Healthy BLT Pasta Salad
In my house, this healthy BLT pasta salad is a hit every time. It checks all the boxes—easy, nourishing, and endlessly flexible. Plus, it’s an ideal option for school lunches or quick dinners.
Ingredients
Homemade Ranch Dressing
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried chives
- 1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
- 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
Pasta Salad
- 12 ounces dry pasta cooked and cooled or 7 scant cups of cool leftover pasta
- 10 slices bacon cooked and chopped
- 1 1/2 cups baby tomatoes quartered
- 1 cup roughly chopped romaine lettuce
- 1/2 avocado diced
- 1/3 cup diced red onion
- 1 cup homemade ranch dressing
- Handful of feta about 3/4 cup
- Fresh parsley for garnish roughly chopped, optional
Instructions
- Make the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients (or use a small processor or blender, if you prefer) and set aside.
- Unless using precooked, boil the pasta and fry the bacon, then roughly chop the bacon. Meanwhile, prepare the tomatoes, lettuce, avocado and onion, as directed.
- Assemble the salad: In a large bowl, except for the dressing and fresh parsley, toss together the pasta, bacon and prepared veggies. Now, pour 1 cup of the dressing overtop and toss again, until all of the ingredients are coated.
- Crumble the feta over the salad, garnish with parsley, if using, and serve. Set the leftover dressing on the table for extra dolloping.
Notes
Semolina, legume and gluten-free pasta all work well in this dish. If using freshly cooked pasta, I like to rinse it well under cold water after cooking to quickly cool it for serving in the salad. Precooked bacon is a great time and effort saver, when cooking it fresh I use my largest skillet to fry the bacon all at once.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!