My mom’s Classic Spaghetti Salad with tomatoes, cucumber, green pepper, carrots and Italian dressing is a great summer side and perfect for sharing!
Happiest of Fridays here! I’m currently at the beach (yes, again!), this time with my best girl buddies. We're having a blast cooking, relaxing, laughing and sitting on the beach all day.
So I’m keeping this short today and jumping right into this recipe, designed to get you ready for your Labor Day festivities!
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.
It's also 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.)
We loved this dish growing up and it’s one of the recipes my mom wrote up for me when I moved out of the dorms and into an apartment in college. (You can just see the hand written recipe in the background of the picture above. )
I thought I’d be cooking more than I did.
So I have all these handwritten recipes from my mom of some of the easy, classic recipes she’d made that I could replicate on my own. Still love that I have them.
Even if I didn’t end up cooking much in college.
My serious dive into home cooking came after I graduated and moved to D.C. No more school cafeterias, so I had to step up my game!
Anyway, 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.
Now, I’ve got some notes, tips and substitutions coming up below on how to make classic spaghetti salad. Just tryin’ to be helpful.
If you want to jump on down to the recipe, simply scroll right on through the rest of the text. The recipe card is near the bottom of the page, above the comments section.
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.
- 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, 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.
Also, this makes enough for about 6 servings as a main side dish, maybe 8 if everyone is trying multiple sides. You can absolutely double or triple the recipe if you're serving a big crowd.
Lastly, let's tackle a couple of commonly asked questions.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, definitely. The spaghetti needs to be cooked and cooled, and the assembled salad needs to be chilled for at least 45 minutes to allow all the flavors to blend, so it's best made in advance.
Leftover spaghetti salad can be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. Be sure to toss it from time to time so it stays well mixed.
And if you need to round out your dinner or cookout or picnic or party, here's 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 for me. Make it for your family or for a crowd, it’s sure to be a hit.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
XO,
Kathryn
P.S. Check out all of my other healthy summer salads for more delicious recipes!
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
- 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 them 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.
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! : )