Easy Tomato and Mozzarella Pasta Salad Recipe

Pasta salad is probably my favourite kind of salad because it actually feels like I’ve eaten something afterwards! This tomato and mozzarella pasta salad is full of cherry tomatoes, cucumber and red onion with pieces of mozzarella and a simple homemade dressing, and it’s lovely for lunch, a BBQ, picnic or one of those hot days when you really don’t fancy a warm dinner.

The dressing is made with olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic and Italian seasoning, so there’s plenty of flavour without needing to buy a bottle of ready-made dressing especially for it.

It makes four portions and needs at least 30 minutes in the fridge before serving, which gives you time to tidy up the kitchen – or, more realistically, completely ignore the kitchen and do something more interesting!

Ingredients for tomato and mozzarella pasta salad

For four portions you will need:

For the dressing

• 120ml olive oil
• 60ml red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
• ½ tsp granulated sugar
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

For the pasta salad

• ¼ medium red onion, finely chopped
• 225g dried pasta, such as fusilli
• 225g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 small cucumber, quartered lengthways and thinly sliced
• 110g fresh light or low-fat mozzarella, drained and chopped
• Fresh parsley, roughly chopped, optional

It’s quite a simple combination really, but that’s what I like about it. Tomato and mozzarella already work brilliantly together, and adding pasta and cucumber makes it much more substantial.

How to make tomato and mozzarella pasta salad

Start with the dressing.

Whisk together the olive oil, Italian seasoning, sugar, red wine vinegar, crushed garlic, salt and pepper until they’re thoroughly combined.

Add the finely chopped red onion to the dressing and put it to one side.

Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions in salted boiling water.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain it in a colander and cool it quickly.

Put the cooled pasta into a large mixing bowl and add the mozzarella, cucumber and halved cherry tomatoes.

Pour over the dressing and red onion mixture, then gently mix everything together until the pasta and vegetables are coated.

Cover the pasta salad and put it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving.

If you’re never quite sure when pasta is properly cooked rather than almost cooked or five minutes beyond all hope, my how to cook pasta guide might help!

What pasta is best for tomato and mozzarella pasta salad?

I like a short pasta shape such as fusilli for this because the dressing gets into all the little twists and it’s easy to eat with the chopped tomatoes, cucumber and mozzarella.

You don’t need an expensive pasta or anything particularly fancy.

If you’ve got a similar short pasta shape in the cupboard, use that. Pasta salad is definitely not a situation where I’m going to tell you dinner will be ruined because you’ve bought penne instead of fusilli!

Whatever you choose, follow the packet cooking instructions because different pasta shapes and brands can have different cooking times.

Why cool the pasta before adding mozzarella?

This is a cold pasta salad, so you want the pasta cooled before you mix everything together.

Adding fresh mozzarella to piping-hot pasta isn’t going to give you the same finished salad, and the cucumber and tomatoes are better added once the pasta has cooled too.

Don’t leave cooked pasta sitting around at room temperature for ages waiting for it to cool, though. Cool it promptly and get the finished salad refrigerated.

Do I have to use light mozzarella?

The recipe uses 110g fresh light or low-fat mozzarella because that’s what it was made with.

You could experiment with another fresh mozzarella, but obviously the nutritional information would change if you use a different product.

Whatever you buy, drain it well before chopping it so you’re not adding lots of mozzarella liquid to the dressing.

Can I use mozzarella pearls?

You could try mozzarella pearls if you prefer them, but bear in mind that the recipe was measured using 110g mozzarella.

If the pearls are fairly large, I’d probably halve them so you’re not trying to eat an entire mozzarella ball with one lonely piece of pasta!

Again, drain them thoroughly before adding them.

Which tomatoes are best for pasta salad?

This recipe uses 225g cherry tomatoes, halved.

They’re ideal because they’re naturally bite-sized once you’ve cut them in half and they hold their shape nicely in a cold salad.

Slightly soft ripe cherry tomatoes can be useful here too, provided they’re still perfectly good to eat. Pasta salad doesn’t care whether your tomatoes would have won a beauty contest at the supermarket.

Why add cucumber?

The cucumber adds a bit of crunch alongside the softer pasta, tomatoes and mozzarella.

Quarter it lengthways and slice it fairly thinly so it mixes easily through the salad rather than leaving you with enormous pieces.

It’s a simple addition, but I think the different textures are one of the reasons this pasta salad works so well.

How to make the tomato and mozzarella pasta salad dressing

The dressing is made from:

• 120ml olive oil
• 60ml red wine vinegar
• Italian seasoning
• a little sugar
• garlic
• salt
• black pepper

Whisk everything together and then add the chopped red onion before you start assembling the rest of the salad.

That gives the onion a chance to sit in the dressing while you’re cooking and cooling the pasta.

If you like making your own rather than buying bottles, have a look at my homemade salad dressings too.

Can I use less dressing?

The full recipe uses 120ml olive oil and 60ml red wine vinegar.

If you personally prefer your pasta salad with less dressing, you can add some of it first, mix everything together and decide whether you want the rest.

That’s different from changing the actual dressing ratio, though. If you make half, halve all the dressing ingredients rather than simply cutting the oil and leaving everything else the same.

I’d make the full amount the first time if you want to try the recipe as it was intended, then you’ll know whether you prefer less next time.

Can I make tomato and mozzarella pasta salad on a budget?

This is quite an easy recipe to adapt to whatever your food budget looks like.

You don’t need premium pasta, expensive olive oil or a particular brand of mozzarella. Buy the products you like and can afford.

Mixed dried herbs can work if you don’t have Italian seasoning, and ordinary table salt is fine if you don’t happen to have kosher salt lurking in the cupboard.

