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This Seven Layer Pasta Salad is a summer classic. Seven layers of flavor with a delicious buttermilk mustard dressing. Serve this for a summer picnic or bbq alongside Aguas Frescas and a Classic Cherry Pie.
When summer hits, I am the go-to pasta salad maker of my friend group (obviously). I realize I don’t have a ton of pasta salads on this site so we’re changing that! However, I do have my Italian Pasta Salad that I cannot recommend enough.
I like my pasta salads to have texture, texture and more texture. The radishes and sugar snap peas add lovely texture. It makes it super refreshing and on the lighter side, which might be surprising considering the fact that it’s a straight-up pasta salad.
Ingredients You’ll Need in this Seven Layer Pasta Salad
- Pasta of choice
- Radishes
- Sugar snap peas
- Arugula
- Boiled eggs Â
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.
Recipe Tip
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.
More Summer Recipes
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Seven Layer Pasta Salad
Ingredients
Dressing:Â
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons minced parsley
- 2 green onions
- 1 teaspoon kosher saltÂ
- 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, halvedÂ
- 1 bunch of radishes, sliced and cut into juliennedÂ
- 2 cups chopped sugar snap peas
- 2 handfuls arugula
- 4 large eggs, boiled, cut into quarters
Instructions
To Make the Dressing:Â
- 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.Â
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 wouldn’t rinse pasta but we’re making pasta salad and we don’t 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; we’re doing this so the pasta doesn’t stick.Â
- To a glass bowl—we gotta see the layers!—add the dressing. Top it with the pasta. Don’t 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.Â
- Right when you’re ready to serve the salad, toss it all together and divide amongst bowls.Â
Notes
- 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.
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.