Pretty Awesome Pepperoni Pizza Pasta Salad

This Pretty Awesome Pepperoni Pizza Pasta Salad packs all your favorite toppings into one cool summer’s meal. Easily change it up to incorporate your own pizza toppings of choice!

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

What can you say about pizza pasta salad? It’s hard to go wrong with the basics: Pasta, cheese, pizza toppings, and dressing. But because it’s getting pretty darn warm out — and because we all need easy and varied dinner ideas lately! — I thought it was high time to write down today’s variation on how I’ve been making it for years.

Pretty Awesome Pepperoni Pizza Pasta Salad is easy to change up with different pizza toppings, dressings, and more; see the Notes section below the recipe for a few ideas. While sometimes I’ll throw together a homemade vinaigrette, today I kept things super simple with bottled dressing. All we need to do for tonight’s easy pasta salad is to boil water, do a little chopping, and do a little stirring.

This pepperoni pasta salad holds up nicely as leftovers, although the noodles do get gradually mushier as the days go by. I just enjoyed another bowl for lunch — and it went perfectly with some juicy watermelon on this hot and muggy day.

Fresh mozzarella, by the way, is especially awesome in pizza pasta salad. I like to pick up containers of fresh mozzarella balls in water seasonally at ALDI… but, of course, you can substitute chopped up block mozzarella in a pinch (or to cut down on costs).

Pretty Awesome Pepperoni Pizza Pasta Salad

Ingredients

16 oz box rotini
6 oz pepperoni slices, halved
1/2 of a 12 oz jar mild banana pepper rings (drained)
8 oz fresh mozzarella balls, quartered (or substitute block mozzarella, cubed)
Pint grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise
6 oz black olives, drained & halved
2 Tbsp thinly sliced onion (can add a little more if using red onion; too much yellow onion tends to be overpowering)
3/4 cup zesty Italian dressing (or dressing of choice)
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan

Directions

Cook pasta al dente in salted water according to package directions. Pour the cooked pasta into a colander, rinse it under cold water to cool down, and drain well.

While the pasta is cooking, chop up the rest of your ingredients and place the cut up pepperoni, mozzarella, banana peppers, tomatoes, olives, and onion in a large bowl.

Add the drained and cooled pasta to the bowl with the pepperoni mixture, then toss to combine.

Then, toss the pizza pasta mixture with the zesty Italian dressing and crushed red pepper. Top everything with shredded Parmesan, and: You’re done!

This pasta salad takes about 30 minutes to cook up and throw together. Optimally, though, you’ll want to make it ahead of time and refrigerate for an hour before serving. This allows the flavors to blend and pasta to chill.

Note: Change this up as desired with different “pizza toppings” of choice — Add chopped artichoke hearts or mushrooms, throw in some chopped bell pepper, swap out the pepperoni for Canadian bacon, swap out the banana peppers for pepperoncini, add in a little chopped fresh basil if you have some in your garden, swap the dressing for a little pesto, top the pasta salad with chopped green onion… whatever you have on hand.

Pizza Pasta Salad has the perfect “stuff” to pasta ratio

I like my pizza pasta salads jam-packed with … fillings? toppings? Oh, I’m just going to go with: Stuff. If you prefer a higher pasta to toppings ratio, cut that stuff down proportionally. If you prefer more dressing, pour on a cup instead of 3/4 of a cup. If you’re gluten free, substitute gluten free pasta. As I keep on saying: Make these recipes your own, and enjoy!

All the delicious flavor of pizza, combined with all the refreshing summer coolness of pasta salad: Pizza pasta salad has it all.

More pasta salad recipes?

Cool down further with these ideas:

• Greek tortellini salad with salami
• Vegan tofu pasta salad
• Pasta salad with white beans + asparagus

Don’t give up on pasta just because it’s hot outside: Pasta salad will cool you down and let you enjoy your favorite flavors just the same!

Pretty Awesome Pepperoni Pizza Pasta Salad, printable recipe

Save Recipe! Saved Recipe!

Print Pin

Pretty Awesome Pepperoni Pizza Pasta Salad

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

This Pretty Awesome Pepperoni Pizza Pasta Salad packs all your favorite toppings into one cool summer's meal. Easily change it up to incorporate your own pizza toppings of choice!

Course dinner

Cuisine pasta salad

Keyword pasta, pasta salad, pepperoni, pizza pasta salad

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cooling Time 1 hour hour

Servings 8

Author Rachel Singer

Ingredients

• 16 oz box rotini
• 6 oz pepperoni slices halved
• 1/2 of a 12 oz jar mild banana pepper rings drained
• 8 oz fresh mozzarella balls quartered (or substitute block mozzarella, cubed)
• Pint grape tomatoes halved lengthwise
• 6 oz black olives drained & halved
• 2 Tbsp thinly sliced onion can add a little more if using red onion; too much yellow onion tends to be overpowering
• 3/4 cup zesty Italian dressing or dressing of choice
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan

Instructions

• Cook pasta al dente in salted water according to package directions. Pour the cooked pasta into a colander, rinse it under cold water to cool down, and drain well.
• While the pasta is cooking, chop up the rest of your ingredients and place the cut up pepperoni, mozzarella, banana peppers, tomatoes, olives, and onion in a large bowl.
• Add the drained and cooled pasta to the bowl with the pepperoni mixture, then toss to combine.
• Then, toss the pizza pasta mixture with the zesty Italian dressing and crushed red pepper.
• Top everything with shredded Parmesan, and: You’re done!
• This pasta salad takes about 30 minutes to cook up and throw together. Optimally, though, you’ll want to make it ahead of time and refrigerate for an hour before serving. This allows the flavors to blend and pasta to chill.

Notes

Change this up as desired with different “pizza toppings” of choice — Add chopped artichoke hearts or mushrooms, throw in some chopped bell pepper, swap out the pepperoni for Canadian bacon, swap out the banana peppers for pepperoncini, add in a little chopped fresh basil if you have some in your garden, swap the dressing for a little pesto, top the pasta salad with chopped green onion… whatever you have on hand.

Recipes in the real world

Be sure not to miss the free ALDI meal plans, which show you how to use these easy family recipes to meal plan affordably and realistically for your family. Or, find more recipe ideas with the Recipe Search!