Love Italian subs? You will absolutely LOVE this Italian Sub Pasta Salad made with Italian meats, mozzarella cheese, tortellini, and veggies in a zesty Italian vinaigrette. This pasta salad will make you the star of any get-together.
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Love the flavors of an Italian sub? Then you will devour this Italian sub style pasta salad made with cheesy tortellini. It has all your favorites- pepperoni and salami, fresh mozzarella cheese, banana peppers, red onion, black olives, roasted red peppers, juicy cherry tomatoes and then its all tossed in a light and delicious Italian vinaigrette.
It’s the hit salad of the summer!
My husband is Italian, so of course these are his favorite food combinations. He will gobble up a whole batch by himself, so if I make this for a party I always have to double the recipe.
What you’ll need
- A large and small mixing bowl
- Tortellini– fresh or frozen, any size from a 26-32 ounce bag. I used 3- 8.8 ounce packages of shelf stable type tortellini from Aldi.
- Cherry tomatoes
- Black olives, sliced
- Banana peppers, sliced- or pepperoncini
- Jarred roasted red peppers
- The meats– salami and pepperoni. The possibilities are endless here, use your favorite meats. You could use cubed ham, mortadella, soppressata, any type of salami, capicola, or prosciutto. Slice it thin or cut the meat into chunks.
- Red onion
- Fresh mozzarella cheese– I’m using the little pearls. You can use the Bocconi balls or cut it into cubes from a large mozzarella ball.
- For the dressing– grated Parmesan cheese, olive oil, red wine vinegar, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and garlic
How to make it
This salad is super simple to throw together. The hardest part is prepping all of the ingredients.
First, cook the tortellini according to the package directions. Careful not to overcook. Drain and rinse in cold water. Add the tortellini in to a large mixing bowl.
To the bowl with the tortellini add the cherry tomatoes, red onion, banana peppers, olives, roasted red peppers, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni and salami.
Put it together: In a separate bowl whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic and seasonings.
Pour the vinaigrette over the tortellini salad and mix well.
Chill time: Refrigerate 30 minutes before serving. Refrigerate leftovers up to 3 days.
Did you enjoy this recipe? Take a picture and tag me @StephGigliotti on social media and #StephRealLife. I would absolutely love to see your finished dish! Please leave a 5-star rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comment section.
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Italian Sub Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 26 ounce Tortellini (can use 26-32 ounce bag, fresh or frozen)
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 cup black olives sliced
- 1/2 cup banana peppers sliced
- 1/2 cup roasted red peppers diced
- 1/2 pound pepperoni slices cut in to quarters if large
- 1/2 pound salami quartered or diced
- 1/2 red onion diced
- Mozzarella cheese ball pearls
For the dressing
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Cook the tortellini according to the package directions. Careful not to overcook. Drain and rinse in cold water. Add the tortellini in to a large mixing bowl.
- To the bowl with the tortellini add the cherry tomatoes, olives, banana peppers, roasted red peppers, pepperoni, salami, red onion, and mozzarella.
- Prepare the dressing: In a separate bowl whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic and remaining seasonings.
- Pour the vinaigrette over the tortellini salad and mix well to combine.
- Chill: Refrigerate 30 minutes before serving to meld the flavors together.
- Refrigerate leftovers up to 3 days.
