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Forget boring, bland, and dry pasta salads and welcome your new favourite summer side. This Caesar Pasta Salad recipe combines Johnny B’s Caesar Dressing (which is my dad’s viral caesar dressing with nearly 15 million views), crumbled bacon, crunchy croutons and al dente rotini pasta.
🥬 Why You’ll Love Caesar Pasta Salad
Easy to prepare: caesar pasta salad requires only a few simple ingredients.
Versatile: great recipe for a light lunch, BBQ side dish, picnic or potluck.
Flavour combination: al dente pasta, crisp lettuce, crumbled bacon and a creamy caesar dressing makes for the most delicious summer side.
🗒 Ingredients You’ll Need To Make Caesar Pasta Salad
Rotini: spiral shaped pasta that holds all of that delicious caesar dressing. However you can opt for other pastas similar in size. For example, penne or macaroni.
Romaine lettuce: adds substance to the caesar pasta salad while also adding a fresh and crisp texture.
Croutons: adds a hearty crunch to the salad.
Bacon: adds a salty bite and crispiness.
Mayonnaise: used as the base for Johnny B’s Caesar Dressing.
Yellow mustard: adds a tanginess to the dressing.
Anchovy paste: adds a classic caesar salad flavour while adding a rich salty bite.
Garlic cloves: adds a zing, and you can’t have caesar salad without garlic.
Parmigiano-reggiano: used to thicken the dressing and adds a slightly nutty and salty flavour.
Worcestershire: adds a tangy and slightly sweet flavour.
Lemon: adds a burst of citrus which compliments the creamy base.
✍🏼 How To Make Caesar Pasta Salad
- Make the pasta: first, cook, drain and cool the rotini.
- Prepare the dressing: secondly, combine all ingredients and mix well.
- Assemble: finally, add the caesar dressing, bacon and croutons to the pasta and toss to combine.
🗒️ Variations & Substitutions
Pasta variations: while rotini is great for holding the caesar dressing, you can opt for other pastas similar in size. For example, penne, macaroni or shells.
Protein options: grilled chicken or shrimp would be great options.
Vegetarian options: on the other hand, omit the bacon and keep this recipe vegetarian.
Additional ingredients: for example, avocado, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes and hard boiled eggs would all be great additions in this caesar pasta salad recipe.
🤝 Pairs Well With
🤔 FAQ’s
Absolutely! However, if you do I recommend adding the croutons and romaine lettuce right before serving to ensure the texture isn’t compromised.
Yes! For example, penne, macaroni and shells all work great.
Certainly! That being said, anchovies add a great depth of flavour and saltiness. Alternatively you can substitute for capers.
Generally, you can expect to keep the leftovers for 2-3 days. However, the romaine lettuce and croutons will have a different texture since they will have absorbed the dressing. Therefore, I recommend adding the croutons and romaine lettuce right before serving.
🍴 Leftovers? Lucky you.
Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Keep in mind if you refrigerate with the croutons and lettuce their texture won’t be as fresh and crisp as they were when you first added them to the pasta salad.
👩🏻🍳 Hungry For More?
- Honey Roasted Carrots
- Stuffed Eggplant
- Eggplant Meatballs
- Lemon Herb Pasta Salad
- Orecchiette with Asparagus and Peas
💌 Let’s Stay Connected
Keep in touch with me on Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest! If you do make this recipe (or any recipe of mine) don’t forget to leave a review.
Caesar Pasta Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 350 grams rotini, or similar sized pasta of choice
- 2 cups romaine lettuce, roughly chopped
- 2 cups croutons
- 1 pack bacon , cooked, roughly chopped
Caesar Dressing
- 1½ cups mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp yellow mustard
- 1 tbsp anchovy paste
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1¼ cup parmigiano-reggiano, grated
- 1 tbsp + 1/4 tsp worcestershire
- 1/2 lemon, juiced, or more to taste
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Make the pasta: bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Next, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Once al dente, drain and rinse with cold water.Add the cooked pasta to a large serving bowl and drizzle with a splash of olive oil and gently toss. This will help ensure the pasta doesn't stick together.
- Prepare the dressing: using a small blender or food processor add all of the caesar dressing ingredients and blend until you reach a smooth consistency. About 1 minute.
- Assemble: add the caesar dressing, bacon and croutons to the pasta. Gently toss to combine until all of the pasta is well coated.
- Serve: immediately or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (see notes).
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
OMG this recipe is so good (although I think I would eat lawn clippings if they were tossed in Johnny B’s Caesar dressing). We added grilled chicken, cherry tomatoes, and black olive and kept the lettuce and croutons on the side so that we can eat the leftovers for lunch over the next couple days. This one will be on repeat this summer! Thank you!!