Like the psychic who locates much-missed items or the dowser with a mystical ability to find water in a drought, I have an uncanny gift: I can reliably ferret out the best pasta salad at any summer picnic or potluck.
I’m not guided by magic so much as discernment and high standards. The pasta must be tender, but never mushy, and its shape must include cavities and folds for catching a thick, zingy dressing.
Potent nuggets such as olives and pickled peppers should be scattered generously throughout, providing contrasting chew and hits of salinity.
Sign up for the Cook's Insider newsletter
The latest recipes, tips, and tricks, plus behind-the-scenes stories from the Cook's Illustrated team.
As I zero in on the ideal specimen, I steel myself, fighting the urge to fill my plate, because the charms of pasta salad inevitably diminish halfway through eating a meal-sized portion. There’s just not enough textural variety to hold my interest, nor enough sustenance.
But what if you folded in protein for satisfaction, added extra veggies for color and crunch, and then topped it all with vibrant garnishes? That would make pasta salad downright dinner-worthy.
Why You Should Overcook Pasta for Salad
When cooked pasta is refrigerated, it goes through a process called retrogradation in which the water in the noodles becomes bound up in starch crystals, making the pasta firm and dry. But if you’re making a cold pasta salad, you can make retrogradation work to your advantage by boiling the pasta 2 or 3 minutes beyond al dente. This way, the pasta’s starch absorbs more water and becomes extra-soft so that when it firms up with cooling, the final texture is just right.
I eased into the concept with a Tex-Mex number.
Roasted corn and squash tastily fulfilled my vegetable requirement, along with raw carrot and radishes. Cooked chicken provided the protein (and a handy use of leftover poultry). I whizzed scallions, pickled jalapeños, oil, and lime juice in the blender to make a speedy dressing with body and oomph. Orecchiette, cooked beyond al dente so that it would be tender when cold, provided places for the dressing to pool.
For my next rendition, cheese tortellini captured a vinaigrette thick with pureed olives, banana peppers, and garlic; cannellini beans made the dish satiating; and cherry tomatoes and blanched broccoli lent the dish cheery shades of green and red. A special flourish of Parmesan crisps made this vegetarian salad elite.
My last variation started with poached shrimp. A scallion-and-ginger dressing spiked with sriracha gathered between the swirls of campanelle pasta, edamame added pops of emerald protein, and bagged coleslaw mix was a quick route to crunch.
Would you like some pasta salad? Go ahead, fill your plate.
Orecchiette Salad with Roasted Vegetables, Chicken, and Jalapeño-Lime Dressing
Fill your plate with an orecchiette salad chock-full of roasted summer vegetables and satisfying chicken.
Get the Recipe
Tortellini Salad with Broccoli, Cannellini Beans, and Castelvetrano Olive–Banana Pepper Dressing
Fill your plate with a tortellini salad chock-full of verdant broccoli and satisfying white beans.
Get the Recipe
Campanelle Salad with Shrimp, Cabbage, and Scallion-Ginger Dressing
Fill your plate with a campanelle salad chock-full of crunchy vegetables and succulent shrimp.
Get the Recipe