheese
With spring in full swing, you’ll want to make a fun and flavorful dish that are perfect for barbecues. This ridiculously easy pasta with bacon BLT Pasta Salad is perfect as an appetizer, side-dish, or even a main dish.
What are some of your favorite picnic dishes to make this time of year?
More Potluck Dishes You’ll Love
- Loaded Baked Potato Salad
- Classic Baked Beans
- Italian Pasta Salad
- Strawberry Shortcake Fluff Salad
- Creamy Cucumber Salad
- Broccoli Salad
- Dill Pickle Pasta Salad
- Cherry Fluff Salad
- Caprese Pasta Salad
- Strawberry Pretzel Salad
BLT Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 16 ounces Ditalini shaped pasta (elbow macaroni or rotini pasta may be substituted)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (divided)
- 12 slices bacon (chopped)
- 1½ cups diced tomatoes
- 2½ cups chopped romain lettuce
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1½ cups sharp cheddar cheese (grated)
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional to taste)
Instructions
- In a medium pot over medium-high heat, cook 16 ounces of pasta according to directions.
- Cook bacon in a skillet over stove top then chop once cooled.
- Drain pasta and toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil; set aside.
- Chop lettuce and tomatoes.
- In a large bowl, combine mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, and pasta noodles then toss everything together until coated.
- Stir in lettuce, chopped bacon, tomatoes, red pepper flakes, and cheddar cheese.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
- red onions
- shallots
- dill
- green onions
- salt
- garlic powder
- freshly minced garlic
- mustard
- pickles
- elbow macaroni
- rotini pasta
- homemade ranch dressing
- black pepper
- sour cream
- vinegar
- turkey bacon
- flavored mayo
- roma tomatoes, or grape tomatoes
- pepperjack cheese, sharp cheddar cheese, monterey jack cheese, feta cheese, blue cheese, goat cheese
Nutrition
updated 6/22
19 Comments
Erin @ Thanks for Cookin'!
03/22/2016 at 3:07 pmI love that you added red pepper flakes! Pasta salads can be boring and bland sometimes. Not this one! 🙂
Megan @Meg is Well
03/22/2016 at 4:46 pmOh wow, I want to dig into some of that! I know pasta salads kind of have a bad reputation but they’re so perfect for picnics. Can’t wait to take this on one.
Isabella
03/23/2016 at 12:51 pmThis looks fantastic! Love bacon in salads, this would be fantastic at a summer BBQ!
Jolina - The Unlikely Baker
03/23/2016 at 1:44 pmI love love love macaroni salad. Your photos are gorgeous. I wish I had your Louisiana spring though…I live in Toronto and while it’s technically spring, we are expecting snow tomorrow lol! This salad might just be what we need to brighten up our day.
Evi
03/23/2016 at 2:34 pmBLT pasta salad?! How creative! It looks so yummy!
AiPing | Curious Nut
03/23/2016 at 2:44 pmThis is definitely perfect for spring and has spring written all over it. Fresh, vibrant and full of color. BLT pasta salad. Yum!
whitney
03/23/2016 at 2:51 pmHoly hell, this looks amazing. Like, super amazing. Like, super duper amazing. I need this in my mouth right now!
Susan
04/22/2016 at 7:26 amLooks really yummy, planning on making it. But question, what do you do with the second tablespoon of olive oil? Did I miss something? Thanks for the great recipe!
Jessica Knott
04/22/2016 at 10:22 amI usually put about a tablespoon or less of olive oil in the pasta water while it cooks to prevent the noodles from sticking to each other and getting soggy.
Jillian
05/07/2016 at 4:53 pmYumm! This turned out tastier than I expected and went perfect as a side dish for a BBQ. I love the addition of red pepper flakes in this recipe, I even doubled the amount. Next time I’ll add some diced green onion. Thank you for this great, simple pasta salad.
Jessica Knott
05/08/2016 at 12:51 amYay, glad you liked it! It’s such a simple and classic recipe to make this time of year. Thanks, Jillian!
melissa
06/15/2016 at 8:15 amI think I will make this tonight, sounds perfect paired with pork chops on the grill, some tangy bar-b-questions sauce and a cold beer. One question. Do you think that additional seasoning is necessary, or is the mayo and Greek yogurt enough?
Jessica Knott
06/16/2016 at 12:02 amI think it’s enough. Sounds delicious!
Martha
09/03/2016 at 12:08 pmCan I make this 24 hrs. in advance? Should I mix the bacon, tomatoes and lettuce in when I’m almost ready to server? It sounds great!! Its for my son’s inlaws bbq and I want it to be perfect! Thanks😊
Jessica Knott
09/04/2016 at 10:42 amHi Martha, go ahead and make the pasta ahead of time. Just be sure to toss it with a little olive oil before storing it in the fridge. Then just toss it all together when ready to serve.
Angie
06/05/2017 at 3:40 pmI just made this over the weekend and really loved it but jut wanted to know about how long it lasts… I am still amazed the lettuce hasn’t wilted…..It was AWESOME and I will for sure be making it for Summer Parties & OR BBQ’s this Summer 🙂
Jessica Knott
06/05/2017 at 11:46 pmHi Angie, I’d probably save it for 4-5 days. Re-wet it with the dressing if needed!
Ruth
06/06/2018 at 9:22 pmRwhat is something easy that this can be paired with……. Do not have a grill yet… Thanks!
Jessica Knott
06/18/2018 at 6:56 pmBrats, and roasted chicken! I love to bring this BLT Pasta Salad and a side of Sweet Buttermilk Cornbread to parties but we also eat it at home!
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