Reduced cherry tomatoes that need using fairly quickly can be great in pasta salad too, as long as they’re still fresh and safe to eat.

One thing I wouldn’t do is buy seven special ingredients to save 20p somewhere else. Use what makes sense for your own shopping!

Is tomato and mozzarella pasta salad healthy?

There’s pasta, tomato, cucumber, onion and mozzarella in here, along with an olive-oil-and-vinegar dressing.

Rather than trying to decide whether the whole bowl deserves a “healthy” label, I’d look at it as a meal made from a mixture of ingredients.

The dressing contains a fairly generous amount of olive oil, and that’s not something I’m interested in pretending doesn’t count simply because olive oil sometimes gets a health halo.

Equally, that doesn’t mean you need to be frightened of eating it.

After losing 10 stone and then learning a lot more about my own relationship with food, I find it far more helpful to look at meals as a whole than try to categorise every recipe as good or bad.

If pasta is something you’ve worried about when trying to lose weight, have a read of my guide to whether pasta is healthy.

Is this tomato and mozzarella pasta salad suitable for Slimming World?

I know quite a few people find this recipe when searching for Slimming World tomato and mozzarella pasta or Slimming World pasta salad, so let’s talk about that properly.

The recipe contains pasta, vegetables, 110g light mozzarella and an olive-oil-based dressing.

If you’re following Slimming World now, check the exact products and quantities you’re using against the current plan rather than relying on an old Syn calculation online. Plans change, products change and I’d rather you had current information than a number I calculated years ago that may no longer apply.

If you want to reduce the amount of dressing you use, you could make less of it while keeping the same proportions, or simply use less of the finished dressing on your portion.

You could also choose another dressing that fits your preferences, although obviously it would no longer taste exactly like this recipe.

For more ideas, have a look through my Slimming World pasta recipes and pasta salad recipes.

What to serve with tomato and mozzarella pasta salad

You can eat it as a lunch in its own right or serve a smaller amount as a side dish.

It’s particularly good with BBQ food because you can prepare it before you start cooking outside, then bring it out of the fridge when you’re ready to eat.

It also works well as part of a buffet with things like quiche, leafy salads and other cold dishes.

My BBQ recipes and ideas have plenty more inspiration if you’re feeding a few people.

Is tomato and mozzarella pasta salad good for picnics?

Yes, but this is definitely one to keep properly chilled.

You’ve got cooked pasta, mozzarella and chopped vegetables in the same dish, so don’t make it in the morning and then leave it sitting in the boot of the car until lunchtime!

Pack it in a sealed container in a cool bag with ice or frozen gel packs and keep it chilled until you’re ready to eat.

I’d take serving spoons too, unless four people fighting over a pasta salad with plastic forks is your idea of a relaxing picnic.

Can I make pasta salad the night before?

Yes, you can prepare it in advance and keep it refrigerated.

The pasta will continue absorbing some of the dressing while it sits, so the texture may be slightly different the following day.

Give it a gentle stir before serving and check how it looks rather than automatically adding more dressing.

How should I store leftover pasta salad?

Keep leftovers covered in the fridge and only take out the amount you’re going to eat.

Because this recipe contains cooked pasta, fresh mozzarella and chopped vegetables, I wouldn’t rely on the idea that it will automatically be fine for five days regardless of how it has been prepared and stored.

Personally, pasta salad is something I’d rather make in an amount we’re likely to eat fairly soon while the tomatoes, cucumber and mozzarella are still at their best.

Can you freeze tomato and mozzarella pasta salad?

I wouldn’t recommend making this recipe specifically for freezing.

Fresh cucumber and tomatoes can change texture considerably after freezing, and mozzarella and dressed pasta aren’t necessarily going to come back exactly as they went in either.

This is very much a fresh, chilled pasta salad for me.

Tomato and mozzarella pasta salad FAQs

Can I make it without cucumber?

You can experiment without it, although cucumber is part of the tested recipe and adds quite a lot of freshness and crunch.

Can I add chicken?

You could use tomato and mozzarella flavours as inspiration for a chicken pasta salad, but this recipe hasn’t been tested with chicken and the instructions don’t account for cooking raw meat.

Have a look at my chicken pasta recipes if that’s what you’re after.

Can I use balsamic vinegar instead of red wine vinegar?

The dressing was tested with 60ml red wine vinegar, so I wouldn’t promise that an equal quantity of balsamic vinegar will give you the same result.

Can I make this gluten-free?

You could experiment with gluten-free pasta, although different varieties can behave quite differently once cooked and chilled.

My how to cook gluten-free pasta guide has some useful tips if you need them.

Can I make half the recipe?

Yes. The recipe card can be scaled down if you only want a smaller amount.

Just remember to halve the dressing ingredients proportionately too.

How many people does the recipe serve?

The full recipe makes four portions.

If you’re serving it as one of several BBQ or buffet side dishes, you may find it goes further because people will usually take smaller amounts of several different things.

More easy pasta salad recipes

If pasta salads are your thing too, I’ve got a whole collection of pasta salad recipes to work your way through.

My Greek pasta salad has feta, olives, cucumber and tomatoes, while my bruschetta pasta salad is another lovely summery option.

For something completely different, there’s even my fruit pasta salad – and yes, fruit pasta sounds odd until you actually try it!

You can also browse all my pasta recipes for pasta bakes, creamy pasta, sauces and plenty of easy family dinner ideas.

Tomato, mozzarella and pasta is such a simple combination, but sometimes that’s exactly what you want. Especially when the alternative is standing over a hot cooker for ages on the one sunny day Britain has decided to give us!

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