This pepperoni basil tortellini salad is a delicious new twist on the staple Southern Summer side dish. Featuring cheese tortellini, pepperoni, sweet tomatoes, fresh basil, and mozzarella pearls- everything’s bathed in creamy caesar dressing. It’s quick, easy, and destined to an immediate new family favorite!

This Pepperoni Basil Tortellini Salad makes a perfect dish for Summer, whether it’s as a side dish or served as a light meal.

Your favorite cheese tortellini with ripe grape tomatoes ready to burst with flavor, fresh basil, a generous helping of chopped pepperoni, and all mixed up with your favorite creamy Caesar salad dressing.

It’s definitely not for the faint of heart, or anybody on a diet, but if neither of those apply to you this Pepperoni Basil Tortellini Salad is a truly dreamy creamy flavor combination.

Don’t just take my word for it though, add it to your ‘to try’ list soon, and discover the deliciousness for yourself!

Ingredients Needed

Like all of my most favorite recipes this creamy pasta salad has a relatively short and easy ingredient list that’re easy to find at virtually any grocery store.

To make it, you’ll need:

Tortellini – I tend to use a 20 oz package of refrigerated tortellini in this dish; however, you could use 3-4 cups of frozen tortellini in it’s place.
Pepperoni – Thinly sliced pepperoni, quartered or roughly chopped. You can also use whole mini pepperonis.
Basil – Fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
Mozzarella – Small fresh mozzarella pearls
Dressing – A creamy caesar dressing, your favorite brand
Tomatoes – Grape or small cherry tomatoes, halved lengthwise

Once you’ve gathered all of your ingredients, you’re ready to begin!

How To Make

This pasta salad is pretty easy to throw together, even at the last minute.

Start by preparing the tortellini according the package instructions. Once it’s cooked, strain, and immediately run under cool water while gently tossing until cooled.

Transfer the cooked and cooled pasta to a large waiting mixing bowl. Add the dressing to the bowl and gently toss until everything’s evenly coated.

Add the remaining ingredients to the mixing bowl, again gently tossing until everything’s evenly incorporated.

Cover the bowl and chill for 2 hours.

Stir everything again to evenly mix, serve, and enjoy!

Storing

Leftover pepperoni basil tortellini salad can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. You may need to stir in extra dressing when serving as the pasta will continue to soak up sauce as it sits.

This doesn’t freeze well unfortunately.

TIPS AND TRICKS

For best flavor I recommend using plain cheese filled tortellini. If you don’t have tortellini handy, you could substitute plain pasta instead.
Don’t like caesar dressing? You can substitute a creamy Italian dressing instead.
Be careful to make sure your pasta has cooled before adding it to the mixing bowl otherwise it will melt your cheese and wilt the basil and tomatoes if it’s still hot, or even potentially warm.

Other Tortellini Salad Recipes

When you’re short on time this pasta salad makes a wonderful quick and easy meal.

Featuring cheese tortellini, a kick from some chopped pepperoni, sliced sweet grape tomatoes, and some fresh basil bathed in a creamy caesar dressing- this Pepperoni Basil Tortellini Salad is an edible experience everyone should have.

Looking for other easy tortellini salad recipes to enjoy?

Try these:

If you’ve tried this PEPPERONI BASIL TORTELLINI SALAD, or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and whatever else we’ve got going on!