Dill Pickle Pasta Salad

Cold pasta salad is one of those really refreshing and delicious side dishes that can be made in a million different ways. This recipe uses some delicious dill, mayo, and sour cream, alongside some versatile pickle juice, to make for an amazing side dish or lunchtime snack.

For more tasty pasta salad recipes, why not try and make this BLT Pasta Salad? Or this recipe for Classic Cheddar Bacon Green Pea Salad instead?

Dill Pickle Pasta Salad

Pasta doesn’t have to just be something you serve with red sauce as a dinner. It also serves as a fantastic carb base for a light salad, perfect as a side dish or on its own as a light lunch.

This recipe takes advantage of the sweet acidity of pickle juice to make a light, tangy and flavorful pasta salad that is flavored with dill.

The addition of cheese might seem strange in this, but it actually seriously helps to improve the flavor. There is just something magical about adding cheese to something flavored with pickle juice that makes the whole thing feel warming, satisfying and delicious.                                                                                         

Dill Pickle Pasta Salad Ingredients

Make sure you look at the recipe card at the very bottom for the exact amounts so that you know exactly what to buy for this recipe.

• Tortiglioni pasta

• Pickles

• Shredded carrots

• Cheddar cheese

Dressing

• Mayonnaise

• Sour cream

• Fresh dill

• Green onion

• Onion powder

• Pickle juice

• Salt & pepper

How To Make Dill Pickle Pasta Salad

• Boil your pasta until it is al dente, following the package directions

• Strain the pasta and run it under cold water to halt the cooking process and place in a large bowl

• Add the pickles, carrots, and the cheese to the cooled pasta and stir gently to combine

• Combine all of the dressing ingredients in a medium-sized bowl, mixing gently after adding each ingredient

• Pour the dressing into the bowl of pasta, stirring gently, and refrigerate until ready to eat

How To Get Your Pasta Perfectly Al Dente

One thing that is really tricky for a lot of home cooks is trying to get your pasta perfectly al dente.

While most recipes recommend cooking your pasta until it is al dente, it is especially critical in this recipe, considering how central the pasta is in this recipe.

Al dente is the sort of catch-all term for trying to cook your pasta until it is mostly cooked but still has a very small amount of bite to it.

The trick is to not make it so al dente that it is basically raw pasta. With a thicker, larger pasta like Tortiglioni, this is especially possible, as the thick rings of the cylinders can easily hide a hard layer of uncooked pasta in the middle.

If the box doesn’t have Al Dente instructions, simply take about 1-2 minutes off of the cooking time of your pasta.

This means that if your pasta packet recommends cooking your pasta for 10 minutes, try only cooking it for 8-9 minutes to end up with perfectly al dente pasta every time.

What Pasta Should You Use For This Recipe?

This recipe calls for using tortiglioni pasta, but not everyone has access to this type of pasta; what should you use if you can’t get hold of it?

Tortiglioni pasta is renowned for its thick, cylindrical shape, perfect for helping to hold onto tasty sauce.

IF you can’t get it, any other cylinder-shaped pasta works instead; something like penne is perfect as a replacement.

However, you could also just play around with the pasta shape to end up with an entirely different type of pasta salad.

Using very small-shaped pasta pieces, like orzo or ziti, will make for a much more concise and concentrated mouthfeel in every bite. Instead of solid pieces of pasta clinging to the sauce, the whole will be congealed and combined with the super small pasta.

You can honestly just use whatever pasta you personally prefer, as long as you keep in mind what kind of texture you are looking for in every bite.

Looking for more delicious Salad recipes? Try these out:

• Green Goddess Kale Salad
• Turkey Salad
• Cucumber Tomato Salad
• Crab Salad

Happy Cooking

Love,

Karlynn

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