It’s summertime! And summertime means salads! No, not just lettuce topped with mounds of fresh vegetables, although those are good too. I mean it’s time to breakout the some amazing recipes for summer side dishes for your barbecues and potlucks!
Growing up, macaroni salad, potato salad, and coleslaw frequently graced our summertime dinner table. My mother used the same dressing for all three. The recipe was simple: cook up either macaroni or potatoes, allow to cool, coat with dressing. For coleslaw it was shred cabbage, coat with dressing. But that’s as complicated as it got. Well, occasionally she would chop up some tomato and add it to the macaroni salad.
Now I love the dressing, a simple combination of mayo, vinegar, salt, and sugar. In fact there’s some leftover in the fridge right now, so you know I still occasionally make it. But as I got older, learned to cook for myself, and experimented with other recipes, I found a whole new world of salads. The opportunities are endless, and overwhelming, so I’m here to help.
Now that we are into picnic, potluck, and bbq season, I wanted to share some of my favorite summer side salads. Here are ten pasta and ten potato salads I just love! Not only do I plan to bring one to each party or holiday celebration, I regularly add these into my own weekly meal plan.
Pasta Salads
Kid Friendly Pasta Salad from Little Sunny Kitchen
This pasta salad is so cute, and it really is kid friendly. Diana’s recipe really focuses on what kids want, so if you have a picky eater, this is a great way to approach trying new foods. The ingredients she uses in her example make for a fun, colorful salad that will appeal to any kid. Kid favorite veggies like peas and corn make this a bright addition to any table.
Gluten Optional Dairy Free Nut Free
5 Green, 4 Blue/Purple WW Points
Summer Pasta Salad with Vegetables from Grits and Pinecones
Just like the recipe above, this is a pasta salad loaded with vegetables, just slightly more grown up. Instead of peas and corn, Sharon’s recipe features summer squash and edamame, plus other fresh vegetables like tomatoes and broccoli. Recipe includes a light dressing that you can barely see on the pasta, but the combination of oil, vinegar, lemon, and mayo is hard to beat.
Gluten Optional Dairy Optional Nut Free
10 Green, 9 Blue/Purple WW Points
Hummus Pasta Salad from Watch Learn Eat
I love hummus. I was one of those foods I didn’t experience until I was an adult, but now I love it. It’s a great snack, it’s great on chicken (though not on the blog yet, our hummus chicken recipe does appear periodically on our Health Balance Meal Plans), and now apparently, I can use it for my pasta salad! Did I mention that this recipe features Kalamata olives and Artichokes? How did I not come up with this myself?
Gluten Optional Dairy Free Nut Free
10 Green/Blue/Purple WW Points
Chicken Pasta Salad from Easy Budget Recipes
I recently discovered Easy Budget Recipes. If you haven’t found them before, check them out. They have tons of copycat recipes, especially great when all of our favorite restaurants are closed due to Coronavirus. Plus, they have lots of tips on how to get your little ones involved. As the parents of a little one that always wants to be where mom is, it’s great to have ideas on how to put him to work! Oh yeah, food’s pretty good too!
Gluten Optional Dairy Free Nut Free
7 Green/Blue/Purple WW Points
Food Truck Hawaiian Macaroni Salad from Food Folks and Fun.
At first glance, I thought this salad looked like ambrosia with pasta. I know, ambrosia is a little funky. Don’t worry, this isn’t like the uber sweet fruit salad (I’ll do those in another post). The little colors come from green onions and shredded carrots, and it does get a touch of sweetness from a bit of brown sugar.
Gluten Optional Nut Free
8 Green/Blue/Purple WW Points
Easy Vegan Pesto Pasta Salad from Yum Vegan Lunch Ideas
Pesto is one of those fantastic flavors. It’s bold and rich and just a few simple ingredients. I love it on my roasted vegetables and in the summer it’s great on grilled shrimp. Here’s Yum Vegan’s take on a pasta salad using a vegan pesto. Recipe for pesto included. What makes it vegan? Lack of cheese in the pesto. Of course, if you don’t care if it’s vegan or not, you could always just buy a jar from the grocery store.
Gluten Optional Dairy Free Nut Optional
12 Green/Blue/Purple WW Points
Caprese Tortellini Pasta Salad from Salt and Lavender
“Caprese” is a magic word for me. That great combination of sweet basil, juicy tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella with a drizzle of balsamic is one of my favorites! Here, Natasha from Salt and Lavender takes the basic ingredients of a caprese salad and combines them with cheese tortellini for a fantastic, mouth-watering dish!
Nut Free
15 Green/Blue/Purple WW Points
Cobb Pasta Salad from Suburban Simplicity
Who doesn’t like a classic cobb salad? Crispy bacon, ripe tomatoes, fresh avocado, and finished off with some grilled chicken and hard-boiled egg. Now, instead of serving over lettuce, these fresh ingredients top a bowl of farfalle pasta for a summertime treat.
