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Grinder Pasta Salad

This easy Grinder Pasta Salad is made with tender pasta, a variety of vegetables, melt in your mouth fresh mozzarella balls, pepperoni, and salami, and is covered in a homemade dressing. 

Italian pasta salad in a white bowl.


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f you like the simple grinder sub that has been out there for a while, or have seen the one on TikTok with the delicious twist, you're going to love this Grinder Pasta Salad recipe. It has all your favorite delicious flavors from that classic sandwich, but this time, in pasta salad form! 

Making this Italian Grinder Salad is easy and very fast with only 15 minutes of hands on prep. It's full of unique flavor and texture, like my Dill Pickle Pasta Salad. My Southwestern Chicken Pasta Salad is another unique appetizer or side dish to bring to your next gathering. 

Why This Grinder Pasta Salad Works

Just like other Pasta Salad recipes, this is easy to scale to make more servings and is an ideal dish to bring to summer potlucks, or gatherings like my Deviled Egg Pasta Salad.

A favorite thing for many people who enjoy pasta salads is the fact that they're easily customizable. It's a great way to use up leftover vegetables or ingredients that you need to use before they go bad. This combination is delicious on it's own, but can be dressed up by adding other fresh veggies or seasonings, like Italian seasoning, fresh basil and parsley, and really amp up the flavor with some roasted garlic cloves.  

Ingredients Needed

All the ingredients needed for this grinder pasta salad.
  • Mayonnaise: Use the real stuff.
  • Italian dressing: Any brand will work or you can make this homemade version.
  • Grated parmesan cheese: I like to use the fresh stuff from the deli.
  • Herbs and seasoning: finely minced or grated garlic cloves, salt, and black pepper.
  • Rotini pasta: can be subbed with any other small, short pasta choice
  • Fresh vegetables: Cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, pepperoncini peppers, pickled red onions or thinly sliced red onions, and crisp lettuce like romaine lettuce or iceberg lettuce.
  • Cheese: Mozzarella pearls. If you can't find them, you can use fresh mozzarella cheese and just cut it into small cubes.
  • Deli meats: Salami and pepperoni what I prefer, ham can also be used.

How to make this grinder salad recipe

Dressing being mixed together in a bowl then poured on top of the salad.
  • Step 1: In a small bowl, add the dressing ingredients and combine. Place in the fridge while you assemble.
  • Step 2: Cook the pasta to aldente according to the instructions on the box, drain, rinse and dump into a large bowl. Add other salad ingredients minus lettuce to large mixing bowl.
Pasta salad with dressing poured on top and tossed.
  • Step 3: Start to toss salad and add all of the dressing now if serving soon. Chill until ready to serve. 
  • Step 4: When ready to serve, add chopped lettuce and toss to mix and coat it all. 
Grinder pasta salad in a white serving bowl.

Recipe Tips

  • If you don't like a touch of heat, omit the red pepper flakes from the dressing. 
  • This pasta salad is great for meal prep. You can make this 99% of the way through and then toss with the rest of the dressing and lettuce later. 
  • Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2-3 days. 
A serving of pasta salad in a bowl.

Recipe Faq's

Can I make this ahead of time?

Thisย Italian Grinder Pasta Salad can be made several hours ahead of when serving. You can even make it the night before. If you plan on assembling it early, I recommend trying to save about ยฝ of the homemade dressing so you can add it to the salad right before you serve it with the chopped lettuce then too. If you add the dressing orย shredded lettuce too early, it'll get soggy too fast. ย ย 

Why is it called grinder salad?

The name comes from the traditional Italian sandwich known as a "grinder". Anย Italian Grinder Sandwich is typically made with French orย Italian bread then filled with meats, cheeses, vegetables, and dressings.ย 

Should I rinse the pasta first?

Some salad recipes tell you not to rinse the pasta. But with this recipe, we rinse it to stop the cooking process so it's ready to combine with the rest of the ingredients. The dressing should still stick to the pasta and other ingredients nicely even if the pasta is rinsed.

How do you make pasta salad not soggy?

You need to cook your pasta toย al dente, any more and your pasta may start to break down over time and make the salad soggy.ย Al dente pasta also seems to hold on to dressing better than super soft pasta.ย 

A spoon scooping up some grinder pasta salad.

Grinder Pasta Salad

5 from 6 votes
Written By: Wendie
Grinder Pasta Saladย is made with tender pasta, a variety of vegetables, melt in your mouthย fresh mozzarellaย balls, pepperoni, salami, and is covered in a homemade dressing.ย 
Prep Time 15 minutes
Servings 12
Calories 430

Ingredients
  

For The Dressing

  • 1 ยผ cup mayonnaise
  • 1/3 cup Italian dressing
  • ยผ cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 2 garlic cloves grated or finely minced
  • ยฝ teaspoon salt
  • ยผ teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

For The Salad

  • 1 pound rotini pasta
  • 1 cup cucumbers diced
  • 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes cut in half
  • ยฝ cup pepperoncinis
  • 1 cup salami cut into slices
  • 1 cup pepperoni cut into slices
  • ยฝ cup pickles red onions or red onions cut into thin slices
  • 1 cup mozzarella pearls
  • 1 cup crisp lettuce romaine or iceberg

Instructions
 

  • In a small bowl add the dressing ingredients mix until combined and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
  • Cook the pasta according to the pkg directions until al dente, drain and rinse in a colander
  • Place the pasta into a large bowl, add the cucumbers, tomatoes, pepperchinis, salami, Pepperoni, pickled red onions, mozzarella cheese.
  • Toss everything together with the dressing and add salt and pepper to taste, chill until ready to serve.
  • Right before serving add in the chopped lettuce and serve!

Video

Notes

This can be made several hours ahead of time or even the night before. I recommend saving ยฝ of the dressing to add right before serving with the chopped lettuce. ย 
You can use regular mozzarella cheese cut into small cubes.
I highly recommend the use of pickled onions but sliced red onions can also be used.

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 430kcalCarbohydrates: 32gProtein: 13gFat: 28gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 12gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 30mgSodium: 784mgPotassium: 250mgFiber: 2gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 240IUVitamin C: 9mgCalcium: 129mgIron: 1mg
Did You Make This Recipe?Please leave a comment below or pin it to your Pinterest account!
Course Sides
Cuisine American, Italian
5 from 6 votes

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