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This Seven Layer Pasta Salad is a summer classic. It has seven layers of tender pasta, fresh vegetables and hard boiled eggs tossed in a creamy and tangy buttermilk mustard dressing. Make it in 30 minutes for easy lunches throughout the week or serve it for your next summer picnic or BBQ alongside Aguas Frescas and a Classic Cherry Pie.
When summer hits, I am making seven layer pasta salad and this Italian Pasta Salad on repeat! It’s literally the best thing to serve with Chicago Style Hot Dogs, a BLT Sandwich, or grilled Jerk Chicken.
Ingredients You’ll Need in this Seven Layer Pasta Salad
- Pasta – Use the pasta of your choice! I love to use fun pasta shapes such as jumbo shells, penne, elbows, farfalle/ bowtie pasta or rotini pasta. The main thing is to NOT overcook the pasta, you really want it to be al dente with some bite to it.
- Vegetables – Tons of crisp radishes, juicy cherry tomatoes and sweet sugar snap peas adds texture and keeps this salad light and refreshing. This salad is a great way to use up any in-season summer produce that you have on hand or like!
- Arugula – I swapped out the green leaf lettuce for arugula. It’s slightly peppery and tart and I find that it pairs really well with the buttermilk mustard dressing.
- Boiled eggs – Hard boiled eggs are sliced into wedges then layered on top. You can also include crispy bacon bits, fully cooked diced ham, hard salami or cubed Colby Jack or cheddar cheese to make the salad a bit more filling.
- Dressing – This is a creamy and tangy herb dressing made with buttermilk, mayo, fresh herbs and yellow mustard.
For the rest of the ingredients, please see the recipe index card below!
How to Make a Seven Layer Pasta Salad
- Make the dressing first by whisking the buttermilk, mayonnaise, parsley, green onions, salt, mustard, black pepper and garlic powder together. Set it aside.
- Boil the pasta. I like my pasta salad to be a little bit over al dente. I want it to be a bit soft. Rinse it to stop the cooking and toss it with a teaspoon of olive oil. This will help it from sticking.
- Start adding the layers. To a large serving bowl, I like to add the dressing first. Then add pasta, tomatoes, sugar snap peas, radishes, arugula and then lastly, the boiled egg.
- Transfer it to the fridge until you’re ready to serve.
- Just before serving it, toss the salad together. Feel free to add a bit more olive oil if it’s looking a little dry.
Tips and Tricks
Avoid soggy pasta salad. The BEST part about this recipe is that you can prep it up to one day before, wrap it in plastic and stick it in the fridge. The individual layers keep everything fresh and nothing will get soggy. Toss it together before serving.
Avoid the pasta from sticking. After it’s done cooking, rinse it with water and toss it with a teaspoon of olive oil. This will help it from sticking.
Add the dressing to the bottom of the bowl. This way it doesn’t make everything soggy. We can toss it in its dressing just before serving.
Recipe FAQs
Sure, some people add peas, diced ham, sliced red cabbage, thinly shaved carrots, etc. The possibilities are endless.
Absolutely. You can add smaller size servings to mason jars. This could be your daily salad for the week.
Absolutely! Pasta salad is so good the next day. Follow the recipe then don’t stir the salad until just before serving, that way it won’t become soggy as it sits in the fridge. It can be prepped up to 1 day before serving. After mixing enjoy salad for up to 3 days.
More Summer Recipes
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Seven Layer Pasta Salad
Equipment
- 1 Whisk
- 1 Large pot to boil the pasta
- 1 Large glass serving bowl
Ingredients
Dressing:ย
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons minced parsley
- 2 green onions
- 1 teaspoon kosher saltย
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Seven-Layer Pasta Salad:
- Kosher salt
- 1 pound pasta, of choice
- 2 pint of cherry tomatoes, halvedย
- 1 bunch of radishes, sliced and cut into juliennedย
- 2 cups chopped sugar snap peas
- 2 handfuls arugula
- 4 large eggs, boiled, cut into quarters
Instructions
To Make the Dressing:ย
- To a medium bowl, add the buttermilk, mayonnaise, parsley, green onions, salt, mustard, pepper and garlic powder. Whisk until smooth. Give it a taste and adjust the salt to taste.ย
To Make the Seven-Layered Pasta Salad:
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Pour in the pasta and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. I usually wouldnโt rinse pasta but weโre making pasta salad and we donโt want the pasta to overcook. Drizzle the pasta with about 2 teaspoons of olive oil and give it a good mix. You can do this all in the colander; weโre doing this so the pasta doesnโt stick.ย
- To a glass bowlโwe gotta see the layers!โadd the dressing. Top it with the pasta. Donโt be shy to arrange it into one even layer. Repeat with the cherry tomatoes, radishes, snap peas and arugula. Top with boiled egg quarters. This is a great make-ahead salad.ย
- Right when youโre ready to serve the salad, toss it all together and divide amongst bowls.ย
Notes
Tips and Tricks
- Avoid soggy pasta salad.ย The BEST part about this recipe is that you can prep it up to one day before, wrap it in plastic and stick it in the fridge. The individual layers keep everything fresh and nothing will get soggy. Toss it together before serving.
- Avoid the pasta from sticking.ย After itโs done cooking, rinse it with water and toss it with a teaspoon of olive oil. This will help it from sticking.
- Add the dressing to the bottom of the bowl.ย This way it doesnโt make everything soggy. We can toss it in its dressingย justย before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Sounds and looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it.
What a great twist on a pasta and layered salad. Sounds good!
What a nice recipe! Will definitely have to try it.