Pesto Tortellini Salad

Name: Pesto Tortellini Salad
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 140 min
Ingredients: 9 oz. Buitoni Refrigerated Whole Wheat Three Cheese Tortellini; 5 oz. Spinach; 3 tbsp Pine Nuts (toasted); ¼ cup Pesto; ¼ cup Sundried Tomatoes; ¼ cup Artichoke Hearts (drained); ½ cup Parmesan cheese (grated)

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My Pesto Tortellini Salad is a perfect side dish for any barbecue, picnic, or even baby shower. Refrigerated tortellini are tossed in pesto sauce, spinach, artichoke hearts, and sun dried tomatoes. Toasted pine nuts and freshly grated Parmesan cheese finish this tortellini salad off for a delicious summer side dish.

I’m always looking for a good non-mayo based salad to entertain with year round, and especially in the summer. That’s where this Pesto Tortellini Salad comes in to play. I always use tortellini in soup, like my Sausage Tortellini Soup and my Instant Pot Spinach Tortellini Soup, but never for a pasta salad.

A few month back I co-hosted my best friends bridal shower. One of my tasks was to coordinate our lunch. Even though I was traveling 3 hours north I still planned to cook quite a bit. A week prior to the shower a coworker of mine shared the most amazing pesto tortellini salad with me. It was full of flavors, fresh, and at that moment I instantly knew it was going to replace the tried and true pasta salad I regularly make.

My coworker had created the recipe on his own. So with a few tweaks I came up with an even better cold tortellini salad. The base sauce to this salad is pesto. I used my Homemade Pesto Recipe. Although you can easily use a store bought pesto if you are pressed for time. I added in sun dried tomatoes, some wilted spinach, and artichoke hearts. Everyone at the bridal shower loved this recipe, and asked for the recipe.

How to Make Tortellini Pasta Salad
FAQs
Tips & Tricks
Summer Salad Recipes
- Looking for more pesto recipes? Try these other recipes….

How to Make Tortellini Pasta Salad

In a large pot boil water and cook tortellini according to directions. During the last 30 seconds of cooking add the spinach and wilt. Drain the pasta and spinach and place in a large bowl.
In a small saute pan toast the pine nuts until they are golden brown then set to the side.
In the large bowl with the tortellini and spinach add the pesto, sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, toasted pine nuts, and grated Parmesan cheese. Mix well until incorporated.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and serve cold.

FAQs

How many people does this tortellini salad feed?

If you are using this as a main side dish I would say only about 6 people. But if you are serving this tortellini salad at a pot luck you can get easily 10-12 servings out of it since people tend to get smaller portions because they want to try all the food.

Can tortellini be eaten cold?

Yes, once you cook the tortellini you can rinse it with cold water and chill it to be eaten cold.

Will Pasta Salad keep overnight?

Pasta salad will keep overnight you just have to make sure you drain it and refrigerate it in an airtight container.

Tips & Tricks

Here are a few of my favorite tips and tricks whenever I make this pesto tortellini pasta salad.

Make Ahead – Make this recipe up to one day in advance before serving.
Pesto – You can make your own homemade pesto or use a store bought refrigerated pesto.
Leftovers – Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

Summer Salad Recipes

Looking for more pesto recipes? Try these other recipes….

Pesto Pasta with Rock Shrimp
Turkey Pesto Pasta
Arugula Pesto Pasta Salad with Grape Tomatoes
Caprese Pesto Chicken
Summer Basil Pesto Mezzaluna Soup
Pesto Bucatini with Shrimp

If you make this Pesto Tortellini Salad recipe, I would be honored and love for you to take the time to leave a star rating and comment! I spend hours developing and testing these recipes, and always love to hear feedback and user experience!

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