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A zesty italian salad with tortellini, bacon and vegetables. This salad will be a huge hit wherever you take it! 
As the warm weather is approaching I get so excited for the family gatherings and barbecues! We dusted off our barbecue for the first time this week. We are seeing glimpses of warm days and we love to be outside.
One of my favorite pasta salads on the blog is this California Spaghetti Salad. I decided to try it out with tortellini and make a couple of changes and the result was amazing!
This tortellini pasta salad is full of such amazing flavors and textures. I loved all of the veggies inside! You can definitely customize the veggies in this salad to your taste. But I loved the tomatoes, bell peppers, red onion, cucumber, and zucchini. It was delicious with the added bacon. But bacon just makes the world a better place doesn’t it? 😉
This tortellini pasta salad is INCREDIBLE! It is a must to take to your upcoming gathering and is sure to be a huge hit!
Zesty Tortellini Bacon Vegetable Salad
Ingredients
- 1 package 20 oz refrigerated tortellini (I used spinach and cheese)
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes chopped in half
- 2 medium zucchini diced
- 1 large cucumber diced
- 1 medium green bell pepper diced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1 large red onion diced
- 6 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
DRESSING:
- 1 cup Italian salad dressing
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon celery seed
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse in cold water. Add cherry tomatoes, zucchini, cucumber, green and red bell pepper,red onion, and bacon in a large bowl.
- To make the dressing: Whisk together italian salad dressing, parmesan cheese, sesame seeds, paprika, celery seed, and garlic powder. Pour over salad and toss until coated. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight.
Nutrition
Serves: 8
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.
We adore this tortellini salad. So many things to love and dressing brings it all together. Like everything about it especially the vegetable selection. Wish I could eat it every day!
Everyone in the family loves this recipe and I share it with anyone who brings up mixing up meals or adding more veg! We mix it up all the time with different veggies/toppings, whatever we have at the house. This is my kids favorite lunch box meal too! I make a huge batch that will last about 3 days. We like to make an infused oil and herb dressing, let that sit for a day and then toss with pasta salad, but we have used many a store dressings and it disappears just as quickly! Love this recipe!!!!
Did you cook the zucchini or leave it raw?
hey girl this looks amazing!
I’ll be making this immediately!!! YUM!
My family loves this pasta salad. I add a little shredded parmesan cheese and crumbled feta.