My mom’s Classic Spaghetti Salad with tomatoes, cucumber, green pepper, carrots and Italian dressing is a great summer side and perfect for sharing!
My mom’s spaghetti salad is a classic in our family.
It's full of tender spaghetti noodles, tons of bright fresh veggies, juicy tomatoes and is finished with Italian dressing and salad seasoning to give the whole thing tons of oomph.
It's cold and refreshing and super versatile. It goes great with anything from the grill or whatever you're planning for a backyard BBQ party.
And it's vegan and dairy-free, so it makes a great picnic or potluck item to bring along in the summertime. It can sit out without a worry. (As well as suit various dietary needs.)
This spaghetti salad is a classic for a reason. It’s picnic perfect, crowd-pleasing and easy to throw together in advance.
All things I love for a summer side dish.
So let’s get cooking.
Ingredient Notes:
Spaghetti: Spaghetti noodles are the classic way to go for this salad, and you can use regular or thin spaghetti and regular or whole wheat spaghetti. Or you can substitute any other type of pasta you prefer. Rotini would be great here!
Veggies: Feel free to add to or omit from the veggies used in the recipe below to suit your tastes. For instance, some people dislike raw onion. You can simply leave it out.
Tomato: I usually add an extra tomato if they’re good summer fresh ones, whether heirloom or regular. Roma tomatoes are a good option year round.
Dressing: I like my spaghetti salad heavily dressed and heavily seasoned for big flavor. In the recipe below, I start you with an initial baseline amount and you can add as you go from there to suit your tastes.
Speaking of dressing, I have an easy homemade Italian dressing that I love using now.
However, you can of course use store-bought if you want a shortcut to make this even easier to throw together. A regular or zesty Italian will work well for this recipe; I've used both before.
And if you need to round out your dinner or cookout or picnic or party, here are a few other summer faves that go well with this spaghetti salad.
BBQ chicken burgers are super juicy and delicious. Adobo grilled chicken is just 2 ingredients and has a smoky flavor. Or try grilled lemon chicken or cheddar chicken burgers.
And don't forget the peach cobbler for dessert!
Much like my gazpacho recipe from earlier in the week, spaghetti salad is a summer must-have and always sure to be a hit.
Happy cooking!
XO,
Kathryn
Classic Spaghetti Salad
Ingredients
- ½ lb. spaghetti (regular or thin, regular or whole wheat)
- 1 medium tomato, chopped
- 1 medium cucumber, peeled and chopped
- 1 small sweet onion, chopped
- ½ green pepper, chopped
- 5-6 baby carrots, chopped
- 1 + cup Italian dressing, homemade or store bough
- 1 ½-2 ½ tablespoons dried salad seasoning (such as McCormick’s Salad Supreme)
Instructions
- Cook spaghetti according to package directions, then drain and let cool slightly. (You can rinse the noodles with cool water to speed this up.)
- Meanwhile, chop your veggies.
- Combine cooled spaghetti and veggies in a large bowl. Add Italian dressing, starting with ¾ cup and increasing until everything is moist. Sprinkle on salad seasoning, starting with 1 ½ tablespoons and adding more to your liking.
- Stir to mix everything together well.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes to let the flavors blend.
Notes
Video
Nutrition
P.S. Are the sides your favorite part, too? Check out all of my other healthy summer salads for more delicious recipes!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Using spaghetti for a pasta salad...that is perfect! Haha! Love it, it looks delicious!
Kathryn
Thanks Rebecca!!! Have a great weekend!
Dawn @ Girl Heart Food
Hope you have a fantastic time with your friends, Kathryn! Soak up all the Summer while you can before it turns Fall, right 🙂 ?
What a unique recipe...spaghetti salad. Looks pretty healthy, too, which I love!
I didn't do a lot of cooking in university. Like you, it wasn't until a while later that I really started to get into it and now I love it!
Enjoy yourself, girl! xoxo
Kathryn
Thanks girl!! XO
Kristi
This was one of my favorites too!!!
Kathryn
Brings back memories, doesn't it?!
Adina
It sounds great, to have an annual beach holiday with the girlfriends. 🙂 And this pasta salad looks yummy, I wouldn't mind having some right now.
Kathryn
I look forward to it every year! This spaghetti salad too - it's a staple in our summertime rotation!
Katherine wanamaker
These recipes sound great. Interested in trying gluten free.
Kathryn
Thanks so much Katherine! This particular recipe isn't gluten-free, as written, but you could substitute gluten-free noodles and just check that your dressing and seasoning is gluten-free. You can search "gluten free" on my site for other recipe ideas. Enjoy!
Phyllis
I'd love to have your Italian Salad Dressing recipe!
Kathryn
Hi Phyllis! I didn't realize I hadn't linked it here - so sorry about that! I'll update the post now, but here is the link for it: https://www.familyfoodonthetable.com/homemade-italian-dressing/ I hope you love it!
Babs
Delicious but what do you consider a serving size for calories? Thanks
Kathryn Doherty
Hi Babs! The recipe lists 6 servings, which is what the nutritional info is based on. So 1 serving is about 1/6 of the total spaghetti salad (a pretty generous portion!) Hope that helps. 😊
Pamela Sue Newcomer
OMG! I love this salad. I didn't have any cucumbers, so I added extra carrots & tomatoes. I also added fresh chopped chives and Italian flat leaf parsley. Made it for my Memorial day picnic. It was absolutely a hit.
Kathryn Doherty
Yay, I'm so happy to hear you loved this recipe! Thank you so much for sharing! 😊
JillLane K Marlow
Do you cut the noodles in thirds or leave them long?
Kathryn Doherty
I tend to break them in half when cooking them, especially if my kiddos are gonna be eating it, so it's easier for them to get around their forks. But thirds is great too. Or leave them whole if you like to twirl. 🙂
Angie
Spaghetti salad is my favorite! You can never add too much Salad Supreme, am I right?! The only differences between your recipe and the one I've always made is that I add hard boiled eggs and have never added carrots.
Kathryn Doherty
That Salad Supreme is SO good!! Oh that's a fun twist to have hard boiled eggs - I gotta try it that way! Thanks for sharing!
Darlene Ernst
Aside from the carrots, this is pretty much a perfect combination to me. I have dentures so hard carrots would be too much. I like to add a few tablespoons of jarred spaghetti sauce to the Italian dressing when I have some extra in the fridge.....gives it just a little more oomph.
Kathryn Doherty
I'm so happy you love it! And of course fine to skip the carrots.
Shelli
I have been making a version of this for years, as a family member used to bring it to family gatherings.
I modified over the years to plenty of Zesty Italian dressing with lots of Salad Supreme and my veggies are simple: cucumbers (seeds removed), tomatoes, red/yellow/orange peppers ... green peppers make some of our stomachs sick. I dropped the onions since the kids don't really like them and I've added sliced black olives depending on the attendees.
It's the dish requested no matter where I'm going, or time of year!!!
Kathryn Doherty
Oh I love that! You're famous for your spaghetti salad and everyone wants it! And yes, it can easily be adapted to make it work and suit your tastes. Thank you for sharing! : )