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Summer Garden Pasta Salad

July 7, 2021 by Sweet Ordeal Leave a Comment

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Summer vegetables and pasta; what a great combo for this salad. Cool cucumbers, red radishes, and green onions lend so much flavor. Toss on some fire-roasted corn, the rigatoni, and a light dressing with a hint of fresh dill. Summer Garden Pasta Salad is perfect for those backyard BBQs and cool summer suppers.

Rigatoni and ham with fresh vegetables and light dressing.

This recipe feeds a small crowd, so keep it handy before going to a potluck. Using fresh ingredients is so important. There’s really nothing like fresh vegetables from a garden. 

And let me tell you about this pasta and why it’s so perfect for this recipe.

The rigatoni is a round tube-shaped pasta, slightly larger than penne and ziti.

This is important, because when you stir this salad, the peas and corn wind up hiding inside the pasta. It’s so cool.

Why that makes me so happy, I have no idea, but there it is. 

Summer Garden Pasta Salad

Let’s make a Summer Garden Pasta Salad

You’ll need a large bowl, I actually get out one of my bigger Tupperware containers. It makes a lot, plus you need room to stir everything together, so a big container is better.

Pasta

Make the pasta in some salted water according to the package directions. You’ll want the pasta al dente for the recipe.

As I mentioned before, the rigatoni is fun, because of it’s size and ability to “hide” the corn and peas. If you have a box of penne or other pasta you prefer to use, it’ll taste just as great.

Rinse the pasta in cold water and let it drain while you prep the veggies and make the dressing.

Chopped ham and fresh radishes, peas, and corn with pasta.

Dressing

Only 4 ingredients; mayonnaise, white wine vinegar, dill, and some salt. About the dill, I really love fresh vs. dried, but both will work.

Whisk everything together and set aside.

Moving on to the veggies.

Summer Garden Vegetables

First off, if you have a vegetable garden, I envy you, because I do not. 

In this recipe, most of the veggies are fresh; cucumber, radishes, and green onion. You can use fresh corn and peas also, but frozen was way easier. 

I like the frozen fire-roasted corn when I can find it. 

Slicing the cucumber and radishes very thin takes some time, but it’s worth it. Plus, it makes eating it easier, too. 

Summer Garden Pasta Salad

Ham

For the recipe I cut the ham into matchsticks. I know from experience that trying to poke a fork into a little cube of ham doesn’t always produce the results I want, so I make them a size that is fork friendly.

For more of my recipes that have ham, check out my Ham Recipes Pinterest board.

Bringing the Summer Garden Pasta Salad all together

Pour the drained pasta, the prepped veggies, and the ham into the large bowl and drizzle the dressing over it. Stir it up so everything is thoroughly mixed, then serve. 

Watch how the peas and corn “hide” inside the rigatoni as you stir it.

With the mayo in it, the salad needs to be refrigerated, but otherwise, it’s ready to eat. 

More salad and side dish recipes

Click on Salads for more salad recipes, and click on Side Dishes for recipes like rice, pasta, and veggies.

Print
5 from 1 vote

Summer Garden Pasta Salad

Summer vegetables, pasta, and a light dressing in a cool refreshing salad.
Prep Time30 mins
Active Time10 mins
Total Time40 mins
Course: Salad
Cuisine: American
Keyword: feeds a crowd, ham, summertime favorite
Yield: 12
Calories: 258kcal
Author: SweetOrdeal.com

Materials

Pasta:

  • 1 lb. rigatoni

Dressing:

  • 1/2 cup light mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped (or 2 tsp. dried dill)
  • 1 1/2 tsp. salt

Vegetables & Ham:

  • 2 cups cucumber, thinly sliced
  • 2 cups frozen peas, thawed
  • 1 cup frozen fire-roasted corn thawed
  • 1 cup radishes, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup green onion, sliced
  • 2 cups ham, cut into thin strips

Instructions

Pasta:

  • Make the pasta in salted water per package directions until al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water.

Dressing:

  • Whisk together the mayonnaise, vinegar, dill, and salt. Set aside.

Vegetables & Ham:

  • Mix all vegetables and ham together in large bowl.
  • Add cooled pasta and dressing. Mix thoroughly. Enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 258kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 595mg | Potassium: 314mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 359IU | Vitamin C: 14mg | Calcium: 28mg | Iron: 1mg

Summer Garden Pasta Salad

Thanks so much for stopping by.

I really appreciate all of my readers and hope you’ll follow me on Pinterest. So you don’t lose the recipe, remember to pin a picture to your board for future reference.

Peas and corn hiding inside the rigatoni, plus ham and a light dressing.Summer Garden Pasta SaladCopyright © Sweet Ordeal. All content and images are copyright protected. Do not use any images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, make sure to re-write the recipe in your own words and only list ingredients making sure to link back to this post for the original recipe and directions.

Filed Under: All Recipes, Potluck, Salads, Side Dishes, Uncategorized Tagged With: crowd pleaser, fresh veggies, ham, pasta

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