Gluten Optional Nut Free
11 Green, 10 Blue/Purple WW Points
Risoni Salad with Tomatoes and Herbs from Chef Not Required
Don’t let the name or some of the ingredients fool you. Risoni is another name for orzo, and I think we can all use a little more orzo in our lives! Also chargrilled capsicum = roasted red peppers.
Dairy Optional Nut Free
7 Green/Blue/Purple WW Points
Greek Pasta Salad by Aline Made
Most of these recipes tend to sway towards Italian flavors. I guess that’s what you get when you have a salad built around pasta. While pasta is still the centerpiece here, Aline’s pasta salad includes many of those more traditional Greek ingredients like cucumber, red onion, and Kalamata olives. Hmmm, those toppings sound familiar.
Gluten Optional Dairy Free Nut Free
11 Green/Blue/Purple WW Points
Potato Salads
Easy Southern Potato Salad from Girts and Pinecones
For a potato salad that looks so simple, it just bursts with flavor. Beyond your typical potatoes and mayo, Sharon’s recipe adds eggs, pickles (and pickle juice!), mustard and more, but don’t worry, everything is pretty much a pantry staple.
Gluten Free Dairy Free Nut Free
5 Green/Blue, 2 Purple WW Points
German Mustard Potato Salad from Whole Lotta Yum
Not a fan of mayo? Check out this German inspired potato salad. Instead of depending on mayo, it uses a combination of oil, vinegar, and mustard to coat the potatoes. Great if you’re looking for a salad without eggs.
Gluten Free Dairy Free Nut Free
10 Green/Blue, 5 Purple WW Points
Mediterranean Potato Salad from Mediterranean Latin Love Affair
Another recipe that ditches mayo. I love all of the Greek flavors in this dish like cucumber and kalamata olives. This salad is great for anyone watching calories, not only does it not include mayo, it only has a small amount of oil.
Gluten Free Dairy Free Nut Free
9 Green/Blue, 4 Purple WW Points
Italian Potato Salad with Green Beans from She Loves Biscotti
I love biscotti too, but I could totally go for this salad! Half potato salad, have vegetable salad, this dish adds green beans and tomatoes to the potato dish and is then coated in a yummy vinaigrette. A great way to have your potato salad and get some non-starchy vegetables too!
Gluten Free Dairy Free Nut Free
11 Green/Blue, 6 Purple WW Points
Herb Potato Salad from Supper at the Family Table
Easy and straight forward recipe – potatoes and herbs, plus a a bit of plain Greek yogurt instead of mayo to finish it off!
Gluten Free Nut Free
8 Green, 7 Blue, 0 Purple WW Points
Grilled Potato Salad from Debra Klein
You know I love my grill, so when I came across this recipe, you know I couldn’t resist it! And then it gets even better – it’s dressed in a fantastic mustard aioli! Don’t have a grill? Don’t worry, you can roast the potatoes!
Gluten Free Dairy Free Nut Free
6 Green/Blue, 3 Purple WW Points
Great Grandma’s Easy Potato Salad from The Flour Handprint
OK, obviously, not my Great-Grandmother’s potato salad. Since my Grandmothers were German or Irish, they probably had their own versions of potato salad, sadly the recipes were not handed down. But this recipe lives up to the easy name, and includes a lot of the classic potato salad flavors – potatoes, mayo, lemon and salt.
Gluten Free Dairy Free Nut Free
9 Green, 7 Blue, 2 Purple WW Points
Loaded Potato Salad Recipe from Delicious Table
Really, is there any word you want to see in front of the word potato more than the word loaded? It brings to mind thoughts of bacon, cheese, and green onions. This recipe does not disappoint.
Gluten Free Nut Free
7 Green/Blue, 4 Purple WW Points
Dutch Potato Salad from Simply Stacie
So I hadn’t heard of Dutch Potato salad before I found this. Not that I doubted the Dutch had a potato salad, but now I have a recipe to go along with it. Of course, the fact that this salad includes bacon definitely helps!
Nut Free
14 Green, 13 Blue, 6 Purple WW Points
Best Loaded Baked Potato Salad from The Farm Girl Gabs
Because one loaded potato salad isn’t enough! This one uses cheddar instead of blue cheese, and adds sour cream. You’ll need to try both and decide for yourself!
Gluten Free Dairy Free Nut Free
11 Green/Blue, 8 Purple WW Points
Is your mouth watering yet? I know mine is! Be sure to check out the full details of these amazing recipes. Oh, did I mention that this summer some will be featured in our meal plans? Don’t forget to check out the latest releases in our store.
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