Light & Easy Roasted Tomato Caprese Pasta Salad, an easy pasta salad filled with tomatoes, roasted garlic, fresh basil, and mozzarella. A delicious caprese salad everyone will love – fresh, easy and perfectly light for a summer potluck or BBQ!
Caprese Pasta Salad Recipe
We are officially in the throws of summer parties and I’m loving it! Just this month we are having two parties. A brunch pool party this weekend for my birthday and then at the end of the month another pool birthday party for my husband! Which means my world right now is party planning and summer entertaining, and honestly there isn’t another place I’d want to be.
When we moved into our house 2 years ago the first thing we did was put a pool in. It was an investment, but the BEST investment we’ve ever made! As you know I LOVE to cook and both my husband and I love entertaining. We would have a revolving door of people at our house if we could, we love blessing people and giving them a place to let lose while feeding them good food. Summer Parties are my jam – living in swimsuits, firing up the grill, making refreshing cocktails and light side dishes. Ahh… it’s dreamy!
Today’s recipe is actually an old recipe I made way back in 2013, but it was in desperate need of a photo facelift. So here we go!
What is Caprese Salad?
Caprese salad is a simple Italian salad. It usually consists of fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and sweet basil then seasoned with salt and olive oil. Funny thing is, it’s actually the colors of the Italian flag: green, white, and red.
How to make Caprese Pasta Salad?
- Bring a medium sized pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, place pasta in water. Cook until al dente. (8-10 minutes depending on the type of pasta)
- Once pasta is done, take out 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking liquid and set aside. Drain the rest of the liquid.
- Place pasta, basil, mozzarella balls, minced roasted garlic, tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, reserved cooking liquid, white balsamic vinegar and salt in a large bowl.
- Mix all ingredients together until completely combined.
- Serve. (you can serve immediately or as a cold pasta salad)
Can you make Caprese Pasta Salad ahead of time?
Yes, absolutely. This Caprese Pasta Salad can be served cold so you can make it a day or two ahead of time and it will be great! I’d recommend tossing a tablespoon of olive oil in to “freshen” it up a bit before serving.
Caprese Pasta Salad with Roasted Tomatoes
Normally Caprese Salad is served with fresh tomatoes, but in this recipe I decided to roast the tomatoes for 10-15 minutes so they slightly burst. The roasting process really draws out the naturally sweetness of the tomatoes and takes this pasta salad over the top!
The taste of the roasted tomatoes and roasted garlic in this dish will make your mouth water. That combined with the freshness of the basil and creamy mozzarella, yup it’s dreamy!
I guarantee this will be a hit all summer long. It’s the perfect quick weeknight dinner for the family or an easy side dish to whip together for your next summer BBQ.
Bon Appetit friends!
Other Caprese Recipes you Need to try:
- 15 Minute Avocado Caprese Chicken Salad with Balsamic Dressing
- Caprese Chicken Skewers with Balsamic Glaze
- Balsamic Glazed Caprese Chicken
- Caprese Flatbread with Balsamic Reduction
- Roasted Tomato Caprese Frittata
Light & Easy Roasted Tomato Caprese Pasta Salad
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 10-12 1x
- Category: Pasta, Side dishes, Vegetarian, 30 Minute Meal
- Method: Mixed
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
Roasted Tomato Caprese Pasta Salad, an easy pasta salad filled with tomatoes, roasted garlic, fresh basil, and mozzarella. A delicious cold caprese salad everyone will love – fresh, easy and perfectly light for a summer potluck or BBQ!
Ingredients
- 3 garlic cloves, smashed (leave peel on when roasting), minced after roasted
- 4 cups of cherry tomatoes
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoons of white balsamic vinegar
- salt & pepper
- 6 oz. fresh basil, sliced into ribbons
- 8 oz. fresh perline mozzarella balls (perline are the small balls that come in a container of water)
- 1 lb. rigate pasta (penne or rotini would work as well)
- 1/2 cup reserved pasta cooking liquid
- 1 tsp. salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400º.
- Smash garlic and leave peel on.
- Place cherry tomatoes and smashed garlic on baking sheet and season with 1 tablespoons of olive oil, salt, and pepper.
- Place tomatoes and garlic in oven for 10-15 minutes, once finished peel garlic and mince. Set tomatoes and minced garlic aside.
- Cut basil into ribbons. (pile basil leaves on top of each other, roll them up, and thinly slice.)
- In the meantime, bring a medium sized pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, place pasta in water.
- Cook until al dente. (8-10 minutes depending on the type of pasta)
- Once pasta is done, take out 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking liquid and set aside. Drain the rest of the liquid.
- Place pasta, basil, mozzarella, minced roasted garlic, roasted tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, reserved cooking liquid, white balsamic vinegar and salt in a large bowl.
- Mix all ingredients together until completely combined.
- Serve. (you can serve immediately or as a cold pasta salad)
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 225
- Sugar: 3 g
- Sodium: 237 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 3 g
- Carbohydrates: 31 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 9 g
- Cholesterol: 20 mg
Filed Under:
Want More Summer Side Dishes?
10 Minute Asian Cucumber Salad
